Real Goods Solar Living Source Book-Special 30th Anniversary Edition: Your Complete Guide to Renewable Energy Technologies and Sustainable Living (Real Goods Solar Living Sourcebook)

• The Renewable Energy Handbook: A Guide to Rural Energy Independence, Off-Grid and Sustainable Living
• Got Sun? Go Solar: Get Free Renewable Energy to Power Your Grid-Tied Home
• Solar Water Heating: A Comprehensive Guide to Solar Water and Space Heating Systems (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)
• The Homeowner's Guide to Renewable Energy: Achieving Energy Independence through Solar, Wind, Biomass and Hydropower (Mother Earth News Wiser Living)
• Photovoltaics: Design and Installation Manual

Concerns over dwindling resources and environmental degradation are driving many to seek alternatives to our wasteful, polluting lifestyle. Clean technologies such as solar power, wind power, and biodiesel fuel are soaring in popularity.

Real Goods Solar Living Source Book-Special 30th Anniversary Edition is the ultimate guide to renewable energy, sustainable living, green building, homesteading, off-the-grid living, and alternative transportation, written by experts with decades of experience and a passion for sharing their knowledge. This fully updated edition includes brand-new sections on Peak Oil, climate change, relocalization, natural burial, biodynamics, and permaculture. It also boasts the latest product listings and completely rewritten and expanded chapters on:

• Land and shelter
• Natural building
• Passive solar
• Biofuels
• Sustainable transportation
• Grid-tied photovoltaics
• Solar hot water systems
• Plus, over 150 pages of maps, wiring diagrams, formulae, charts, solar sizing worksheets, and much more

Whether you're a layperson or a professional, novice or longtime aficionado, the new sourcebook puts the latest research and products at your fingertips-all the information you need to make sustainable living a reality.

John Schaeffer is the president and founder of Real Goods, the oldest and largest catalog company devoted to the sale and service of renewable-energy products. Now merged with Gaiam, Real Goods has converted over sixty thousand homes to solar energy since 1978, when it sold the very first photovoltaic module in America. Real Goods hosts the annual SolFest at its Solar Living Center headquarters in Hopland, California.

This is a great book for those of you starting to live green and want more information on renewable energy and the steps and materials and products needed to live green and using renewable energy and living off the grid. GREAT BOOK.

I've read a lot of sustainable living books. I don't think it should replace the more specific books in your library, but to anyone who just wants to wrap their head around all of the different technologies and opportunities out there this is the best primer there is on the market. Many are better than this on specific topics (green architecture or strawbales or urban gardeing or homesteading, etc) but NONE are as comprehensive as this on so many topics at once.

I was surprised it covered more than just solar technologies to include:- Wind- Hydro- and others. This is great resource for real world implementation of alternative energy solutions. Provides a step by step resource to help make it a reality. Good starting point.

While the DOE (Department of Energy) has a good informative internet site (that is free), I decided on the Real Goods book because I have been familiar with Real Goods for many years. While it cost me some dollars, it is nicely organized and some what complete.

I tell my students that if they are going to buy just one book on renewable energy, to buy this, the latest edition of the Solar Living Sourcebook.Keep in mind, this is a catalog for Giam/Real Goods. I have found that many of the products listed can be found cheaper elsewhere, but having the prices listed is a plus.you can put together a system and get a ball-park figure (a little on the high side) on how much the system will cost you. In my opinion, Real Goods is a reputable company, very service oriented, and very knowledgeable.If you want more information on residential sized renewable energy systems, the magazine Home Power (www.homepower.com) is superb. There is just enough theory included so you can follow the technical descriptions of the system components. They publish six issues a year, with a hands-on type format that makes you want to get out there and build something.If you are interested in using solar energy to make electricity, but want the advantages of being tied to the grid, the book Got Sun. They would like you to do business with them. This book is the absolute best for covering renewable energy on a residential-sized scale.

It is well written, with the information easy to follow. It's got 634 pages and there's not much wasted space. It covers all things solar/renewable energy: converting solar energy to electricity, wind generators, solar water heating, solar water pumping, energy conservation, off-the-electrical grid and grid intertie applications. Go Solar by Rex Ewing and Doug Pratt is excellent. There's an appendix with charts, maps and worksheets that help you design your own solar home and energy system. The chapter on "Natural Burial" is a little over-the-top, but I guess the editor is just trying to be comprehensive.I have lived off-grid for over seven years and teach a renewable energy class at a nearby community college. If living off-the-grid is more to your taste, check out The Renewable Energy Handbook by William Kemp.

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