Power with Nature: Solar and Wind Energy Demystified [Paperback]

Rex Ewing (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 12, 2003

Is renewable energy for you? Power With Nature is the book to answer that question. At long last, renewable energy is demystified, and explained in plain English by someone who lives off-the-grid and loves it.

You’ll be entertained by Cat of the Wind; Dog of the Sun—a primer charmingly disguised as a fable. And you’ll be enlightened by page after page filled with practical, hands-on information, including:

* grid-intertie and off-grid systems
* solar photovoltaic modules
* wind turbines
* micro-hydro power
* charge controllers, inverters, batteries and other components
* sizing your system
* solar hot water
* home heating systems
* options for pumping water
* comprehensive appendix with system sizing worksheets, wire size/line loss tables, solar radiation maps, and detailed resource section

Editorial Reviews

Review

Ewing writes in a folksy, informal manner, and readers will find his hands-on primer worthwhile. -- Library Journal, April 2003

Loaded with practical information to help almost anyone gain better understanding of using and living with renewable energy. Very readable! -- Dr. Mark McCray, RMS Electric

Much needed, up-to-date book on renewable energy. An easy read, based on real people’s experiences. -- Doug Pratt, Real Goods

About the Author

Ewing is a man who knows his subject. After installing his first solar-electric system in a primitive cabin, he installed a much larger and far more sophisticated solar and wind system in their new log home. Since 1999, he and his wife, LaVonne, have lived completely off-the-grid, generating all the electricity they need to run a business and live comfortably, far from the nearest power line. His knowledge for writing this book comes first hand—the school of hard knocks—and is backed up by meticulous research. Unlike most how-to writers, he puts it all together with an inviting sense of fun.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Pixyjack Press (April 12, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965809854
• ISBN-13: 978-0965809856
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,428,434 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #50 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > How-to & Home Improvements > Remodeling & Renovation > Energy Efficiency

More About the Author

Rex Ewing was born and raised in the heart of northern Colorado's ranching country and true to form he grew up in the company of mixed-blood horses, Charolais cattle, and the large herd of Corriedale sheep his father John imported from Australia. In addition to his time on the ranch, he spent four years at Colorado State University, two seasons mining placer gold in California and Alaska, and a couple of stints on his brother's cattle ranch in Costa Rica. He also lived for seven years in a crude mountain cabin, casting gold jewelry, hand hewing log cabins, and roofing houses whenever money was tight.

When his father suffered a heart attack in 1984, Rex returned to the ranch which, in the intervening years, had been transformed into a Thoroughbred breeding and training facility. For six years he managed the ranch and hay farming operations, and when John Ewing died in 1990 he took over the family's horse nutrition business. It was a serendipitous career move for Rex, for it was while in the role of businessman that he met the love of his life, LaVonne, a freelance graphic designer hoping to do design work for his company. She got the job, for life. Four years later they married and moved onto a small acreage where they raised hay, pastured a few horses and dreamed up a future together.

Rex penned his first published book in 1997, a small treatise on horse nutrition. Beyond the Hay Days: Refreshingly Simple Horse Nutrition quickly became a bestseller. His premiere novel, Eyes of the Lioness, soon followed. A year later, after considerable planning and preparation, Rex and LaVonne divested themselves of their flatland holdings, packed up their cat and two dogs, and moved into a rustic off-grid cabin Rex had built on his mountain property several years before. Small and charming but lacking most modern conveniences, the cabin became their home for the next two years while, working entirely alone, they transformed a truckload of dead trees into a simple yet stylish log home.

Rex and LaVonne chronicled their log-building and off-grid experiences in Logs, Wind and Sun, a down-to-earth book which became very popular within the log-home and renewable-energy communities. Rex followed up with Power with Nature, a book for off grid neophytes, and Got Sun? Go Solar, a primer of grid-tied solar- and wind-electric systems which he wrote with friend and fellow writer, Doug Pratt.

