Green Energy Info

Archive for January, 2009

A Wind turbine uses the wind to produce power. There are plenty of homes across the United States that are conducive for residential wind power. These homes would require only a small windmill set up.

You would have to make sure that you have the correct wind resource for your home. To find out if your home qualifies, you would need to go online and find a wind map. Within that map, you will be able to determine if your home is right for this set up. The other requirement for this is that your home is located in a specific zoning area.

Residential wind power is operated by a wind turbine. This device is placed on top of a tower. This tower is responsible for gathering wind energy. The wind energy is then transformed into electricity. The result from the wind turbine is set so that it can match and work with the utility. The household wiring receives the output via the electrical breaker.

If the wind turbine produces excess power, the utility company buys that power. This system is set up automatically. There are no batteries to worry about with residential wind power unless you want to use them to store the energy you create.

The wind turbines are known to make noise, but not enough to where it is unbearable. The turbines do not interfere any electrical appliances or devices in the home. You don’t have to mess with any wiring in your home.

Some wind turbine users have another utility meter installed on their property. The second meter is used to determine how much electricity was sold to the utility. Qualified residents are also allowed to have a wind generator per federal guidelines. The incentive you have with this is that you would be paid for any additional electricity that is created.

The towers start at 35′ and go to about 80′. There should be a clearance of at least 20′ above obstacles around your residence. The more height the tower has, the faster the turbine will spin. This also helps the wind output to become milder.

It may take a while before you can tell whether or not this is a good investment for you. If your wind speed is average and your electricity cost is not high, then you may be able to get by. For some, it can take over six years to actually get your investment back. This would be done through utility savings. After the time period has passed, the cost for electricity would be free.

Another benefit for residential wind power is that qualified homeowners can be eligible for tax incentives and rebates for their system. If you are looking to save on electricity and willing to wait a few years to see the real benefits, then having residential wind power may be an investment you’ll want to make.

The information above is if you have your wind turbine built and installed by professionals. This can get very costly. You can build your solar and wind energy systems and install them yourself at a very cheap cost. To learn more about how to do this check out the resource/partner review page for a review of Earth4Energy. This guide will teach you how to do it all!

The energy crisis. No doubt you’ve seen your power increase several times recently, I know I have. I wanted to lower or eliminate my power bill, so I did some research into renewable energy solutions. I found there are three main types of renewable energy that I would look into taking advantage of: solar energy solutions, hydro energy solutions, and wind energy solutions.

The sun’s energy is the most abundant and easiest to collect energy source available. There are many large scale solar collectors being built all over the world, but it’s also very scalable so we can make home solar panels as well. This will not only cut down power bills but also help you contribute to a greener world.

Home solar energy systems have many advantages apart from being cost-effective and environment-friendly. They are low on maintenance and can provide a relatively quick ROI (return on investment) compared to other renewable solutions. They can pay for themselves and even turn a profit within several years and even sooner if you build and install them yourself. Check out the resource/partner review page to read a review of Earth4Energy. This product will teach you exactly how to do that.

Home wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form using wind turbines. Wind energy is plentiful, renewable, and clean, although the construction of wind farms is not always welcomed because of their looks.

If you want to get into renewable energy, solar power and wind power are the best options for the average home. A home solar power system will generate power all day, while the home wind power system will generate power whenever the wind is blowing. These systems compliment each other, making up for each others weaknesses.

I decided to go with a solar/wind solution. I called around my city to get some price quotes, but they were in the thousands! I went searching online for a cheaper solution and found quite a few DIY solutions. They show you how to build your own homemade solar panels and wind turbines.

I bought three of these products and thought I would share my experiences with the internet to save everyone else a lot of time and money. Some of the products had very sparse or overly-technical instructions, while some had very clear step-by-step directions. I feel Earth4Energy is the best guide going and is what I recommend.

Installing a home solar power system at your residence is good for the environment. A typical 10 KW system over the 25 year lifetime eliminates more than 400 pounds of nitrogen oxide which produces smog, eliminates more than 1000 pounds of sulfur dioxide which creates acid rain and eliminates more than 200 tons of carbon dioxide which contributes to global warming. Above all government is giving tax incentives to install home solar power to consumers to reduce carbon footprint.

Home solar power systems can be installed on almost all homes except for a very small home which have less than 120 square feet of roof. The largest of the systems require about 1000 square feet of roof. The system requires direct sunlight and it works almost everywhere. If there is not enough space on roof or if there is a problem of direct sunlight then it can even be installed on ground or some other elevated space. In most cities you require building permit to install home solar power system to your home or building. Your dealer and installer know how to obtain the necessary permits. You will also require permission from the utility company since this system works with your current utility.

The home solar power system is installed on the roof where the solar energy is transformed into direct current (DC) power. Then this DC power is converted into alternating current (AC) power for residential use. This generated AC power is then used around the house to run all the appliances like refrigerator, television, electric lamps, computers etc. At night this home solar power system will not work unless you are storing power in batteries, or have a wind turbine. If you don’t have the wind generator and are not storing energy then during night you sill need to draw power from local utility. Most of the home solar power systems are interconnected with you utility. Your utility would provide power as usual at night and during day when your electricity demand exceeds that produced by your home solar power system. In case of cloudy days the home solar power system generates less power. Part of the power produced by your home solar power system during the day time is used to charge the batteries which provide power for your critical loads in the event of a power outage, day or night.

Home Heating, there is a misconception that home solar power can heat a home, which is not true. The system is used to convert the solar energy into electrical energy and this energy is then used to run your appliances, lights and other electrical devices. If you have electric heater in your home then you can use this system to heat the home which is rare. There are other technologies which convert solar energy into heat but this home solar power system is not used for home heating.

Home solar power systems don’t have any moving parts and solar modules are also tough. Components may last many years without problem.

To learn more about home solar power systems, wind generators and how you can build and install them yourself at a great savings check out the resource/partner review page.