Green Energy Info

Archive for January, 2008

The rising level of awareness about issues pertaining to our environment is leading many people to try out alternate sources of energy these days. Among them, solar power is perhaps the most widely used source of energy. Not only is it is renewable, it is also cheap and helps us contribute towards a healthier environment too. Tapping this source of energy has also become very easy nowadays. You can yourself build a home solar power system and start saving on your utility bills every month.

In fact  homeowners are even using their grid -tied home solar power system to  sell excess electricity that is produced back to their utility. A home solar power system also makes sense because they operate very quietly and don’t require much of maintenance. All that they need is a few hours of sunshine to produce the energy required to run the various different appliances in your home. The entire process will seem a lot easier if you were to approach it as a way of having some weekend fun. You can build a solar power system easily and cheap. Much cheaper than a kit or having a contractor do it for you. check out the resource/partner review page to learn more.

One of the reasons for an increasing number of people using solar power these days can be attributed to the widespread availability of online guides on the topic. You can easily build your own home solar power system by simply following the instructions given on a good online guide. The entire process will not cost you much, with most of the supplies needed for the process at a local hardware store. Alternately you can also find many do it yourself or DIY kits too available in the market these days. All that you need to do with these DIY home solar power system kits is to assemble all the components that you find in the package.

Check out Earth4Energy on the resource/partner review page to learn more. This is the best DYI guide going on building and installing your own solar panels and wind turbines.

This article will briefly illustrate how a simple home power generating system can be set up. It is not intended to be an expert treatise or technical in nature but a simple illustration of a type of system to power the average home.

Solar power generation.

Solar power is generated using solar panels. Often these are placed on the roof of the property but this is not a requirement. Space permitting they can be sited at ground level.

The solar panels are generally made up of two layers of silicon - n-type (negative) silicon and p-type (positive) silicon.

The upper level is made up of the n-type silicon which absorbs photons from sunlight. The photons pass through the n-type silicon layer into the p-type silicon layer where they give up their energy to electrons. The electrons pass back up into the n-type layer and “escape” through attached cable into the electrical circuit and on to the charge controller as direct current (DC).

The charge controller then feeds DC either to batteries for storage or as a DC supply.

When the power stored in the batteries is required it is fed on to the inverter where it is converted into and supplied as alternating current (AC). You can build solar panels yourself. Get a good guide and plans and build a solar panel for around $200.00. Much cheaper than a kit or having contractors do it for you. In my opinion the best guide is Earth4Energy. Read a review here  resource/partner reviews

Wind power generation

First there is the “windmill”.

The windmill turns a spindle that is connected to a generator.

The wind power generator produces electricity which is fed on to the charge controller as direct current (DC).The charge controller then feeds DC either to batteries for storage or as a DC supply.

The power is stored in the batteries. When required it is fed on to the inverter where it is converted into and supplied as alternating current (AC). With the guide I just mentioned above you can also build a wind generator for about $200.00

Cost

The huge technological advances with solar power and wind power generating equipment have resulted in tumbling prices. Combined with the detailed but easy to follow d.i.y. guides available on the internet home alternative energy generating systems now fall within the financial means of most homeowners. The r-e-systems website provides a great deal more information together with an introduction to an excellent d.i.y. guide, which also provides sound advice on how aqnd wheer to obtain the best value “parts”. With potential electricity bill savings of 80% or more you really shouldn’t miss the opportunity to find out more about renewable energy systems. Check out the  resource/partner review page to learn more about building your own solar panels and wind turbines.