Battery used Battery charging

LOW←TECH MAGAZINE

This is a solar-powered website, which means it sometimes goes offline Power
Browse by Theme

Off-the-grid

How Sustainable is a Solar Powered Website?

We present our website’s energy and uptime data, calculate the embodied energy of our configuration, consider the optimal balance between sustainability and server uptime, and outline possible improvements.

Too Much Combustion, Too Little Fire

The fire – which we have used in our homes for over 400,000 years – remains the most versatile and sustainable household technology that humanity has ever known.

Mist Showers: Sustainable Decadence?

The water and energy use of the mist shower is so low that the bathroom could be taken off-grid and off-pipe even in an urban context.

Reinventing the Small Wind Turbine

A wooden rotor and tower greatly increase the net energy output over the lifetime of a small wind turbine.

Heat your House with a Mechanical Windmill

Given the right conditions, a mechanical windmill with an oversized brake system is a cheap, effective, and sustainable heating system.

Keeping Some of the Lights On: Redefining Energy Security

To improve energy security, we need to make infrastructures less reliable.

How to Build a Low-tech Website?

Our new website is designed to radically reduce the energy use associated with accessing our content.

Ditch the Batteries: Off-Grid Compressed Air Energy Storage

Compressed air energy storage is a sustainable and resilient alternative to chemical batteries, with much longer life expectancy, lower life cycle costs, technical simplicity, and low maintenance.

How to Get Your Apartment Off the Grid

Solar panels on window sills and balconies can supply more power than you would think.

Slow Electricity: The Return of DC Power?

Directly coupling DC power sources with DC loads can result in a significantly cheaper and more sustainable solar system.

How to Build a Low-tech Internet

If we want the internet to keep working in circumstances where access to energy is more limited, we can learn important lessons from alternative network technologies.

How Sustainable is Stored Sunlight?

Energy storage is often ignored when scientists investigate the sustainability of PV systems.