admin answers:

I’m currently building a windmill, and just finished a solar setup for my garage. It’s really a practice run. We have some property in Hawaii that is off-grid and I’m planning to build there next year. The solar cell for the garage charges a deep cycle battery that I got from the local golf course (its out of a golf cart). And it holds enough juice to keep the lights going. I’m currently trying to add some load to it to see how much drain I can put on it.

The nice thing about the windmill, is that when the sun isn’t out, the wind is still blowing so the battery will charge 24 hours a day when I finish. You can build the generator from a car alternator, but I just bought it from eBay for 80 bucks. I do want to try to make my own, but I was feeling lazy,,,lol.

I got the instructions from

http://www.off-grid-wind-solar.com

admin answers:

Because Hawaii has a lot of sun, our solar powered phones are located on the side of roads in case someone has car trouble.

We also have combination solar/wind generator lights installed at the Hanauma Bay parking lot.

admin answers:

Generator is a vague word. Assuming you are using it to mean motor-generator sets which have a gas or diesel engine driving an alternator.

No, you can’t charge a motor generator set, it runs on gasoline or diesel fuel, you can’t convert sunlight or electricity to fuel.

But, you can use excess power during the day to charge batteries that can be later used to supply power. Note that battery storage can be expensive, and needs a lot of space and maintenance.

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admin answers:

Yes. There are ways including wind, gravitational (rain falling into spouts, turning generators). You can also heat your water by taking aluminum/tin foil and shaping it into a semi-circle by hand and aiming the sunlight at your hot water pipes.