Green Energy Info

Archive for June, 2008

Here are some basic facts about solar energy for the home.

A home solar power system has several standard components they are as follows:

PV Modules or solar panels (to turn solar energy into electricity)

A charge controller (this is an electrical device that prevents batteries from overcharging and from power running from the batteries into the solar panels).

Batteries, to store the electricity for night time usage.

An inverter (an device which changes the electricity created by the solar panels into electricity ready for use in your regular household wall sockets). Solar panels create Direct Current DC and a household runs on A/C Alternating Current.

In the case of a hybrid home solar system, an automatic switch to get current from the electrical grid, or some other power source such as a generator would be included as well. The advantage of using a hybrid system is that you will not be dependent upon solar energy alone.

A 1-kilowatt home solar system is sufficient for most households. A 1-kilowatt home solar system will provide roughly 1,600 kilowatts per year in a sunny climate (receiving 5.5 hrs of sunlight each day) and about 750 kilowatt hours per year in cloudy climates (receiving 2.5 hours of sunlight each day). A 1-kilowatt home solar system is uses about 10-12 solar panels, and requires about 100 square feet of installation area (which could be the roof of your home or a section of land on your property). A 1-kilowatt home solar system reduces waste and pollution by about 170 lbs. of coal from being burned, 300 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere and 105 gallons of water from being consumed each month! A big step toward protecting our environment, in other words. With battery back up, a solar energy system can provide electricity day and night, no matter what the weather conditions. Other options, which include back-up generators and grid-tie systems, provide total security. On average a 1-kilowatt home solar system takes about 1-2 days to install and costs around US$10,000 (though prices are coming down), but can vary greatly and does not take into account any tax incentives offered by the government for reducing carbon emissions. Most systems come with a 5-year warranty, although the solar panels are warranted for 20, and as technology advances some are even coming out with a 30 year warranty.

You can also build your own solar panels for about $200.00 so for 12 you are looking at $1200.oo not $10,000. This can be done very easily. Check out the resource/partner review page for more details on how to build it yourself.

Wind power energy is a great source of energy for our planet. It’s so much more environmentally friendly and it’s a treat for the economic conscious world. Wind power is bountiful, renewable and clean source of power that can be used in a large range of applications from wind farms through to home wind power.

Residential wind power works by placing a wind generator on top of a high tower so that the wind turbine can collect the kinetic energy and convert this kinetic energy into clean and green electricity. This electricity is then supplied throughout your home like normal electricity that you are use to having in your home. Because a residential wind turbine can be even more effective generating more electricity then is required for an average home, utility companies offer a buy back system where they will purchase any unused electricity that has been generated by the residential wind power. The turbines used for residential wind power is small but efficient, that’s makes it more effective and productive.

Wind energy is governed by nature so as wind speeds increase, turbine output increases and the amount of power purchased from the utility is proportionately decreased. When the turbine produces more power than the house needs, the extra electricity is sold to the utility. All of this is done automatically as there are no batteries in a modern residential wind system. And it doesn’t need batteries as well the pressure of wind is enough to make it regulate.

It’s always good and well to have an environmental conscious life style. Plus this idea of having the facility to produce your own electricity through renewable resources is a wonderful feeling itself. Because doing so you are not only helping out the environment, but also helping out your bank balance by reducing your need to buy electricity from the utility company. Residential wind power can be termed as an all won lottery. It can bring out tremendous positive influence over the world regarding energy consumption awareness.

you can buy a wind turbine DYI kit or for even more savings you can get a good guide and plans and build it yourself. In my opinion the best DYI guide and plans is Earth4Energy. Get more information on Earth4Energy here resource/partner reviews.