APRIL FOOLS 2008!
From the Otherpower Staff
However, this page is a public service announcement, too.
Be on the lookout for the tell-tale signs of renewable energy scams. They are EVERYWHERE on the internet. Let's face it, there are people all over the world that really want to separate you from your money. Always hold onto your wallet tightly.
Telltale signs of a possible scam:
- Claims of energy from nothing, also known as "perpetual motion machines," "free energy," "overunity," and other terms. You can look up almost any possible scam here: Eric's History of Perpetual Motion and Free Energy Machines. It's a great reference.
- Lots of hype, and very little scientific knowledge.
- Multi-level marketing schemes where you MUST get in right away before everyone else does.
- Claims of big money to be made very quickly.
- "Products" that don't really exist yet, except in computer animations. You need to invest first, THEN they can build an actual product that you can sell at a later date.
- Unfortunately -- many of these "products" include wind turbines, and they are usually the very "different-looking" vertical axis kind (VAWT) and are almost always advertised to work from your rooftop. Take all rooftop wind turbine claims with a big grain of salt.
- New innovation, new patent. Neither has anything to do with whether it actually works or not.
- Read this page before investing in any "new" wind turbine design, whether as an investor, installer, or customer: Fantasy Wind Turbines
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- Here's a great way to find out if something is a scam or not -- ask to visit a working installation, and then look at the site meters measuring accumulated kilowatt-hours. Good luck getting your phone calls returned.
- Always remember that websites with pictures of girls holding hundred dollar bills and lots of red, white and blue are FAR cheaper to produce than an actual product.
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Give the finger to foreign oil! 
