From MrSolar@netins.net Thu Oct  3 15:53:06 1996
Date: Fri, 27 Sep 1996 08:26:28 -0600
From: Charlie Collins <MrSolar@netins.net>
Subject: Mr. Solar's Newsletter October 1996 


                        Mr. Solar's Newsletter          October 1996

                                        Volume 2 - Number 2
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        Special note - this is our 14th newsletter  -  if you miss getting
one let us know as we will re-send it - our mailing sometimes goes astray -
and we want those that have requested this to get it :-)
        If you want to see others they are posted on our "Current article"
section and then they are moved to the "article section" every few months.
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Home page (over 4.5 MB  of information) -
                http://www.netins.net/showcase/solarcatalog/

Email -
                MrSolar@netins.net (Charlie Collins)
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What's included  :-)
        <> Sale Items
        <> From Me to You
        <> Mr. Solar's Current Column
        <> Mr. Solar's Web Page Update
        <> What's New
        <> Jobs Wanted + Used Items On Sale and wanted items (your free
listings)
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                                <>  Sale Items <>
Go to sale page - you will find the following at a good buy from October
1st to 3rd. - we have changed this to give you - our friends - a few more
days to decide if you want to take advantage of the mo. sale -

       Wind Mills
There are so many different models and sizes that we request that you let
us know the model and voltage you want so we can give you the best discount
on these  during the next few days -

Inverters - only those over 1000 watts
        Heart inverters  list price  times .68    ( that is a 32% discount)
        Trace inverters* list price  times .78     ( that is a 22% discount)
        Exeltech inverters list price  times .82 ( that is a 18% discount)

Note - Heart has given us a special discount for this sale and therefore we
are passing this onto you so you may also enjoy these savings :-)

* Note - this sale is for Inverters only and  does NOT include Trace's TES
series......

Remember that this sale starts when you receive this and ends on October
3rd as we want you to enjoy the savings:-)

BE PREPARED :-)
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       - - November - - we will be offering specials on:
       Solar Panels
       Solar Panel Racks
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It's up to you - Please give us in put on what you are interested in and
maybe you will find it there if enough of you are interested in the same
thing :-)
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to You
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        Have any of you heard or know anything about a demo on new energy
developments by Better World Technology ............. they claim that:
         "they have a heat pump that will produce enough excess electric
that they will install it free and provide the user with free electric
forever while they recover their costs and get a profit from selling the
excess electric back to the electric grid."
         BOY this sounds great - I sure would like one and so would every
one else - what do you know about it or is it just another ??
............... Please let us know so we can pass it on to our friends -
thanks:-)
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        I have a special request  from a reader in the NYC area - they
would like to see a Zomeworks Side or top of the pole mount - if you are
located close to the "big  apple" and are using this type of solar mounting
and would are willing to share your experience with them ........ I thank
you in advance for your consideration :-)
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        We have included in our newsletter a new area -  items wanted (free
listing) - so if you have something that you are looking for let us know
and we will list it for you -OK?
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        As you may or may not know we have not or never paid for any
advertising, listing or other wise promoting our newsletter or WWW page. I
feel to do so is a violation of our readers intelligence and that each site
should stand on its own merits. Therefore you will not find us on some
listings as they are just to commercial for us:-)
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        Because of a VERY large demand we are now sending this newsletter
to those "off the net" via snail mail - so if you or any of your friends
would like to receive a "hard copy" let us know - of course there is a
charge of $20.00 per year for this to cover the postage, paper and
etc....It will be mailed first class on or about the 25th of the month
before and will include the sale items which are on sale as of the first -
the 3rd of the next month.
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        As of the 3rd of the mo. we will be changing the solar radiation
chart - found in the set up section in the sun section - for the mo. before
so you will see what is happening - we explained this last mo. as it shows
you how much the sun's radiation changes daily
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        It has been suggested that we should have an area of "bugs" or
where you can express your unhappiness with any solar product
                        - so that others may know of your problems -
        So if you have a problem with some piece of equipment and you feel
that you are getting the run around from the manufacturer - let us know the
details and we may put it in our newsletter -
        Maybe with a little pressure the manufacturers will do more to help
the us - the "little guys" their customers - at least we hope so . . . . .
         We want this Newsletter to be information to and for you - about
the good as well as the problems you may have - so speak up  - OK?
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                        < Mr. Solar's Current Column >
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RV users being Ripped off

Dear Mr. Solar, September 14, 1996
         My name is Vincent G. and I live in Salt Lake City but I spend 6
months of the year in Chile, where I plan to use solar energy to power my
cabin and an auxiliary battery in my Camper. Thing is, I am tired of
listening to fellow RV owners of being ripped off by solar panel dealers
which sell units that do not do the job they promised, besides they pay
awful high prices............

