The New Independent Home
Product Description
People and Houses that Harvest the Sun, Wind, and Water
Michael Potts
The New Independent Home People and Houses that Harvest the Sun, Wind, and Water Michael Potts "An excellent tour through all the options... Acting locally with good information is the politics of transition to a healthy planet" —Hazel Henderson, economist and author of Politics of the Solar Age
Michael Potts's 1993 book, The Independent Home, has become one of our best sellers and is the flagship of the series of popular Solar Living Books, produced in association with Real Goods Trading Company. Because of its impact in bringing the almost unknown promise of solar energy to thousands of readers, one longtime observer of energy trends described the publication of the original Independent Home as "the most important event in the solar industry in more than a decade."
The book's initial publication coincided with a National Tour of Independent Homes. When more than ten thousand people attended this one-day event, it suddenly became clear that the promise of living in homes powered by sunlight, wind, and falling water had caught the imagination of far more Americans than expected.
In this newly revised and expanded edition, Potts again profiles the solar homesteaders whose experiments and innovations have opened the possibility of solar living for the rest of us. Potts provides clear and highly entertaining explanations of how various renewable energy systems work, and shows why they now make more sense than ever. He is a brilliant guide to the stages of planning and design faced by everyone who seeks to create a home that reconciles the personal and global dimensions of ecology.
Over the past five years, the concept of an "independent" home has evolved beyond the energy system to encompass the whole process of design and construction involved in planning a renovation or a new home. Independent homes are homes with integrity and personality. Beautiful abodes are now being built with age-old materials, such as straw bales and rammed earth, and combined with state-of-the-art electronic technologies for harvesting free energy from the surrounding environment.
Potts writes with lucidity about a group of homeowners some would consider to be the lunatic fringe and others would regard as among the only sane people on the planet. This move toward self-reliance is an important trend that will continue to surprise and delight us as we approach the inevitable dawn of the Solar Age
Michael Potts
The New Independent Home People and Houses that Harvest the Sun, Wind, and Water Michael Potts "An excellent tour through all the options... Acting locally with good information is the politics of transition to a healthy planet" —Hazel Henderson, economist and author of Politics of the Solar Age
Michael Potts's 1993 book, The Independent Home, has become one of our best sellers and is the flagship of the series of popular Solar Living Books, produced in association with Real Goods Trading Company. Because of its impact in bringing the almost unknown promise of solar energy to thousands of readers, one longtime observer of energy trends described the publication of the original Independent Home as "the most important event in the solar industry in more than a decade."
The book's initial publication coincided with a National Tour of Independent Homes. When more than ten thousand people attended this one-day event, it suddenly became clear that the promise of living in homes powered by sunlight, wind, and falling water had caught the imagination of far more Americans than expected.
In this newly revised and expanded edition, Potts again profiles the solar homesteaders whose experiments and innovations have opened the possibility of solar living for the rest of us. Potts provides clear and highly entertaining explanations of how various renewable energy systems work, and shows why they now make more sense than ever. He is a brilliant guide to the stages of planning and design faced by everyone who seeks to create a home that reconciles the personal and global dimensions of ecology.
Over the past five years, the concept of an "independent" home has evolved beyond the energy system to encompass the whole process of design and construction involved in planning a renovation or a new home. Independent homes are homes with integrity and personality. Beautiful abodes are now being built with age-old materials, such as straw bales and rammed earth, and combined with state-of-the-art electronic technologies for harvesting free energy from the surrounding environment.
Potts writes with lucidity about a group of homeowners some would consider to be the lunatic fringe and others would regard as among the only sane people on the planet. This move toward self-reliance is an important trend that will continue to surprise and delight us as we approach the inevitable dawn of the Solar Age
