19 November 2008

Solar Power

My studio is only 10 miles from town but it is very remote just the same. You could call it 'primitive' since there is no electricity or running water. It is certainly basic and one of the results of that is that I pay extra attention to managing my 'utilities'.
Dave Twinberrow is an ancient friend of mine who still resides in the Vale of Evesham (England). He has a beautiful plot of land that is rich with fruit trees, flower and vegetable beds as well as various sheep, goats and fowl. There are also sheds both large and small all over the place and I had to ask him about it one day. Even in rainy old England, he explained that every inch of roof could collect water. I've always admired that. I think of his place as I've been developing mine.
Dave would approve of the little solar electric system I moved today. I bought this kit a few years ago for less than $200 and I think it is cool that even on this cold day it will produce enough light for me to work well into the night. I hope one day to put together a system that would drive my wheel for a couple of hours a day. That'll take a bit of cash.

Of course, my outhouse project is part of my 'green' studio. This is the rear view (pun intended) 12' high to the top. It's coming together nicely. I love that curve.

3 comments:

Patricia Griffin Ceramics said...

Congrats on your solar system... We tapped into solar power at my old studio and our house in central California, where the sun beats down most of the year, most of the time. It always felt like I was getting free power and made me feel a little less uptight about using up so much energy making pots!

Ron said...

Hey Dan, I've been meaning to write and tell you about an outhouse that my dad and I built for a friend a couple years ago. This fellow, Roger, has a place he keeps down near a river where he has a big campsite and cooking shed. He entertains there some for friends and family. Well he wanted an outhouse but it had to be on skids b/c he wanted to move it if the river flooded. Instead of digging a hole for the waste, he had the idea of putting a sawed off 55 gal steel drum under the bench. It was to be filled with sawdust and he could drag it out, douse it with fuel oil and burn the waste. I think this was something he learned in Vietnam. Anyhow we built him the outhouse, on skids with a place in the back to slide in the short drum. As far as I know it's worked out well.

Dan Finnegan said...

Thanks guys. Free light makes me giddy!
My friend gerry reminded me of an 'outhouse' we visited probably 30 years ago. A ladder up a tree led to a board on a branch about 15 feet off of the ground. That was it!