Hello Vincent --
        I thank you for your comments "fellow RV owners of being ripped off
by solar panel dealers that sell units that do not do the job they
promised, besides they pay awful high prices."
        I have wondered for some time how and why so many RV'ers think that
if they have a couple of solar panels then they can " camp out " away from
the "shore power"  and have all the electricity they want and need as if
they were still at home or connected.
         The brutal fact is that  one 50 watt solar panel (here in southern
Utah) will produce only 180 watts of electricity daily on average. This
means that there will be days that it will produce only 20 watts and days
that it will produce 250 watts. Please go to our set up section on our home
page and note the generation area and to the solar area and you will find a
daily chart that we have kept showing the amount of electricity generated
daily here on the Do It. Of course this will vary with your location as we
are in the sun belt.
        What does 180 watts of generated power mean? This is the amount of
generated power not the usable power as you will have a loss in your
batteries as well as a loss if you are using an inverter so you will have
only about 80% usable power. This is only approximately
144 watts of usable power. Now you have enough power to operate one 50 watt
light for less than 3 hours.
         This is not much and this is why I wondered for some time how and
why so many RV'ers think that if they have a couple of solar panels then
they can " camp out " away from the "shore power". If you will note on our
RV section of our catalogue we recommend that you spend your moneys on
getting more and better batteries and using your generator  on your car to
charge them. I recommend that you install a rack on the back of your RV and
install a large set of at least a set of Trojan  L-16's or a set of freeze
proof gell batteries.
        I recommend this so that you will have enough power to operate your
system for at least overnight. You see if you  use over 50% of your battery
then all you are doing is destroying the battery. You will then wonder why
you have no power and it will not take a charge. We home owners that live
"off the grid" know that we have to have enough power stored to carry us at
least 5 days. I have 24 panels that are rated at 53 watts each and we a
storage bank of batteries that have a usable capacity of 14400 watts.
         Therefore, Vincent if you as a RV'er want to have a nice life off
"shore power" then I recommend as a minimum you should have:
- a larger enough set of batteries to carry you 24 hours
- a charge system that will recharge your batteries daily ( using your car
or a low RPM generator with a good inverter/charger set up)  OR have at
least enough solar panels to charge your batteries - which would be at
least 8 to 15 panels. Depending on the amount of power you wanted to use.
However if you use solar panels then you should have enough battery
capacity to carry you for 5 days and there will be times that you have
little or no sun.
        Perhaps this is part of the reason that solar electricity gets such
a "bad rap" - I feel that it is over sold by those "suit case salesman"
that really don't live and depend on solar and therefore really don't know
enough about it to sell it.  I am sure that I will get interesting "feed
back" from my readers and we welcome it -- please prove us wrong.
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Here is the article that appeared in the Current issue of _BackHome_
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Dear Mr. Solar:
        I have been fascinated with renewable energy in general and
photovoltaic power in particular for years. Now that I'm able, financially,
to set up a moderate size system when I build my own 1,700 square-foot home
here in Vermont, I'm wondering how practical PV really is for this climate,
which can get quite cold in the winter, with week-long spells of overcast
weather not all that uncommon. It's not California--or Utah, for that
matter. Should I plan on a bigger solar panel arrays, more batteries, or
should I think about another source of energy altogether, such as a wind or
hydro site? I'm willing to spend within reason, but I can't double my
budget right off the bat.
        Edward L.  -- Montpelier, Vermont

Hello Edward --
        We thank you for your question -- and I agree, unfortunately that
solar is not as good in the NE as it is in the south western part of the
USA. However solar is an excellent source of  unpolluted power that you
should consider. We have designed and sold systems in Nome, Alaska where
they have about 4 mos of practically no sun light, but plenty of wind
generating power.
        As I am sure you are aware there are three parts of a solar
electrical system, the power generation, storage and usage or inverter to
friendly usable VAC current.
        For your power generation you have a several choices, solar, wind,
hydro , or  propane generator. In checking the solar radiation maps you
will get about an average of 3 kilowatts per square meter whereas in the
South West we  get 6 kilowatts per square meter average per year. Therefore
you will need about twice the amount of solar panels than we have to
generate your electricity. In other words if you want the same amount of
electricity as we enjoy, which includes a 19 cubit foot refrigerator,
clothes washer, dish washer, trash masher, complete wood working shop,
computors, lights and other "toys" you will need about 48 fifty watt solar
panels. However you can install lesser number and use a wind generator to
help you  carry your  load. I notice in Montpelier you have steady wind
therefore you should install a good medium size wild mill approximately
1500 watts that will generate when the wind is blowing and you are sunless.
When you  install the above type of system  you should include an automatic
starting propane low RPM generator. In the event you are unable to generate
power from the sun or wind then you have the generator as a back up to
charge your batteries. We only used ours 4 hours this past winter, however
the winter before we had 18 days of no sun and therefore had to use it
about 36 hours to charge our batteries.
        You should consider  hydroelectric because it is the most
economical way to generate power. It operates 24 hours a day regardless of
the atmospheric conditions.
        As far as the storage is concerned it is generally a rule of thumb
that you have approximately 5 days of power storage capacity in your
batteries. What this means is that you will be able to operate 5 days
without generating any electricity -- this will work for you if you have a
combination of propane with   wind and or solar generation. This will be
more economical than installing enough batteries to carry you through "with
week-long spells of overcast weather."
        Concerning the inverter I need more information as to what you are
going to be operating in your home so I can properly advise you no what
inverter to buy. There is no reason in buying the biggest when you will
never  need one that large and a medium size one will do.
        I realize that I have given you vague answers, however I need more
information from you as to:
1 -- how many in your family
2 -- what is your normal electrical bill, as there are not any two homes
that use the same amount of electricity and therefore there is no way  I
can guess your usage.
3 -- Will you give me a list of electrical items that you are wanting to
install in your home so that we can properly arrive at a closer estimate of
power usage.
        Got an energy or alternative building question for Mr. Solar? Send
it to Mr. Solar, c/o BackHome, P.O. Box 70, Hendersonville, NC 28793, or
e-mail to backhome@mailbox.ioa.com. The letters we choose will be run in a
future issue.
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        Mr. Solar's Web update - (now over 4.6  MB of information)
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        We were chosen by VENTANA this mo. as a World Wide Web Premiere
site and of course we are happy about this - they said "This site shows how
one couple got off the energy grid and how you can too. Specs on household
energy systems and a catalog are included."
        You might want to check out the Ventana Bookshop - and add it to
your bookmark as it is a good source for books.
                        http://www.vmedia.com
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        As we all know and I may quote "The Internet represents a
fantastic, new marketing opportunity for any Newsletter Publishers." - Wall
Street Journal -
        We have been chosen to be listed with The Internet Newsletter
Library which is a featured site on American Online, Prodigy, and
CompuServe as well as one of the top 5% of all WEB sites.
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                we are adding the following to our WWW page
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- prices on the solar gas/propane air conditioners
- detailed information about Thermal Electric generators in the generator
section
- updated our  Trophy & Book Room area as well as dropped some of the old
badges we have from our home page, however we have left all of them on our
Trophy & Book Room area
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       If you have any suggestions of how I can make this newsletter or our
www page better or easier for the reader please let me know. I want to help
and educate others about using alternative electricity as well as other
applications using the sun for a more carefree lifestyle.
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                                <>What's New <>
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        sorry we don't have anything new to report at this time
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        Jobs Wanted + Wanted items + Used Items On Sale (your free listings
area)
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JOBS Wanted Area - this is for anyone who is looking to get into this field
- maybe you know of something - if so let me know and I will have them
contact you :-)
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This is an area for you to list your used items that you have for sale or
want to buy . If you will email us a description of your items - condition
and any other information that you have about the product . We will list it
FREE for you - so you will have a good chance to buy / sell it  and others
will have a good chance to buy it at a fair price - therefore all are :-)
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        John ..... wrote us and is looking for a job .......I am interested
in pursuing a career in renewable energy..... he his a BS: Marketing and a
MBA: International Marketing - he has served in the Peace Corps Volunteer
in the Dominican Republic, where he started and managed a solar energy
installation business and revolving credit organization. (Request 9-15-96)
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WANTED - A used (or previously owned)  NRG #2100 Wind Totalizer which
you no longer have a need for.  Must be in good working condition.
Please reach me by Email, phone, or by Snail Mail as to price desired
and availability.  Richard B. Young  (request 9-1-96)
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        If you are interested in contacting any of the above please email
us and we will forward it to him - OK? - the reason for you to contact as
some of the advertisers have asked that their name not be used for their
own reasons.
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                        Have a great day :-)