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Evil Genius
Solar Energy Projects for the Evil Genius
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FOLLOW THE SUN TO MORE EVIL FUN! Let the sun shine on your evil side - and have a wicked amount of fun on your way to becoming a solar energy master! In this guide, the popular Evil Genius format ramps up your understanding of powerful, important, and environmentally friendly solar energy - and shows you how to build real, practical solar energy projects you can use in your home, yard - even on the road! In Solar Energy Projects for the Evil Genius , high-tech guru Gavin Harper gives you everything you need to build more than 50 thrilling solar energy projects. You'll find complete, easy-to-follow plans, with clear diagrams and schematics, so you know exactly what's involved before you begin. Solar Energy Projects for the Evil Genius provides you with complete plans, instructions, parts lists, and sources
FOLLOW THE SUN TO MORE EVIL FUN! Let the sun shine on your evil side - and have a wicked amount of fun on your way to becoming a solar energy master! In this guide, the popular Evil Genius format ramps up your understanding of powerful, important, and environmentally friendly solar energy - and shows you how to build real, practical solar energy projects you can use in your home, yard - even on the road! In Solar Energy Projects for the Evil Genius , high-tech guru Gavin Harper gives you everything you need to build more than 50 thrilling solar energy projects. You'll find complete, easy-to-follow plans, with clear diagrams and schematics, so you know exactly what's involved before you begin. Solar Energy Projects for the Evil Genius provides you with complete plans, instructions, parts lists, and sources
- GenresScience
196 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2006
8 people are currently reading
111 people want to read
About the author
Gavin D.J. Harper
19 books5 followersGavin D. J. Harper is author of '50 Awesome Auto Proejcts for the Evil Genius, Build Your Own Car PC, 50 Model Rocket Projects for the Evil Genius, Solar Energy Projects for the Evil Genius and Fuel Cell Projects for the Evil Genius.
Gavin Harper holds a Diploma in Design & Innovation and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Technology from the Open University. He went on to study towards a Master of Science in Architecture with Advanced Environmental & Energy Studies with the University of East London at the Centre for Alternative Technology. He also holds the Diploma of Vilnius University, Lithuania. He has undertaken some further study with the Open University and with Loughborough University’s Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology.
Throughout Gavin’s studies, he has written for a variety of magazines and online web-logs, being a regular contributor to Green Building Magazine, and EcoGeek, Gavin has written a number of popular science and technology books for Mc Graw Hill, New York. He is a Science and Engineering ambassador for the STEMNET group.
Gavin Harper holds a Diploma in Design & Innovation and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Technology from the Open University. He went on to study towards a Master of Science in Architecture with Advanced Environmental & Energy Studies with the University of East London at the Centre for Alternative Technology. He also holds the Diploma of Vilnius University, Lithuania. He has undertaken some further study with the Open University and with Loughborough University’s Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology.
Throughout Gavin’s studies, he has written for a variety of magazines and online web-logs, being a regular contributor to Green Building Magazine, and EcoGeek, Gavin has written a number of popular science and technology books for Mc Graw Hill, New York. He is a Science and Engineering ambassador for the STEMNET group.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 21, 2018
I picked this up because of the amusing title. It was mildly interesting, but I was disappointed that the vast majority of projects have no practical use. Projects 1 and 2 are very useful for figuring out how to position solar cells/panels. But after that...
There are many projects that do nothing except demonstrate a principle. There's one experiment where you put 20 cress seeds each into two pots. You put them in the window, but cover one so it gets no light, and see what happens. This shows that plants need light to grow. Um, does anyone really *need* to do this experiment? I mean, sure it can be useful to try something firsthand, but this? Then there's another project that is simply "slice an egg with an egg slicer". What that does is demonstrate how solar cells are made: "Silicon crystals are grown to form a uniform cylinder of silicon. Once a large crystal of silicon has been manufactured, it must be cut into slices to manufacture solar cells." This written explanation is easy enough to understand, and there is also a very clear diagram of a sliced cylinder. I know some people are hands-on learners, as a matter of fact I'm one of them, but this seems so pointless to me. I understand the concept perfectly well without the egg. Can we do something useful already?
Even the projects that have some practical application are not terribly useful. For example, projects 8 and 9 are a solar hot dog cooker and a solar marshmallow melter - arguably useful, but very low-powered and limited in their usefulness; I see no reason to build a hot dog cooker that is inefficient and only capable of doing one thing, when I can accomplish the same thing much faster and easier with a microwave, and the microwave can also be used for a hundred other things besides. Chapter 7 is all about solar stills; I do consider this useful knowledge, and I'm glad to have it, but I don't expect to ever need it.
Chapter 13 does have a number of practical projects: a solar battery charger, phone charger, and warning light (something you could wear while bicycling in low visibility conditions). But the battery charger seems to me like more trouble than it's worth (keep the solar cells IN the sun while keeping the batteries OUT of the sun?) and while I think the warning sign is a great idea, I don't ride a bicycle so that's not relevant to me personally.
