I live in Hartford Maine. I would be happy to share my snow pics from last year. I sent some to a friend in March of my husband on our tractor moving the snow and she asked why he wasn't smiling. Last year we had a tremendous amount of snow and I ended up trading in my civic with the studded snow tires for a Subaru All Wheel Drive Impreza. I made that decision the 5th time in a week I stuffed myself into the snowbank at the end of the driveway - blocking the driveway and part of the road for all of our town to snicker at. I am not sure I would want to retire here. We also have the highest taxes of any state. Just a "for instance" our vehicle registration just went up to $35 that is on top of the huge excise tax - $475 for my car, registration fee of $35 and a clerk fee of $20 or more. Our state just passed a wine and beer tax that is hopefully on its way to repeal by the voters - that was passed by our legislators in a late night session with no
discussion or public there. Quite an uproar. Not much industry left

Water is a great conductor of heat, that is why it is terrible for thermal storage. in fast out fast. what you want is something like dense stone or hard concrete. I do not know what you have there but we have a variety of types of blocks and bricks. we have what we call cinder block which is light (for a block)  very pores and does not hold heat well. then there is concrete block (vibrated is better) it is dense and holds heat well. some red brick work well. the speed in which brick and block transfer heat depends on surface to mass (or the amount of webbing). stone like granite also works well and the surface are can be regulated by the size of the stone. if it were me I would use concrete block or hard stone.
 If your collector isn't big enough for your mass it will not heat up enough.
 you may think about a water soars heat pomp. when the water and mass has gotten to the point it isn't giving off heat be cos it has cool down (after several cloudy days) a water soars heat pump will continue to suck the heat out of the water/mass. till you draw the water down to almost freezing point if it is built correctly

A. Watts = Volts x Amps

B. When the sun is hitting the surface of the panel:

If you put 2 17 volt, 7 amp panels in parallel, you get 17
volts and 14 amps output.

If you put the same 2 17 volt panels in series, you get 34
volts and 7 amps output.

If A. and B. are correct above, could some of you please answer the
following. If A. and B. aren't correct, then please set me straight
and then answer the 4 questions.

Question 1: Do you get the same wattage for each configuration?
(That's what I deduce from the above formula.)

Question 2: Besides increasing voltag and thus reducing wire size,
what is the advantage of putting panels in series over putting them
parallel?

Question 3: What is the advantage of putting panels in parallel over
putting them in series?

Question 4: When panels are put in series for a higher voltage, do you
need to double the amount of panels for the same load where the panels
are in parallel at a lower voltage?

You need to be wealthy (amongst other things) to giggle and say,
"it's just easier to pay the monthly bills then it is to cut consumption"

This isn't even an issue of 12v or windpower or anything else along
these line... this is simple common sense... The first step in
everyone's life whether on or off grid, should be to learn how to
reduce their usage.

"So I guess I'm just looking for how anyone can start going green or
using alternative sources of energy without going broke?"

Instead of using your time writing your politicians, and trying to
find other people to pay for it, take charge of your own life, and
find ways to reduce the amount you use. It doesn't matter if you have
0 kids or 26 kids... learning how to reduce your power consumption is
the first and MOST effective way to save money and go green.

You talk about needing to be 'rich'... How do you need to be rich in
order to save money? That is all cutting your consumption is going to
do, save you money. After your consumption is cut back to what is
reasonable, then it is more then affordable to use wind, solar or
other alternatives for generation.

Honestly, every post on this particular thread make me think you are
either totally clueless in the world, or just here to try to
discourage others by making wild claims of how much it would cost .

the ones from a cooler will work to some degree. i rigged one up with a 12vdc cooling fan on it. after the cooler is cold, it gets to 24f at 75f outdoor ambient, and i disconnect it from the 12vdc, the fan will continue to run for about 5 minuits or more, although slower, all on its own from the temp differences. doe or somebody stacked up a few hundred of them on a tractor trailers exhaust pipe, and were able to eliminate the vehicles alternator, gaining another mile or so per gallon.thats about 100 amps or so, 5-10 would work for me. they also used new parts and spent about $10,000 on the project.

