Green Trust

If you’ve read previous posts you know that I am interested in eventually living off grid but having massive banks of solar panels that equate to having my own mini power station in my back yard has never appealed to me. One book I bought and tried to read–one that was highly touted as one of the best on “green” and sustainable living–described with joy how his solar powered home still had all the conveniences, like blow driers and electric can openers. It was a huge turn off to me. Is that really “green” living? His house was enormous and stocked full of all kinds of manufactured goodies. Solar powered or not, how small of a print is he capable of leaving on this earth? I want to live off grid but I want it to be in a way that fits in with my overall vision. I’ve heard of people using car batteries to run computers and lights for limited periods each day. Having most of my power some day come from a micro hydro source is still my goal but having a small bank of RV or car batteries to give me that little extra juice is intriguing. My research on the subject led me to a great site with endless links and information, including one of the simplest, most basic introduction to micro hydro that I’ve found. The link I’m including here is for the page on creating a RV battery bank but be sure and check out all the other resources. http://www.green-trust.org/2005/07/off-grid-home-or-rv-battery-bank.html

This drawing is taken from the Green Trust page on Hydro power