The projects I liked: #19 - build a solar-powered fountain (this could be nice if I had a garden); and #39 - build your own solar car (model size, obviously), also not particularly useful, but hey, it could be fun to play with.
I think the phone charger and the fountain are the only things I would actually want to make. Given that the cover advertises "50 build-it-yourself projects"...I was hoping for more.
I also felt like the author spent way too much time trying to convince his readers that solar energy is worth pursuing. The book starts with *two entire chapters* dedicated to this aim, and then on top of that, he starts and/or ends each subsequent chapter with more of the same. Um, who is your audience? I think anyone who decides to read this book is already convinced that solar energy is worthwhile. A quick intro is fine, but beyond that, you're preaching to the choir.
Overall, kind of disappointing, but it was easy to follow (you do need at least a high-school level understanding of circuitry if you want to build the projects), and I appreciated the very organized and detailed table of contents, index, and appendices.
And I learned something interesting! Chapter 18 is all about biofuels, and the author included a section on history: "...The invention of the internal combustion engine can be attributed to Nikolaus August Otto (June 14, 1832 - Jan 28, 1891). His idea was pretty revolutionary... Rather than burning the fuel "outside" of the cylinder, the new idea was to burn the fuel "inside" the cylinder. In May 1867, the internal combustion engine was born. You might think that this is bad news for biofuels, as it could be tricky squeezing large logs inside a cylinder. Quite the contrary, in fact; Otto's original plan was to use ethanol. Biofuels got another boost when Henry Ford designed his mass-production Model T car to run on ethanol! Unfortunately now, our story takes a bit of a sinister turn. During the Second World War, with supplies of oil scarce, countries began to look at using biofuels to meet the war effort's demand for energy. Unfortunately, after this time biofuels take a bit of a turn for the worse. Oil became cheap and biofuels disappeared into obscurity...until now."
I had no idea that they had originally intended to use ethanol. Now there's a "what if...?" for you. (Someone needs to write an alternate history novel!) That is fascinating, and I am happy to have learned that.
There are many projects that do nothing except demonstrate a principle. There's one experiment where you put 20 cress seeds each into two pots. You put them in the window, but cover one so it gets no light, and see what happens. This shows that plants need light to grow. Um, does anyone really *need* to do this experiment? I mean, sure it can be useful to try something firsthand, but this? Then there's another project that is simply "slice an egg with an egg slicer". What that does is demonstrate how solar cells are made: "Silicon crystals are grown to form a uniform cylinder of silicon. Once a large crystal of silicon has been manufactured, it must be cut into slices to manufacture solar cells." This written explanation is easy enough to understand, and there is also a very clear diagram of a sliced cylinder. I know some people are hands-on learners, as a matter of fact I'm one of them, but this seems so pointless to me. I understand the concept perfectly well without the egg. Can we do something useful already?
Even the projects that have some practical application are not terribly useful. For example, projects 8 and 9 are a solar hot dog cooker and a solar marshmallow melter - arguably useful, but very low-powered and limited in their usefulness; I see no reason to build a hot dog cooker that is inefficient and only capable of doing one thing, when I can accomplish the same thing much faster and easier with a microwave, and the microwave can also be used for a hundred other things besides. Chapter 7 is all about solar stills; I do consider this useful knowledge, and I'm glad to have it, but I don't expect to ever need it.
Chapter 13 does have a number of practical projects: a solar battery charger, phone charger, and warning light (something you could wear while bicycling in low visibility conditions). But the battery charger seems to me like more trouble than it's worth (keep the solar cells IN the sun while keeping the batteries OUT of the sun?) and while I think the warning sign is a great idea, I don't ride a bicycle so that's not relevant to me personally.
The projects I liked: #19 - build a solar-powered fountain (this could be nice if I had a garden); and #39 - build your own solar car (model size, obviously), also not particularly useful, but hey, it could be fun to play with.
I think the phone charger and the fountain are the only things I would actually want to make. Given that the cover advertises "50 build-it-yourself projects"...I was hoping for more.
I also felt like the author spent way too much time trying to convince his readers that solar energy is worth pursuing. The book starts with *two entire chapters* dedicated to this aim, and then on top of that, he starts and/or ends each subsequent chapter with more of the same. Um, who is your audience? I think anyone who decides to read this book is already convinced that solar energy is worthwhile. A quick intro is fine, but beyond that, you're preaching to the choir.
Overall, kind of disappointing, but it was easy to follow (you do need at least a high-school level understanding of circuitry if you want to build the projects), and I appreciated the very organized and detailed table of contents, index, and appendices.
