Home Made Renewable Energy Systems

A growing cadre of do-it-yourself enthusiasts is turning its attention to residential energy storage.

For these aficionados, Tesla's $3,000 Powerwall fails to impress. Instead, they're building their own DIY versions -- for a fraction of the cost.

In practical terms, I put in about 2kg of food waste each day and so far I have had enough gas to cook with, sometimes twice a day. If I ever needed more gas, I could put in more organic matter. I will continue to monitor the system as part of my research and will publish updates in due course. If interested, watch this space.

This is the housing I designed to mount a stepper motor to use as a small generator for use with the water wheel I posted earlier.

Getting started with home wind energy projects can set you back a pretty penny if you buy a finished product. But if you're a little bit handy and don't mind scrounging for materials and getting creative in the garage or backyard, you can build your own DIY wind turbine for about $30 in materials.

I've been fiddling with this design for some time now. Attaches to a rope which turns a stepper motor. I got enough power to light up an LED, but haven't had a chance to really put it through it's paces yet.