Toepfer is one of the pioneers of small wind in the US. He, like myself, began
their careers by scouring the Great Plains for junk windmills. Yep, that’s how we did it in the early to mid 1970s. We sought, bought, and rebuilt windchargers from the heyday of small wind and then resold them to a budding market for residential-sized wind turbines.
I’ve set Toepfer’s The Hybrid Electric Home: Clean, Efficient, Profitable book aside to read for pleasure because he has an extensive discourse on the development and growth of the electric utility industry-a subject that should be of interest to anyone working in the renewable energy industry today.
This is the kind of book I envision Mick Sagrillo diving into with its archive photos and illustrations not only of the early days of electricity but also the early days of small wind.
The Hybrid Electric Home: Clean, Efficient, Profitable by Craig Toepfer; 2010; 8 1/2 x 11; ISBN: 9780764334030; 144 pages; paper; $24.99; Schiffer Publishing, 4880 Lower Valley Rd.; Atglen, PA 19310; www.schifferbooks.com.