why make biodiesel. im pretty sure the listers will run on waste cooking oil alone. the cheapest way to start up lowering your bills is to replace light bulbs with cfl bulbs. also, for power, you can buy an old diesel mercedes for under 1,000. pull the engine,sell off the other parts on ebay,hook an old onan generator head to the engine, and run the mercedes on waste cooking oil. use the engines  radiators cooling system to heat the house with. as well as using some thermal transfer to obtain the heat from the exhaust. as for heating without all that, go to tru value/ ace hardware or tractor supply co, get a 55gal drum woodstove conversion kit($35 last winter) and set that up for heat. many of the tree services, especially smaller ones will give you all the wood you want free, especially if you come to their jobsite and load it yourself. if your loading, they will cut to your length for no charge. splitting will be up to you too. if you drive a long
way every day, you could also hook up an extra alternator in your vehicle, buy a few deep cycle batteries and charge them up as you drive. then hook them to a power inverter in the evening and run what you can off them in the evening. you can also build a turk or babbington type waste oil burner to heat home and water with. but research these options very throughly, any of them can have catastrophic failures if your not careful. the absoloute safest way is to heat a small shed away from your house by whatever means.then run airtight ductwork through the shed to heat up the air before it enters your house. or use radiant heat with water for the thermal transfer fluid. i have had some close calls with oil and steam systems. one of my little coil jets overheated,melted the copper tubing and released a huge cloud of superhot vaporised oil into the air. as soon as the fuel/air mix got  right the vapor cloud exploded into a huge fireball. btw, even the
55gal barell stoves are not legal inside a home, but there are lots of them out there, but they can burn through if they get too hot. from the tree services you can also get woodchips free usually. 3-4 dumptrucks of those decomposing with water lines inside them will give you a constant supply of 140f water. there are plans online for building composting bins that use arobic bacteria to decompose the woodchips so you do not create methane gas. using anarobic decomposition will put off methane gas, a flamable greenhouse gas. some systems trap the gas and run heaters off that, or engines. like the city dumps have gone to. a small greenhouse made from black plastic will get amazingly hot inside in the winter,too, car in the sunlight effect. you can put a blower on dual thermostats, and have it blow the air into your house as soon as its warmer in there than inside your house.very little risk factor there. but its useless as an ashtray on a motorcycle for
nightime heating.

The generator, regardless of size, really needs to be in clean
non-turbulent air. Even with longer blades the wind will contain a
considerable amount of rotation/rolling coming off the trees, or whatever
the obstruction is.

I started flying sailplanes when I was 13, soloed when I was 14 and been
fighting turbulence like that for the last 34 years flying recreationally
from small grass strips that are tree lined. I have to wear cowboy boots
out of necessity sometimes to get up above the tree line.

My air303 is at about 50 feet, runs nice and clean when the wind is out of
the southeast around clockwise to about due west, but to the north and
east I have trees that are slightly taller. THis is a major bummer in the
winter time since all the good stuff tends to come from that direction.
Should have made my tower twice as tall. Even if I had a 2kw wind
generator it would still be useless when the wind is from the norther
directions.

You will get something out of it, but I wouldnt depend on it for power
unless you are a real spartan.

I am according to the government maps on the edge of being in a good area
for wind. problem is those maps are calculated assuming 150 foot towers.

consequently mid summer like now, and mid winter the wind generator pretty
much just sits still. Spring and fall I get some semi-productive amount
but I still couldnt be sufficient on it alone. However, I also have 960
watts of PV.

My father in law just last weekend, who is electrically clueless but
really is impressed that I am so into alternative energy, made the comment
about gee if you just had 2 or 3 more of those wind generators you would
be all set.

At the time the wind generator was sitting there still. My response was,
yep I'd be getting 2 or 3 times as much power as I am now off that one
wind generator, 3 times 0 is still 0

It costs a lot to maintain the wasteful lifestyle to which we have
become accustomed if we remove ourselves from the "economy of scale"
that grid power introduces. Since said "economy of scale" is dependent
on cheap, plentiful sources for energy to convert to electricity at the
large scale which introduces said economy, and we all KNOW that can't
continue, maintaining said wasteful lifestyle is out of the question.
It is only a matter of if you learn to be energy efficient by choice now
or by force later. Those who chose to become efficient now will hardly
even notice when later gets here. That is your choice.

There is nothing wrong with the incentive program. It does exactly what
it is supposed to do.

It is a flag that government can wave saying "see, we are doing
something."

It is an excuse to get government involved more in people's lives.

Those are the objectives, and it works quite well at that.

My point is that if government needs to subsidize it, it isn't
economically feasible to begin with.

What the government does or does not do to encourage or discourage any
action should have no bearing whatsoever on what we do. With individual
freedom comes individual responsibility. Make your own way and quit
whining.

That said, it will become economically feasible when the current,
low-priced alternative is no longer low-priced or simply gone
completely. Those who have bitten the bullet and gone off-grid even
though it is not the MOST economical thing to do will be in the best
position when that happens. Part of the "is it economical" question has
to include the probability of "system" failure, which is ever
increasing. When it nears 100% is way too late to be making other
plans.

Spent most of my life as a electronic design engineer. Switched to 3d
animation about 8 years ago, in business as well. But hold a life long
interest in science, engineering, nanotechnology and energy (solar,
wind, space ).

