Selfsufficientish.com

Gidday

I probably have a silly question, but are the adds at the top of these pages just Google Adds or something similar and not things sanctioned by this website?

The reason I ask is, last night I was reading with very great interest, on a website linked to from this page, and it was about e-books that claimed to show how to make your own fuel cells and PV panels etc. It also said they had plans for a solar system fro making hydrogen and powering a stove or BarBQue.

Or was I just dreaming?

Gidday

Just checked my computer memory. I wasn't dreaming, or if I was so was the computer, as it was:-

http://www.goodideacreative.com/wheelockmtn.html
this site.

Has anyone had anything to do with this outfit at all?

G'Day Jack

I think that they are randomly placed adds done by google and not affiliated with the site at all. But I think if you visit a site liked to this one Andy gets a bit of cash.

Nev

Gidday

Yeah I figured somin like that.

But the real question is, Is it for real? Can I make a thingy that will generate hydrogen useing soar energy to cook me spuds with? Or is it a lot of crap and a total waste of money?

Well, I can't see any ads at all (marvelous things, ad-blockers), so have no idea which one you're refering to.

It sounds as though what you are describing would use a photo-voltaic cell (solar electric panel) to generate electricity, which is then used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen by simple electrolysis.

In net terms you will get much less hydrogen energy out of the system than you put electricity into it, and at the moment, PV cells are not particularly good at trapping the sun's energy. But there is also the issue that storing electricity is not very efficient either, so if time is not an issue, you could use solar power to split the water and store the hydrogen that is produced over a relatively long time.

It's 'free' energy (after overheads), but it's not necessarily the most productive way to use a PV cell. I think you'd need a large array of cells to cook your spuds on a daily basis. Maybe Nev's solar powered oven would be worth looking into.

Gidday

What I would like to know is if anyone can tell me is that website for real or just a scam.

Well, Jack... the company is listed locally in Wheelock - so it would appear it is an existing business.

They are printers though, from what I can gather, who print and distribute books and articles of a 'creative nature'... so you are going to have to weigh up whether the information is going to prove workable for you I guess...

A mate and I were discussing a projector kit last night, which amplifies and projects a computer screen or tv image onto the wall up to 150 inches... we hummed and haa-ed and then thought bugger it, we'll have a look. No idea if it will work, or how well, or even whether we will be able to assemble the thing... but we decided we'd take a chance on wasting money in order to see if it IS any good. Tis a gamble, but if you can use the info then its money well spent. That's how I look at it, I guess.

Gidday

Thanmks mate, I guess that's what I wanted to hear, an up and runing business.

before you pay to download those ebooks, try searching google for that info.

Build a fuel cell:
http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/20 ... d_aid.html

Make a solar cell:
http://www.thesolarplan.com/articles/yo ... ector.html
or
http://scitoys.com/scitoys/scitoys/echem/echem3.html

Make a solar panel:
http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2005/1/5/51211/79555

Gidday

Thanks mate. That last link of yours actually gives a recommendation for the e-book that I was asking about. So that's even better still.