Editor Reviews:

Product Description:

As oil prices continue to rise, many people are starting to think about how to unhook from the power grid. The Renewable Energy Handbook focuses completely on off-grid, sustainable living and energy independence in a rural setting.

Author William Kemp and his wife designed their own high-efficiency off-grid home in 1991. They worked methodically to produce a home which has all of the standard "middle-class" creature comforts while using six times less heating, cooling, and electrical energy than the average Ontario home. Soon they were inundated with inquiries and decided to put their experience into book form in 2003.

This updated edition focuses specifically on off-grid concerns and contains chapters on:

Energy conservation
Heating and cooling
Photovoltaic, wind and microhydro energy generation
Battery selection, voltage regulation and inverters
Backup power

Twice the page count of the first edition, it also includes enhanced chapters on home and domestic water heating, wireless communications and biofuels. A "Showcase of Homes" chapter provides a tour of various off-grid cottages and homes, and details the type of lifestyle that can be achieved for a given capital cost. The book is augmented with appendices and hundreds of illustrations, line drawings and photographs.

William Kemp is VP Engineering of Powerbase Automation Systems Inc. and a consulting electronics/software designer who develops control systems for low environmental impact hydroelectric utilities worldwide. He is a sustainable living and clean energy advocate working in renewable energy heating, energy efficiency, photovoltaic, microhydro and wind electric systems.

Rating : - Highly Recommended Reference
Kemp's "Renewable Energy Handbook" is an excellent reference on the various R.E. resources available today. It provides insight on the various resources, their use, and their drawbacks in certain situations. Kemp does not try to sway the user in any particular direction. Rather, he provides solid information for the user to make their own decision.

Presentation of various real-world R.E. installations provide the user with some practical info, providing a nice balance to the theory in the book. One item that provided a slight irritation for me is the "preachy-ness" when he covers biofuels, but with the current trend in oil prices and the search for alternates, I'll overlook it since there are also some valid warnings about working with alternate fuels

I highly recommend this as a first-read book for a homeowner considering using any type of R.E. resources. Since R.E. information can change rapidly, make sure you are purchasing the most recent edition.