Hydrogen: Hot Stuff Cool Science was Rex's first full-length foray into experimental writing. Employing an irascible wizard and a fanciful setting known as the Wasserstoff Farm, Rex embraced the difficult science of hydrogen energy in an imaginative tour de force that found quick acceptance with science teachers and Wall Street advisors alike.

The updated 2nd edition of Logs, Wind and Sun was released as Crafting Log Homes Solar Style; 2nd editions of the other renewable energy titles have also been released, thanks to the popularity of green energy.

Rex and LaVonne continue to work and create from their secluded mountain home. Though always in the midst of a book project, Rex still finds time to write regularly for Log Home Living and Countryside magazines.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solar Enlightenment At Last, July 13, 2003

By 

Cory Phillips (Masonville, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Power with Nature: Solar and Wind Energy Demystified (Paperback)

Wow, I can only say I wish Rex Ewing had written Power By Nature five years ago when my wife and I were first planning our great escape to the mountains of Colorado. Our house site was a long way from the nearest power line, and we hated the idea of seeing power poles go up on our peaceful mountaintop. But when we started looking into solar and/or wind power, the literature available at the time was so technical, we felt like we'd need an engineering degree just to read the book. I'm pretty handy, but we finally gave up and, as Ewing so drolly puts it, turned ourselves over to Planet Power. If we'd had his book, I think we might have made a different choice, because he explains everything clearly and simply, gives you lots of practical advice on what to do and how to do it, and best of all, because he and his wife have done it already, he makes you confident you can lead a normal life with all those normal necessities we all have to have - from computers to VCR's and freezers. With no more bills to pay from the power company. Even more amazing, somehow Ewing manages to make even the most technical parts fun to read. There are plenty of anecdotes and stories, and the book starts off with a modern-day fable that will put a smile on your face. We're recommending this book to all our friends plotting escapes of their own - it's must reading!

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Want just facts? Skip the fable at the beginning., July 26, 2004

By 

D. Pratt "Renewable Energy Guru" (Northern California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Power with Nature: Solar and Wind Energy Demystified (Paperback)

Obviously some reviewers couldn't get past the fable at the beginning of this book. If you enjoy a good yarn, read the fable. Rex is a great storyteller. If you only read for the nuts and bolts, skip the fable. Rex covers the nuts and bolts, in detail. He has a wealth of hands-on personal experience with solar and wind systems. That makes for more useful descriptions of how to do stuff, and more honest appraisals of whether you need to. This is real-world experience talking. Learn from his mistakes. Rex has an engaging, folksy way of explaining highly technical stuff that's easy to understand, and fun to read. He covers everything you need to know about, whether you're off-the-grid, or selling your excess electrons to your friendly local electric utility. Lots of great pictures, graphics and sidebars to keep it interesting. This is one of the best, maybe THE BEST, renewable energy intro book available.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We Did What He Said, and it Worked, September 5, 2004

By 

Jungle Mom "Jennifer" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Power with Nature: Solar and Wind Energy Demystified (Paperback)

Rex Ewing's Power with Nature was the only book we needed to tell us how to power our vacation home in Costa Rica. Our home is about ten miles from the nearest electrical lines and we had decided to do solar electric. I prepared myself mentally for plowing through a bunch of technical details and began reading. I was pleasantly surprised. In addition to telling you all the nitty gritty about power, this book is witty and fun to read, quite user friendly. After reading Ewing's explanation of the different options for off-the-grid power, we decided on a roof-top solar array with a bank of batteries in the basement. Here in Costa Rica there is plenty of sun in the dry season. But in the rainy season we get lots of rain and the streams are all full. That's a problem because the cloudy conditions mean less solar energy. So we decided to supplement the solar with a water-driven Jack Rabbit turbine--something we didn't know existed before reading this book--in the stream that runs behind our house. I'm a complete dunce about electricity and my husband is just as bad, but Ewing's book tells it all in a way that even we could understand. We did exactly what he said and, guess what? Everything worked, just like it did for Rex and LaVonne. If you want to learn about alternatives to traditional forms of power, or do like we did and actually build it yourself, I highly recommend Power with Nature.