I got interested in hydroxy about six months ago, absorbed a lot to
come up to speed. Intended to install a system in my car but the
problem there is small since I only fill the tank every 60 to 90 days.
Yeah, weird but I work at home :-) But then wind and sterling engines
caught my interest and that seemed to be a solution to a real problem
since I hate paying for electricity while all that sunshine goes to
waste.

Stirling engines are really cool. The problem is you can make a toy or
you can buy a 25kwatt unit but there is nothing in between and no
plans available to build anything over 100 watts. I understand why. It
is almost impossible to build these things. It's like building a car
engine from scratch. Mills, CNC machines, castings, precision custom
parts, welding, and the experience of a machinist. A few guys have
built machines but they had all those tools and exerience. I basically
decided I would never be able to build a significant unit (500 watt)
on my own. I was going to buy a $45 weed wacker and use the cylinder
as the power piston of a beta stirling. Would have been lucky to get
10 watts out of it.

Then I tuned into thermoacoustic engines and that is my present goal.
At least to see if I can understand them. The difference between them
and a stirling is the lack of moving parts. I figure I can build
something if it is just a set of pipes, plates, bolts, and drilled
holes. We shall see. But the idea that you could build a 30 pound
device that had a linear power generator (the only moving part) on one
end and heat one end and out comes electricity, is very attractive.

The high tech end of the scale has guys getting patents on devices
that can handle 750 watts in a package the size of a brief case. I
can't build the high tech end, but I think anyone could build the
middle tech level of these devices. Lower efficiency but easy to
build. We shall see. Will take a while.

Standard propane has some contaminates in it.
Highly refined propane is used as a refrigerant called R-390.
Can be used to replace R-12, R-22, R-134.
I use a form of it in my 73 Ford truck in place of R-12.
Does not work as well as R-12.
The evaporator and condenser have to be sized correctly to get max
efficiency.
Running compressors in reverse are normally not as efficient as the
mode they were designed for..

Many retired people do not make enough money to pay income tax to get
a credit.
When I was working I got a credit for my water solar heater and my
heat pump.
To get any credits , ripoff contractors have to do the installations.
If you do any thing yourself you are out of luck
Every week I get 2 to 3 letters from contracters who can get me a
$1600.00 refund from the power company it I will buy one of their
$5000.00 air conditioners.
I had a regular contractor do my last one for $2000.00 and I still
got a refund.
You used to be able to shop for reasonable prices. Now you have to use
only a Power company authorized contractor.
Many years ago when I replaced my first heat pump I just bought one
and installed it my self.

Hello again. To clarify with a bit more information about my situation; I am currently living in a rented townhouse. I haven't asked how my landlord feels about solar panels and/or windmeals.

My plan is to lower my consumtion of grid power.

Right now I am:
Hanging up clothes to dry; I don't have a clothes dryer.
Replaced my little heaters that give off light with CFLs.
Using my microwave instead of oven or stove.
Using my solar-powered lantern for light in my bedroom.
Using my treadle or hand-crank sewing machines.

Future plans, next week:
Step 1: empty my small upright freezer and them unplug.
Step 2: get solar-powered battery recharger to charge batteries for other battery-powered lamps.
Step 3: get solar-powered radio and cell charger so I can unplug my clock radio and cell phone charger.
Step 4: replace heavily used light fixtures with LED 40 watt bulbs that I found for sale at Walmart. I usually don't like Walmart, but this is the only place I have found LED bulbs with usable wattage amounts for an affordable price. Specifically l$6.00 each.
Step 5: build a solar cooker.

i am in the tree service industry. there are 2 common types of portable chippers, on is the old asplundh ''chuck and duck'' ''wisper chipper'' or drum chipper, that rips stuff out of your hand and the disk chipper, that autofeeds stuff in slowly after you release it. the disk chipper gives a much more consistant chip size. almost any tree service will gladly bring you a load of chips from local tree work for no charge.if they use a bandit or vermeer brand chipper, it will probably be a disk chipper. the drum chipper tends to shread or strip things, so long pieces are possible. the disk chipper has 1 or more blades on a large heavy flywheel spinning aroundand the size stays about 1/4 inch thick by 2/3 inches across. but there are variations as well as fines even from this process. you could make a screen tumbling trommel, though, to seperate the sizes, if you had to. like a barell made out of chicken wire, to let the fines fall out.

Having look at what I can afford to start out with, this is my start.
I'm going to be using northern tool and harbor freight as a source for
my setup. Harbor freight is simple a small trailer to house batteries
and solar panels and maybe a small wind turbine. Using one 80 watt
panel(sun force) and 2 200amp hr AGM type batteries. I will use the 30
amp charge controller. I will build the wind turbine. right now it's a
24'camping trailer I will be using for up to 2 weeks at a time. the
small trailer is so I can take the setup home with me to keep things
safe and charged when I'm not at the property (40 undeveloped
acres/retirement).