Solar Energy Is Pure Sunshine!

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010

Pure sunshine makes almost all of the world’s energy. Let’s repeat that; Pure sunshine makes almost all the world’s energy! No matter how you look at it the sun works in mysterious ways, whether the energy is harvested from of a tree, plant and then used indirectly as wood, pellets, oil or coal(taking billions of years) the majority of energy we use is a product of the sun. Enough sun energy falls on the earth in a single day to supply us with energy for several years. This could also be through several man made sources including solar panels, solar heating and solar hot water panels.     The energy the sun supplies is free, all we need to do is put the equipment in place to harness the raw power going to waste every day. The energy we harness and use today will not deplete the energy we can harness and use tomorrow or the day after and best of all there will still be plenty for our children without the harmful effects on the environment. The drawback for many is the start up cost for purchasing and installing a system. You are paying for your electricity in a lump sum in advance before you even get to enjoy the clean energy. Our culture unfortunately is governed by “pay as you go” which makes all the utility companies very popular since they only charge us for what we use in a given period of time. Imagine paying up front for installation and never having to pay another electricity bill. Maintaining the system is well, basically maintenance free.     So what do you need to make solar energy—-Just the equipment – the sun does the rest! The equipment would be PV Panels, charge controller, batteries, system monitor, inverter and a circuit breaker panel. There are more and more manufacturers, distributors and suppliers of this equipment every day. If you do not believe me the go to the government site http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/solar.renewables/page/solarphotv/solarpv.htmland see the information for yourself. Since 1997 this industry has grown exponentially each and every year.     To fulfill your energy requirements in any weather a good backup system to the solar would be a wind generator. Usually if it is cloudy a solar system will not generate the same output as it would on a sunny day. With the weather being unsettled usually there is wind and wind can also mean electricity backup. It takes and average wind speed of 9 miles per hour to keep a wind generator generating electricity. If wind power is not an option than additional energy storage batteries can also be a solution.     No matter how you look at it solar energy, green energy and wind energy is the only option for a socially responsible culture. We just need to adjust to the change now before the damage we do to the earth is irreversible. The government is offering tax credits for the installation of solar energy systems, up to 30% of the cost, you can see the tax form and instructions here http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5695.pdfany way you look at it, and it makes more and more sense to install a solar system to create energy.

How to Make Renewable Energy Solutions? â?? DIY Solar Energy Cell

Saturday, January 2nd, 2010

Are you interested to learn how to make Renewable Energy Solutions using systems such as a DIY solar energy cell? I am sure that you would already realize that your electricity bills is seemingly increasing every month and showing no signs of stopping. As the problem of energy shortage becomes more and more obvious, an increasing number of homeowners around the world are starting to get worried about escalating prices and are seeking alternative ways to generate heat and electricity in their homes. 1. Using DIY Solar Energy Cell to Power Your Home A solar energy cell is one way to harness heat in the form of heating up the air or water, as well as electrical power. This is one of the most effective renewable energy solutions that I am using today. The heat energy from the sun can be used to provide hot water in the house. To generate electricity with it, homeowners can build solar panels on their rooftops that cause a chemical reaction and produce electrical power when interacted with sunlight. It works similar to the way solar powered calculators work except on a bigger scale. 2. How to Make Renewable Energy Solutions System At Home? The method that I used was to follow a step by step guide online that contains clearly illustrated blueprints and video tutorials to guide me with the building process. In the long term, I am sure that it will help to save the environment and more importantly for me, cut down on my electrical bills. Therefore, I believe that every citizen should start to explore and implement the building of renewable energy solutions in their own home to start reducing the environmental hazards traditionally caused by fossil fuels. You can find out about the guide I used at my website link below.

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Renewable Energy Sources

Saturday, January 2nd, 2010

What are the advantages and Disadvantages of Using Green Energy Sources?Nowadays, we are at this time aware of the aftermath of global warming. Luckily, it isn’t too late and we will be able to still vary which explains why many are pushing for green energy sources.The benefit of using green energy sources is clean so it is unpolluted so it doesn’t emit anything harmful into the air which has an effect on the atmosphere. It is also renewable which suggests we will never run out of it not like oil which is expected to dry up in 10 years or so.Though green energy facilities are dear to construct, it needs less upkeep so you don’t have to shell out a lot of money to operate it.It can also bring business advantages to certain areas even boost tourism.At the same time as these sound good, there are some who say that there are benefits to using such technology.While clean energy sources can manufacture electricity, how much it can produce is not consistent. This is because we haven’t any control of the weather so if a certain area relies on solar electricity and there’s a weather distraction, it won’t be in a position to convert daylight into electricity.Building these facilities also requires lots of land so we may have to cut on farmland which is what many are nervous about if more air turbines are to be put up.Another downside is the fact that some of the replenish-able energy sources can’t be installed in certain areas of the planet. For example, wave energy can only be employed if the waves coming from the ocean attain at least sixteen feet. The use geothermal energy can only be done in geologically volatile parts of the planet.But if you look at such discussions, places that can’t use one form of clean energy source can be substituted for another. If turbines need more space, they can be installed close to the coast rather than putting these on land. A study shows that you can create more electricity while these are in the ocean.At the same time as the weather is something we can’t control, it isn’t common-or-garden not common-or-garden that there’s a weather derangement so this too shall pass. If solar electricity is being used and the sun is covered, the emergency generators will be activated and use up the energy that was stored.The point is that there are tactics round the bitching put by certain individuals which discourage the use of renewable energy sources. In reality, research is continuing to try and harness other means to create the power we require.A very good instance of this is known as sea thermal energy. Power is generated by harnessing the altered temperatures in the water. It is presently being used on a tiny scale both in Japan and Hawaii.In the US, only 7% of green energy sources are used all over the country. This was way higher 11 years back and if we don’t have to fret about the price of oil or maybe reduce our reliance on it, we should invest more in this clean energy.We can get it from renewable energy sources like biomass, biodiesel, geothermal, solar, water and the wind. These are things we have all around us and all it takes is for somebody to exploit it rather than counting on conventional non-renewable means to supply energy.To check out a review of Renewable Energy Resource products that can save you hundreds of dollars on your electricity bills click here

