Small-scale wind, micro-hydro, biomass and hybrid systems explained for everyday households deciding what beyond solar makes sense.
A reader in Vermont emailed me after a four-day outage and asked, simply, "How much do I need to set aside to never feel that helpless again?" The honest answer is anywhere…
Alternative energy is exciting until the wrong assumption shows up on your power meter. I have watched homeowners spend thousands on a small wind turbine that produces almost nothing, or chain together…
A reader emailed me last fall about a small year-round creek on her property and asked, very politely, whether she could make electricity from it. The honest answer is "maybe, and here…
Residential wind power has a marketing problem. The image of a tidy little turbine spinning beside the garage and zeroing out the electric bill is appealing, but it rarely matches the physics…
Skipping prep work on a small wind turbine is how a 12,000 USD project quietly becomes a 25,000 USD one. The checklist below walks you through five short phases, from confirming your…
Wind turbines look thrilling on a hillside, and rooftop solar looks tidy on a roof. Both can cut a home electricity bill, but they are not interchangeable. This guide compares them on…
Hybrid solar and wind systems sound like a clever hack: catch sun by day, catch wind by night, never run short. The reality is more nuanced. Done right, the pairing smooths out…
A reader emailed me last fall with a photo of her rural property and one question: would a small wind turbine actually make sense out here? It is a question I hear…
