Selfsufficientish.com

Er.....seems to have stirred up same passion!! We're currently looking at a hybrid pv/wind turbine system, but i'm also investigating solar chargers for as many things as possible.

I have just bought my husband a wind-up/solar radio as he cannot be in his shed without the radio on. I'm in the process of getting my 14 year old daughter a solar charger for her ipod and phone. I charge my (very basic) mobile phone in the car when we use it. I have managed to never have to charge it in the house off mains electricity. Unfortunately, as my daughter is permanently glued to her phone, i think i'd have to break a few of her fingers to be able to charge it in the car.

I've sourced a solar power pack for the laptop which will also charge other small devices, and will purchase it next month when funds allow.

We've cut down on using the kettle by all but removing our tea drinking habit. If i do boil it, i fill a flask with hot water for a coffee at 11am. I always fill the oven if i have to put it on, and use the microwave if applicable instead of using the hob.

I did post on here the other day about trying to find a pv system within our budget. We're not just living a 'normal' 21st century life and then trying to cover our electriciy useage by any means, we have cut down our useage wherever we can, and hopefully will continue to do so.

Thanks for all the links and advice, its all really useful.
Lisa x

The solar phone chargers that I've used have been next to useless, I find a 12volt leisure of car battery charged from a bigger panel far better for charging phones etc. Although everyone says you must buy leisure batteries instead of car batteries, I disagree. I've found that the commonly available leisure batteries are not a lot of cop. I have 2 cheap (heavy duty) car batteries that I've been using to power a laptop etc regularly for 5 years and they are still going strong. I bought a 110 amp leisure battery that cost £90 2 years ago and it's about dead now.
You must take care of them of course, check the voltage and never run them completely flat.

You can build a small wind turbine at an affordable initial investment. Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT) or Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) are two types of wind turbines. VAWTs easily adapt to changing and turbulent wind patterns. They are easier to assemble than HAWTs. With parts supplied in kits, VAWTs can be constructed from easily obtainable materials.