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LOW←TECH MAGAZINE

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Low-tech Solutions

Interesting possibilities arise when you combine old technology with new knowledge and new materials, or when you apply old concepts and traditional knowledge to modern technology.

Low-tech Magazine: The Ebooks

Low-tech Magazine now offers its complete book collection in epub format.

How to Build a Small Solar Power System

This guide explains everything you need to know to build stand-alone photovoltaic systems that can power almost anything you want.

Test our Bike Generators in Paris, Rotterdam, and Barcelona

Low-tech Magazine built a bicycle generator for an exhibition on energy at the Pavillon d’Arsenal in Paris, now open to the public. Our two other bikes can be seen and experimented with in Rotterdam and Barcelona.

Workshop in Rotterdam: How to Build a Bike Generator

From 10 to 14 October, Low-tech Magazine holds a free workshop where we will build a bicycle generator together.

Direct Solar Power: Off-Grid Without Batteries

Using solar panels without backup infrastructure makes renewable energy production much more affordable, efficient and sustainable.

Human Powered Air Compressor and Energy Storage System

Andy Lagzdins built and documented a pedal-powered air compressor to run the power tools in his motorcycle workshop.

Rebuilding a Solar Powered Website

You’re looking at a completely rebuilt version of the solar powered website, which now allows you to turn off the dithering compression and see the original images.

Low-tech Magazine: The Comic

Filmmaker Guillaume Lion visited Low-tech Magazine in Barcelona and turned his experience into a comic for the Belgian magazine Médor.

What if We Replace Guns and Bullets with Bows and Arrows?

The bicycle and the bow are both highly efficient, human-powered technologies that could substitute for two very harmful alternatives: the car and the firearm. Why do we promote one but not the other?

How to Build a Practical Household Bike Generator

We built a pedal-powered generator and controller, which is practical to use as an energy source and exercise machine in a household – and which you can integrate into a solar PV system. We provide detailed plans to build your own, using basic skills and common hand tools.

The Printed Website: Volume III & The Comments

The printed archives of Low-tech Magazine now amount to four volumes with a total of 2,398 pages and 709 images.

How to Build a Low-tech Solar Panel?

George Cove, a forgotten solar power pioneer, may have built a highly efficient photovoltaic panel 40 years before Bell Labs engineers invented silicon cells. If proven to work, his design could lead to less complex and more sustainable solar panels.