⌛ Leaving the West

Some may find it ironic then that it was an American woman who spent me into bankruptcy and a Filipina that has been frugal and wise.

 

always nice, saves rows about shopping.
not sure of your situation (i.e. u in the uk or dumaguete or if your wife is a philippino).
but how does her income translate in familial financial responsibility and her perception of wider charity in the philippines

 

Re: Leaving the West!

Hi Timn8ter
"to live as Self-Sufficiently as possible with a minimal impact on the environment, the use of Solar panels for electricity backed up with a diesel generator" ...Why not explore the use of Geothermal Energy as backup for your solar panel in that way you will totally eliminate the oil dependency. I heard somebody tried it in the West and the result was great meaning excess energy that they have to sell it to the Power Utility Provider. The start up cost was high but in the long run will payout fast and will help solve
the Electricity crises plus help the environment.

 

That's an intriguing thought. I'll look into it. Thanks!

 

Nice, I am looking to do much the same. Toss all my crap. Stuff a medium sized backpack (carry on) with the things I think I will need and hop a flight. Going to find a studio in Dumaguete, work out of my laptop (work for various clients in Europe) and travel Asia. I'm 30 though and hopefully leaving this month.

 

Timn8ter, Interesting, very interesting indeeeeeed! I would suggest a couple of power inverters and a bank of batteries. You can use the solar energy or the generator to recharge your batteries. You take the power inverter (basically steps down the power from the battery for 220 or 110) and attach it to the battery (marine batteries are the best) and you can run most of your house on just the batteries. Its quiet unlike the generator and does not use any fuel!
I got these power inverters from some outdoor magazine. I just went looking for it and if I find the name if the magazine, I will send this to you.
Anyway, when we lived on Guam (typhoon alley) when typhoons would pass over the island the power could be out for a month or so. I was so happy that we had the power inverters and marine batteries. I had my batteries recharged at one of the local hotels because i knew the chief engineer and they were using generators.
You might want to just google 'power inverters'
Good luck!

 

I found it! The name of the outdoor magazine is Cabela's. They have power inverters in there.

 

Thanks tubigboy.
I've done a fair amount of study on off-grid photovoltaic systems. These systems include photovoltaic (solar) panels, inverters and batteries along with meters for monitoring charging/discharging. The details are going to take more examination since the size of the system depends on what type and how many devices we hope to power. There are a large number of low energy consumption appliances available. Devices that run from "wall-warts" (such as a laptop computer power supply) use relatively little power and are plentiful as well. Items that are designed for recreational vehicles having 12 or 24VDC electrical systems can be incorporated into a solar powered house too.
As you mentioned, what may be the best part is having uninterrupted power that doesn't necessarily require running a generator. Information from others with PV systems in typhoon/hurricane areas have stated they have power while their neighbors were without after a storm. That's very appealing.
Watching the news here in the US following Hurricane Gustav the biggest problem is rows of California-style houses tied to fallen power lines. I'd like to avoid that.

 

interesting...

hi Tim..

Ive been watching over some Eco friendly invention in discovery and Natgeo....
and here is what ive been researching...

1.)How to make a Sonar PAnel.. for electricity
2.) How to transform wind energy to electrical energy.. I saw this Japan invention they manage to make use of the slowest of wind to turn a fan to produce enough electricity for a street light, maybe it was their unique design on the rolling fan...
3.) Rooftop gardens adds to the cooling of a house..
4.) electric car, compressed air powered car, biodiesel power car
5.) smart bulb, a bulb that recharge its light by the sun..

I forgot the otherss, I think Ill list them if I remeber some..
I have some more I have in mind but they are more on gardening, and planting backyard vegetables...

are you an inventor? or do you purchase those things you plan to put up in your dream house?

 

Those are some great ideas.
No, I don't consider myself an inventor but I do enjoy building things. I'm planning to purchase the solar power system but would build the bio diesel unit myself.
I'm intrigued with the idea of a vertical axis wind power generator known as a Salvonius Wind Turbine. While they are not as efficient as the typical horizontal axis turbines we are accustomed to seeing they are simple, sturdy and easy to build. Since I'm considering it for auxiliary power the inefficiency is not a major concern.
Savonius wind turbine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia