Nope.

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The book is a flop. It was written by a greeny who thinks the government should be in control, except that we shouldn't be using any energy. We should all just live off the land, or something. No, I don't agree. I just think that too many of our needs have become too dependent on too large of systems to remain dependable. When all fails, the government couldn't, if it wanted to do so, fix the problem. Any problem. Much like food, personal security, energy, and everything else, it is really up to you. Right now we have systems that keep food flowing, supply energy relatively cheaply, offer products and services for everything you ever needed and many things you simply want (or think you want... ugh). We are also living so far beyond our economic (but well within our natural resource) means that there is no way it can continue. Greens, as I see it, simply confuse the two.

Most greens, from what I have seen, are all talk anyway. Oh, sure, they will buy that electric car (so long as they have it as their show car with the Caddie, or Hummer, or Porsche in the garage). There are some young idealists and woman of all ages who buy such things (and quietly, after they realize the huge problems, get rid of them on the quiet, at a loss, while bragging about having them, until they have the new car, after which they completely flush the memory and bringing it up causes a hissy fit). The rich ones I have known have usually been some of the most abusive, in regards to energy and natural resources, of all the people I have known. One who just loved the earth and all that... had a home in Arizona, on the grounds of which she "grew" an amazing lush plant and tree filled oasis, using untold amounts of water and energy to sustain the unnatural. She was just creepy regarding these things and on all fronts of "the earth" and such. Got the money and her current income from divorce too, of course. I guess the greens I have known are three quarters of why I don't believe in "green". The other three quarters (it only seems to add up to more than 100%, hush) is the total fiction behind the notion of "green".

Practical efficiency and clean living? That is something else entirely. A rich man who lives in Arizona, but instead of trying to create a rain forest merely enhances his stead so as to highlight the native? Well, better yet, how about if you live anywhere, rich, middle-class, or poor, and you just abstain from the ludicrous, live your life, enjoy a family and pets, grow what of your food you can, and lead a nice normal humble life. Is that too much to ask? But don't spend your time worrying about having a light bulb lit, appliances so frugal they are all but useless, spending your hard earned gains on gimmicks that beyond being a further waste of money and also potentially being a hazard but also ending up adding to the waste of the world, or your next breath.

No, the book is junk. It did, very slightly, demystify solar power. It also does have some functional diy projects, such as a solar powered roof vent. I am not sure I can trust his book, but if so, it seems the crux of a system is in a very few components; solar panels, inverters/chargers, charge controllers, batteries, wiring, and maybe a tie-in (which would be integrated into the inverter/charger I am considering). He didn't bother getting into nitty gritty details, didn't offer a single formula, and was just preaching to the "kicky avant-garde" rich kids he went to Ivy League grad school with who, if they should be bothered by such strenuous activity of actually considering the new pop idea of solar energy would just have some servant create the thing, but would want to know enough to take full credit for it, assuming they could do so on someone else's nickle somehow. I've got to tell you, if you can't do the basic math, with a moderately well written guide, with such few components... Perhaps you should go back to school or get a contractor. As for me, I am now in search of a more technical manual that hooks all the components together in a general way, offering formulas for scale, things to consider, dangers, and resources for specifics. I am most certain someone out there has bothered to write such a book. A home energy audit and a solid review of my energy use, then tripling it in case a woman type ends up living here. (Yes, women use a ton more energy. No wonder they have guilt about living and such and thus are so often "greenies". What is that, anyway? If they bear young, they perfectly make up for it. If they don't? Not so much.)

So, now to begin digging. Well, not figuratively. How I will actually install a system is another thing. If I can get back to how I was doing until the last medicine increase, or perhaps the one before that, I might make my way to the effort. And, until the money comes in, it is all academic in any case. It will come down to a convergence of improbabilities? Maybe. But isn't that always the case? Yet, her I sit, typing, in spite of probably every number cruncher with the capacity to know enough to figure the probability of me being here doing that left scratching their head and wondering how. I already am impossible. (For more proof, ask any woman I have known, they'll tell you.) It could happen. And, if the right situations (that have a real possibility to occur) do occur, it will happen. But, if I have one of the legs, a solid plan with the components chosen in size and volume, firmly planted on solid ground when the other shoes drop, this plan has a much better chance of happening, and sooner rather than later.

Some odd things I noted, while looking at components. While price is a factor on any component, it is not necessarily linear. For example, a 250 watt panel is double in cost and size of an 85 watt panel. Of course, at three times the output, it is much more economical in size and output in a system aimed for that size output or more. Now, given things need to be in pairs, save minor stand alone devices, scale might have some influence. Physical size might be important to someone with limited sun access points. But to be honest, I think many contractors think purely with the lowest dollar in mind, thinking people want the cheapest (even when in truth it isn't, just looks like it). While it might be difficult for a single guy to look through, and keep up on, the product lines out there, you would think businesses would. Now, I can't say that they don't, I can only say I have reviewed a couple of notions from sites which indicate that this is not done. And while it might seem easy enough to review a contractor's offer, can most do that in a reasonable manner? Can they do it full depth? I worry that a contractor (the book really pushes for those) will use the cheapest components and lowest grade wiring possible. Is that really what you want to depend upon? Bah!

I need to find a better source for scaling, review my energy usage, put a system together, and consider dc appliances and lighting, and such. A book would be better. The internet is okay but this loaner machine doesn't even always save bookmarks for some reason and the internet flows and is mostly about sales. It is no longer the information superhighway, it is merely the commerce supernet. Of course, a book, by the time it is written and published, might be woeful dated. Though the newest technologies should often be avoided like the plague until they have been tried and trued by those who can afford to tinker. Hmm, I might also begin looking into whether the knob and tube electrical system is functional or is just remnant, and what to do about that.

By the way... The book indicated that most people have their fuse boxes outside of their homes. I have, in all my time, never known of such. Is that common? His name sounds German, perhaps he is and that is how they do things? In any case, that is something I want remedied. I find it unnatural.