''Home Power'' was a bi-monthly American

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

based in

Ashland, Oregon Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 in Oregon, Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population w ...

. At one time it had a circulation greater than 100,000. Published from October 1987 through November 2018, ''Home Power'' promoted a goal of reducing the use of

fossil fuel A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geolog ...

s for electricity generation by replacing fossil fuel generation capacity with currently available

renewable electricity Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind power, and hydropower. Bioenergy and ...

alternatives. Solar, wind, and hydro systems information were covered at a homeowner's

do-it-yourself "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi- ...

level with expert advice and examples. ''Home Power'' also provided information on energy efficient building and design practices.

Electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...

information was also featured and its integration with renewable electricity systems and solar panels. After ceasing publication at the end of 2018 the publishers made a downloadable archive of all past issues available for free from their web site.

History

Richard and Karen Perez started ''Home Power'' in 1987. From the start the magazine itself had been published with the use of alternative energy resources. Its publishers lived the lifestyle they espouse. ''Home Power'' was a recognized leading provider of detailed information for home scale renewable energy installation. Its publishers, authors, and editors were cited in other industry publications and blogs. At its founding, ''Home Power'' focused on off-grid systems and do-it-yourself ( DIY) information for homeowners. Focusing on "home scale" renewable systems, the magazine did not typically cover utility scale renewable energy issues such as large wind farms or utility scale solar installations. The magazine recognized the up-tick of interest in, and expansion of, the grid-tied solar electric systems market for homeowners. More recently, the magazine covered both DIY systems and professionally installed grid-tied systems on its web site and print editions and in its articles, editorials, and advertising. It also covered broader subjects related to home-scale energy production, including green building, energy efficiency, and alternative transportation. A controversial topic ''Home Power'' was once in support of (and coined the term for) is "Guerrilla Solar", (see Solar Guerrilla) or solar power installations by homeowners that are grid tied which are not permitted by the utilities they are tied to. This non-inspected practice has fallen out of favor given the cooperation of utilities with homeowners wishing to install solar, and states' enactment of net-metering regulations. ''Home Power'' continued until its end covering the topic by its coverage of micro-inverters and small systems that can safely and legally be tied to the grid. ''Home Power'' also has a web presence. The former web site complemented the print edition with most past articles in HTML format, convenient because they are often referred to in current issues. The current web site allows free downloading of all past magazines in Acrobat format. Because ''Home Power'' covered off-grid

self-reliance "Self-Reliance" is an 1841 essay written by American transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. It contains the most thorough statement of one of his recurrent themes: the need for each person to avoid conformity and false consistency, ...

it was a popular magazine in the

prepper Survivalism is a social movement of individuals or groups (called survivalists, doomsday preppers or preppers) who proactively prepare for emergencies, such as natural disasters, and other disasters causing disruption to social order (that is, ...

community. ''Home Power'' published the final edition of Home Power magazine in November 2018. That November/December issue (HP188) ended the magazine's 31-year publishing run, and now makes all of the back issues available for free, at homepower.com.

Recent initiatives

To fill a growing need for reliable information for

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

systems professionals ''Home Power'' also came out with an industry trade magazine: '' SolarPro''.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.homepower.com
''SolarPro'' homepage
1987 establishments in Oregon 2018 disestablishments in Oregon Sustainable energy Bimonthly magazines published in the United States Lifestyle magazines published in the United States Defunct magazines published in the United States Electric vehicle industry Energy magazines Magazines established in 1987 Magazines disestablished in 2018 Magazines published in Oregon Renewable energy