If your question is in regards to an order you placed, shipping information, payment, package tracking, etc. please email our Shipping Office in town--they will be able to take care of it promptly.

We receive far more technical questions via email each week than we can possibly answer and still keep our business running!

Guidelines for asking us questions via email:

• The subject line must relate to renewable energy -- If it's blank, says 'hello' or 'help needed' etc., we'll never even see your email.
• Unblock us from your SPAM filter before sending an email -- It's a total waste of our time to spend an hour answering your question, only to have our replies rejected by your SPAM filter. The replies could come from ANY employee at Otherpower.com, so unblock the entire otherpower.com domain name. We also do not waste our time typing cryptic letters and numbers into SPAM filter web pages (Earthlink, etc) because 99% of the time, our reply still doesn't get through the filter.
• Automated and third party (SEO) link exchange requests will be rejected and receive no reply. If you want to trade links, take the time to email us personally. Read our link exchange guidelines first, as link requests that don't follow them will not receive a reply.

Our priorities for answering renewable energy technical questions:

• Our customers and potential customers -- If you have ANY questions about how to use, assemble, install, configure, or implement any of the products we sell at our Online Store, we'll reply promptly! Bug us again if you don't recieve a reply in a couple days.
• Students and Teachers -- We try to be very responsive to information requests and other questions. Kids and those that teach them are the real future of the renewable energy industry. It may take a few days to answer your questions, though, so please be patient.
• "I want to build a wind turbine, but don't know where to start" -- We can refer you to a whole bunch of free information and plans on our website, along with a plethora of different books and plans you can buy from our Online Store to answer all of your questions. It is MUCH better to do your research first, before jumping into a potentially complicated and expensive project! We'll try to point you in the right direction. Here's a good start: Homebrew Wind Power by Dan Bartmann and Dan Fink. The best book out there about building wind turbines in the home workshop. We know, because we wrote it!
  The Bottom Line about wind turbines. This free article is a great introduction to what wind power can do for you, and what it can't.
  Wind Turbine User's Manual. This is a free, large download and is also available as an inexpensive bound copy. It explains exactly what you are getting yourself into if you decide to build or buy a wind turbine, including installation, system wiring, control systems and towers.
  How to Build a Wind Turbine by Hugh Piggott. Hugh's plans have been a staple for turbine builders all over the world for years now.
• "How many solar panels and wind turbines do I need to run my house, and how do I sell electricity back to the power company?" -- We these questions a lot, and we really can't help you design your system. But these books and articles are a great introduction to renewable energy systems:
  Power With Nature by Rex Ewing. A very friendly introduction to renewable energy systems of all kinds. Easy to read and no jargon, but still includes very detailed explanations and diagrams of system components and how they work together.
  Got Sun? Go Solar! by Rex Ewing and Doug Pratt. Another great introduction, but focused on grid-tied systems that sell electricity back to the power company.
  • We also give seminars on building wind turbines. We offer them at our shop in Colorado, and at various renewable energy / sustainable living fairs around the USA. We can also give a seminar at your location, but that's much more expensive. Contact us for more details.
• Enthusiasts -- ("Why did you build it this way instead of a different design like mine?" etc). Of course we'll try to help you, but most questions we get have already been answered on our web pages. So don't be offended if we simply reply with links where you can read the information yourself. Please note that we keep ALL of our old web pages up for reference--for example many of our old wind turbine and alternator pages are completely obsolete. All of these pages have a bright blue warning at the top stating that we no longer build things that way...if you inquire about an old page, we'll simply refer you to the pages that show how we do things NOW.
• Other people's customers -- We are very aware of how many companies out there sell wind turbine (and other types of renewable energy) products, parts, kits and plans, but know nothing about any of it themselves. We'll give our best attempt at helping you salvage your purchase, but please be patient.

Questions we can't answer:

• My well is 200 feet deep, and I need to pump to my house 400 feet away...
• I need you to design an LED circuit to light up my...
  • Sorry, you are asking us for free consultation services. We have private lives too, and can't possibly provide this service for free...there are not enough hours in the day. We can recommend web pages to read, and point you to some excellent books on these topics that you can purchase from us. Please don't be offended if you receive a generic email in reply from us, that lists these numerous resources where you can do your homework.
  • If you really want a consultation from us and are willing to pay for it, our rates range from US$50 - $100 an hour for research, depending on the topic and how many employees would have to be involved. The information you get for your money will be top notch, from our many years of experience.
  • We can do system troubleshooting, and can even travel to do it for you -- but be warned in advance, you probably won't like the answer. It's usually that you are using more power than you have coming in, and your batteries are toast. But at least we won't try to sell you anything!
• Quotes for products we don't sell. All of the products we sell are listed in our Online Store. They include books, plans, magnets, and all the other 'stuff' you'll need to build a wind turbine from scratch. They DO NOT include solar panels, inverters, hydro power plants, balance of system components, etc.
• Free energy / overunity / perpetual motion machines -- Sorry, this is 'science fiction' stuff as far as we're concerned. You might as well ask us to help you design a Star Trek transporter. To quote the late, great Robert Heinlein: "TANSTAAFL! -- There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch!" If there was--the test results on our wind turbines would be radically different than what we measure on our meters.