And I learned something interesting! Chapter 18 is all about biofuels, and the author included a section on history: "...The invention of the internal combustion engine can be attributed to Nikolaus August Otto (June 14, 1832 - Jan 28, 1891). His idea was pretty revolutionary... Rather than burning the fuel "outside" of the cylinder, the new idea was to burn the fuel "inside" the cylinder. In May 1867, the internal combustion engine was born. You might think that this is bad news for biofuels, as it could be tricky squeezing large logs inside a cylinder. Quite the contrary, in fact; Otto's original plan was to use ethanol. Biofuels got another boost when Henry Ford designed his mass-production Model T car to run on ethanol! Unfortunately now, our story takes a bit of a sinister turn. During the Second World War, with supplies of oil scarce, countries began to look at using biofuels to meet the war effort's demand for energy. Unfortunately, after this time biofuels take a bit of a turn for the worse. Oil became cheap and biofuels disappeared into obscurity...until now."
I had no idea that they had originally intended to use ethanol. Now there's a "what if...?" for you. (Someone needs to write an alternate history novel!) That is fascinating, and I am happy to have learned that.
June 10, 2009
this book is reall good if your interested in messing around with solar energy Gavin is absolutely a mastermind
Highly recommended
Highly recommended
June 28, 2010
I live in Phoenix, Arizona where we receive large amounts of direct sunlight most of the year, so I have a natural interest in using both photovoltaics and solar water heaters in my next home, both as an environmental sensibility and long-term cost cutting measure. With summer temperatures regularly exceeding 110 Fahrenheit, using electricity to heat water seems like a massive waste of resources. I purchased this book because I have an engineering degree as a well as experience with electrical projects, and could see the possibility of making large home modifications to these ends, so the more knowledge the better. For my purposes I found the book interesting, but unfortunately largely irrelevant since it does not contain many projects directly relating to *household* grid-tied solar electric and heating systems.
After a few brief overview chapters on solar and other energy technologies, Solar Energy Projects for the Evil Genius jumps straight into dozens of hands-on projects, grouped project type and generally increasing in difficultly throughout the book. It is written "cookbook" style: meaning that the bulk of the book volume is oriented towards small projects with parts lists and a loose set of instructions to guide the weekend warrior.
VERY IMPORTANT: Note the "...for the Evil Genius" part of the title. The overview sections do NOT cover how to read electrical diagrams, nor how to use the tools (such as soldering irons, power supplies etc.) or what to look for when purchasing parts. Details on the larger projects are largely omitted under the assumption that your evil genius does not need their hand held. If you're interested in even *attempting* to complete some of these projects--even the easier ones--you should already have an understanding of circuitry and basic electrical skills to work with them. You will almost certainly need to purchase parts and chemicals online, as well.
For those that decide to pick this up and try to construct some of these gadgets, please be safe!
After a few brief overview chapters on solar and other energy technologies, Solar Energy Projects for the Evil Genius jumps straight into dozens of hands-on projects, grouped project type and generally increasing in difficultly throughout the book. It is written "cookbook" style: meaning that the bulk of the book volume is oriented towards small projects with parts lists and a loose set of instructions to guide the weekend warrior.
VERY IMPORTANT: Note the "...for the Evil Genius" part of the title. The overview sections do NOT cover how to read electrical diagrams, nor how to use the tools (such as soldering irons, power supplies etc.) or what to look for when purchasing parts. Details on the larger projects are largely omitted under the assumption that your evil genius does not need their hand held. If you're interested in even *attempting* to complete some of these projects--even the easier ones--you should already have an understanding of circuitry and basic electrical skills to work with them. You will almost certainly need to purchase parts and chemicals online, as well.
For those that decide to pick this up and try to construct some of these gadgets, please be safe!
August 28, 2011
This book offers the easiest, least expensive solar projects I have ever seen. From lawn decorations to actually making the silicone needed to make a PV unit. the only thing I can say is that we are a lazy nation, looking for others to do our work, while we suck the life out of the earth.
Although I had originally gotten this book to seek easy projects to accomplish with my grandchildren; I have to admit, I have found a means to reduce not only my utility expenses, but to enhance my yard and reduce my carbon footprint. I do believe, Mother Nature is about to love me!
Although I had originally gotten this book to seek easy projects to accomplish with my grandchildren; I have to admit, I have found a means to reduce not only my utility expenses, but to enhance my yard and reduce my carbon footprint. I do believe, Mother Nature is about to love me!
June 10, 2008
A fun jaunt through the full spectrum of solar projects. While it doesn't evaluate the downsides of solar energy, it really is a fine textbook for those who wish to broaden their understanding of basic electronics, especailly as it pertains in the solar world. Plus, the projects are simple, and moderately easy to complete.
I got this one for my birthday from my sister, who obviously knows me quite well. The nerd in your life would really appreciate this kind of gift.
I got this one for my birthday from my sister, who obviously knows me quite well. The nerd in your life would really appreciate this kind of gift.
August 8, 2016
Some of the build instructions don't match up with the pictures. For instance, Project 7 Solar Ice Maker. The instructions don't say what to do with the 1.25 inch black pipe.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews