I remember the OPEC Embargo. It brought out the "thinkers' in the American population.
We had a lot of ideas coming through. The magazine "Mother Earth News", stayed well ahead of the developments at that time. It has since failed to keep pace, and now is little more than a magazine of advertisements. Get some of the ones from the 70's, and enjoy the reading!
Wind is good, although dependable only in certain areas as 100% power. It was used in the 30's, West of the Mississippi, to good effect. A lot of those old windmills got reworked in the 70's. In the South, it is good if used with something else. We had lots of water and sunshine, so flooder-mills did the best for long term dependability, backed by wind and solar.
For home use, the problem is not in the generators(good) or alternators(best), but in the Batteries that have to be used in the system.
The power has to be stored for demand use. Electronics have gained 99% efficiency in the conversion from DC to AC, which is excellent. Unless you have money and space for fork lift batteries, it gets expensive, and space hoggish. Batteries require cycling to maintain optimum efficiency. Fortunately, the newer electronics do this at off times when maximum power is being generated. They also regulate the times on and off grid, for maximum returns from the power companies. Hopefully, the electric company will owe YOU money (always given as a credit though)
Having a home that is built at the maximum efficiency for energy use, IN YOUR LOCATION, is a plus that should be the foundation of all of your efforts.
Consider water and radiant heating with solar and wood/coal/refuse to boost the electric tank type heaters. Point of service (tankless) water heaters, work well too, but they do get HOT, and are illegal for use in most "Manufactured Houses".
Heat the floors, and the house feels warm all over.
An attached greenhouse can save money during the winter on sunny days in the mid to lower regions of America. In the Spring, it is a heat source and veggie starter. It can be shaded and opened up in the summer to serve as a patio room.
Large push-out(Florida), gallosed(looks like a Venetian blind), or casement windows are a boon for summer cooling. Typical windows are a waste for this type of circulation, as half of the window is closed off at maximum opening.
Basements are a great constant temperature resource and store veggies, cured meats and wines/champagne/beer at optimum temperatures. It is also usually at a wonderful temp for making your favorite brew!
In the 70's, lots of research and development went into "Gobar". That is the production of methane gas (natural) as a source for cooking and generator fuel. It was fashioned after the agricultural plants in India and South Africa. Some homes in India and Plantations in South Africa used human and pig feces (respectively)for the required bio mass. It was made in 2 ways, batch and continuous feed. Batch is best for individual or small consumption usage. Human feces was the principle bio mass.
Basically, the Indian crapped in a special pot, sealed it as a slurry, put it in the sun for 3 days and cooked his meal on it the 4th day. This was used until the gas generation fell off too much to be practical. The spent bio mass is a sterile fertilizer after the process plays out. Worked for them and at your local sewage treatment plant.
Pig and Dairy farms can get all of their energy needs from the continuous feed method, as done in South Africa.
Hope that this helps.
In America, I was involved in a lot of building and developing different systems for individual use during the 70's and 80's. In the late 80's, interest waned, and was about dead in the 90's. It is good to see interest spark up again in America. My Asian interest are always looking for ways to use these systems, as they are too poor for anything else.
Call it my charity donation to the poor of the world. I seldom get anything for my work except friendship and the appreciation that I did a good job.
Now if I can just get Americans into the monolithic concrete home!
