Solar Manufacturer Profiles

Everyday seems to bring a new solar innovation to our attention. There is an ever-growing selection of finished solar-powered products available, and a surprising number of solar projects for the do-it-yourselfer as well. Have you wondered about how to make a solar oven, or even how to make a solar gas stove? How about pondering the technology and skill required to make a small solar panel, or how about one of those cute little solar radiometers that amazed us when we were kids (you remember, the things that looked like a clear light bulb with a tiny weather-vane inside)?

As more people move to achieve a level of energy independence, we're seeing a significant upswing in opportunities to harness the power of the sun ourselves, albeit on a small scale. Every time we find an article in a science magazine or a back-to-nature homesteading periodical about how to seize the energy of the sun and channel it into our own use, we are fabricating another generator to make solar power part of our everyday lives.

We're not trying to make sort-shrift of the resources available on the internet, but your local library has a surprisingly diverse selection of magazines and periodicals that will unlock the mysteries of how to make a solar panel for you step-by-step, usually with generous illustrations. Want to make an outdoor solar energy shower? Find a magazine that deals with country living and raising small livestock and therein can you find amazing articles that will teach you more than you could ever imagine. The back-to-nature magazines have found that their readers need to know how to make a solar cooker, how to make a solar oven (especially easy-to-make solar ovens), how to make solar panels (and how to make the solar cells that go into them).

The folks who make these periodicals have learned that their readership has to do-it-yourself or, in most instances, it won't get done. City dwellers are content to flick on a light switch to illuminate their home, but the people living “off-the-grid” or “beyond the sidewalks” are more likely to want detailed instructions on how to make a solar light, and on making solar cells and panels. And on those rare occasions that these folks can't fabricate what they need, they want their magazines to provide them with the means to find the items more readily. Need a list of solar water heater manufacturers? These are the places to begin you search.

Remember, these little livestock journals, science magazines, and back to nature monthlies are designed to be useful for people who have made a lifestyle of doing-it-themselves, and as a resource for solar information they truly excel!