The website below is the City of Austin's (TX) green building program rainwater collection information. Rainwater catchment systems are very popular in Austin and the surrounding areas and in some hill country locations rainwater is the ONLY source of house water. In our current house, we have a 1200 gallon tank that catches the rainwater off a modest 1100 sq. ft. roof and it easily fills up with a couple of inches of heavy rainfalls. My husband installed it himself with lots of buried underground PVC pipe, an old galvanized metal tank, and a Ditch Witch rental. With a small pump and solar panel trickle charging a 12V battery, it works great for irrigating the garden and fruit trees. Since that was successful, we decided to put in another catchment system in the house we are in the process of remodeling prior to moving in. At this house, however, we are using a catchment system for our house water and that added another layer of complexity for various reasons; size of house, number of downspouts, length of underground PVC, gutter and downspout screening, size of tanks (2 x 3000 gal.), multiple sediment filters plus a UV light for sterilization purposes, shed to house about equipment, etc. (You won't need a UV filter if the water isn't for potable uses.) Remember that for both these systems, you absolutely need a "first flush" mini-catchment system to divert the first water off your roof BEFORE it enters your main tank/cistern. The first rain will wash your roof of all the dust, bird droppings, leaves, and other detritus and you absolutely want to keep out of your main cistern because entering a cistern through a tiny manhole opening to clean out sediment is no fun. Therefore, you want to make sure to catch that first roof "flush" in a separate, smaller tank (that you empty or clean periodically) and not allow it to go into your cistern(s). There are various kits or plans for these types of "roof washers" or "first flush containment" systems available with different diverter options. Usually they use a ball valve that rises with the water in the smaller cleanout tank that will allow the subsequent rainwater to flow into your cistern. Some cleanout traps/tanks have a valve that slowly allow the first flush water to leak out in readiness for the next rainfall, but you still must plan on physically cleaning out the debris from the first flush tanks periodically. I can say that it is truly amazing the amount of rainwater one can gain from a catchment system. I believe it is possible, theoretically, to catch about 600 gallons per inch of rain for every 1000 s.f. of roof. I say theoretically because there will always be inefficiences in the system, still, it is quite amazing to go out during a rainstorm and watch the waterfall of rain flowing into your cistern (need a flashlight and a ladder, we have above-ground tanks). By the way, your cistern does not have to be immediately adjacent to your building. You can run pipe (above or below ground) to it from your downspout collection point(s) and as long as the opening into the cistern is LOWER than your gutters, it will fill up.

I agree with allahkbbq here. PV is the most popular renewable for many reasons. Not sure why some describe it as fragile. Its the most robust, and maintenance free power system available. Grid-tied systems are cheaper than ever with the panels themselves being incredibly affordable and resilient. What other power system can you throw up and have 50 years of maintenance-free electricity? Wind is great but as mentioned, requires LOTS of maintenance. Micro-hydro is even cheaper but arguably requires even more fiddling to maintain. The biggest problem with both is the extremely limited useful locations. For wind, you need an average yearly wind speed of 14 mph. Micro hydro needs a year round creek with 40' head. Both are great to have but extremely uncommon for most homeowners. The sun shines everywhere and with grid-tied systems you dont need batteries or generators. Grid-tied PV is extremely useful to power companies because most energy is being generated during peak-demand hours which reduces the need to build new power plants and infrastructure.

It really depends what you want from your solar system and how it's connected (grid tied or battery). If it's a battery system, I would suggest you buy a gas dryer. Electric dryers use a lot of energy, and they're most likely to be using during bad weather when it's cloudy and wet - which also happens to be the time of year that your solar pannels are least effective. Overall, it seems to be a bad combination and could result in either having to buy excess batteries or running them down too much. With a grid tied system, an electric dryer isn't such a concern. At any rate, using it won't leave you in the dark, and you can 'borrow' electric from the grid to power it. However, if generating all your electric from solar is important to you, then gas is still a good choice. It's also a good choice if you intend to use it reguarly. However, what about having no dryer at all? Dryers are a huge energy consumer, both gas and electric, and they have a number of dissadvantages. They wear clothes out faster, make some stains stick forever, and the resulting laundry is a crumpled mess that takes forever to iron. Personally, I hate ironing, which is why my dryer is never used. I don't even know where it is in the basement, it's been burried in boxes for so many years! If I hang the clothes out carefully, most everything comes off the line ready to wear or put away, which is a massive time saver. If the weather is bad, I just hang the clothing inside the house. I've set up a space in the basement for hanging clothes to dry, but you could use a shed or garage for this. It's not quite as fast as a dryer, but it cost nothing, saves a vast amount of ironing, and it helps the fabrics last longer. As for the common worry you'll run out of clean clothes without a dryer, I can assure you, without having to buy an expensive dryer and feed it with fuel all the time, I have plenty of spare cash for extra clothing, which makes me much happier than a dreary old bill at the end of the month!

The thing about tracking hardware is that it is so expensive that for the say, 15% or so reduction you get due to sun angle you can buy enough extra panels to offset the loss, assuming you have the space. CA new title 24 states that on a new building you must provide an unobstructed roof area of 250 sq ft(no vents, chimneys, or roof penetrations). Those panels must be at least 3'below the peak to provide access for the fire dept. It pains me to say it but solar thermal is about dead in the current American market. I was in the solar and alternative energy business in CA back in the late 70's-early 80's and did hundreds of hot water and other types of solar systems. They work great, but a dhw system today is around $10,000. That money is much better spent on a PV system today. Much better return on that investment. Ground mount systems are fairly common up here in the foothills. My house is shaded by a Sequoia and a few 4' dia Black Walnuts. My only PV option will be ground mount out in the side yard or a new garage roof, I suppose, but then again I spent the garage on the house re-model;). I've seen several up here where they put the array up on a 15' or so tall post. There are, finally, initiatives underway now to establish better specification guidelines for DC power. Snidely, I think you and I would get along great in person, but boy, we sure don't agree on much here. That is in no way a critical statement, quiet the opposite in fact. I'm a fitter/welder in an early life and worked on gas lines from 1/4"-36". I am very comfortable with it, but I understand the process of pipe design and installation. I do think that as we have codes that require smoke detectors that every home should also have CO detectors and, if supplied with gas, have a combustible gas detector. I am surprised that the insurance industry hasn't pulled that off yet. I guess not enough houses/people have been lost that way. Anyway, looking forward to meeting you on the next post;)