I am about to build a "green" house complete with greenhouses to grow vegetables. I want the "gray water" from the house to flow down into catch tanks that will water the two twin-trough greenhouses. I am awaiting a county ruling on the sewage (septic tank) to see whether I can eliminate this expense by using Envirolet composting toilets, which require no plumbing except the venting. Envirolets are expensive but use no water as they mulch the waste into fertilizer for the upper lawn. The land is sloped so the gray water flows naturally into the catch tanks. For power I intend to use an old-fashioned windmill with state of the art guts and solar panels. There is co-op power but I hope to generate enough electricity to sell the excess to the co-op power company. My question is whether anyone has any experience with or thoughts on this type of product and what the down-the-road problems are. Thanks in advance for serious opinions.
All I have to add is that if you're going to put up PV cells, you might as well add some reflectors and make sure the cells get as much light as possible. Plywood and mylar=cheap Photovoltaic=not cheap
The solar panels will be on the ground so they can rotate to have maximum exposure. You are very correct -- those puppies are expensive. Ground-basing them cuts the expense and increases efficiently. Escaping the cost of building and maintaining a septic tank will be used on power creation. Also, saving water is key because I believe the current drought is merely a foreshadowing of droughts to come. I will have more than adequate water but I don't want to waste it (no pun intended).
I'm disappointed. With all the green advocates in the D&D, I was really hoping some fellow Clutchies would have some insight on environmentally friendly facilities / products.
Actually I have just started a company that has "green" solutions for commercial and residential properties and I might have just what you are looking for. You can email me at Shabber@inergysolutions.com.