make home solar power panels – solar energy power wind power turbines

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

Bret Parker, leader in solar power and wind power generation systems for generating solar electricity and wind power for domestic home and small commercial industrial applications workshops.

Installation of a complete solar power system is a significant investment and one you want to trust to someone with a proven track record.

Bret has been active in renewable energy, solar power, and solar panels since 2000 with a comprehensive knowledge of all solar power installations solutions for the domestic and business applications.

Bret’s proven expertise in the renewable energy sector on a global scale with access to some of the most experienced installers and system designers ready to help and give advice on all solar power applications.

Solar Energy to Generate Solar Electricity

In a world where fossil fuel energy demands are becoming unsustainable Bret took the decision to offer customers a choice of do it yourself solar power panels and do it yourself wind power generator turbines in a package that contains comprehensive step by step guides on how to make your own solar electricity using solar power panels and wind generator turbines.

Bret gives advice on energy efficient equipment to use in a complete home solar system.

 Energy costs are rising

Home owners are starting to look at alternative energy sources for their homes and are becoming aware of the negative impact traditional fossil fuel energy have on the environment.

Simply, there are alternative energy sources that the home owner can use to power their home such as do it yourself solar power panel systems and wind generators that are much cheaper than the traditional sources.

Residential Home solar power panels can provide energy for a home that will dramatically reduce costs on the traditional monthly electric bill.

Of course, there are those that may be wondering if they could make or build solar panels or a wind generator turbine.

A complete novice or someone that has a background in home improvement or do it yourself experience could make or build solar panels by simply reading Bret’s instructional guides on how to and watching Bret’s several video presentations.

Bret Parker’s reliable and quality solar power package is all that is needed for success. The package guides will explain in detail how solar energy, solar electricity, home solar panels, wind generator turbine are make and how to use them in a complete home solar energy system.

Bret’s package is more than just lecture material, it includes hands on approach that will clearly help the skills you need to work as a do it yourselfer in solar power energy installations.

This package is designed by Bret and has a very professional approach but still understanding enough for the solar novice.  

Once again, the world is changing and people are becoming more and more independent and looking for cost effective ways to save money. This means they are looking for alternate energy sources.

MAKE Solar Power

Residential, Domestic, Home, DIY or Do It Yourself Solar Panels.

BUILD Wind Power

Wind Power Generator Turbine

How to Make Renewable Energy Solutions? â?? DIY Solar Energy Cell

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

Are you interested to learn how to make Renewable Energy Solutions using systems such as a DIY solar energy cell? I am sure that you would already realize that your electricity bills is seemingly increasing every month and showing no signs of stopping. As the problem of energy shortage becomes more and more obvious, an increasing number of homeowners around the world are starting to get worried about escalating prices and are seeking alternative ways to generate heat and electricity in their homes. 1. Using DIY Solar Energy Cell to Power Your Home A solar energy cell is one way to harness heat in the form of heating up the air or water, as well as electrical power. This is one of the most effective renewable energy solutions that I am using today. The heat energy from the sun can be used to provide hot water in the house. To generate electricity with it, homeowners can build solar panels on their rooftops that cause a chemical reaction and produce electrical power when interacted with sunlight. It works similar to the way solar powered calculators work except on a bigger scale. 2. How to Make Renewable Energy Solutions System At Home? The method that I used was to follow a step by step guide online that contains clearly illustrated blueprints and video tutorials to guide me with the building process. In the long term, I am sure that it will help to save the environment and more importantly for me, cut down on my electrical bills. Therefore, I believe that every citizen should start to explore and implement the building of renewable energy solutions in their own home to start reducing the environmental hazards traditionally caused by fossil fuels. You can find out about the guide I used at my website link below.

Solar Power Panels And Wind Power Together

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

Solar Power is Getting Cheaper

Sunday, December 27th, 2009

I read an article from the LA Times by Marla Dickerson that a utilities company called Sempra Generation is using a 10-megawatt solar farm in Nevada that can power 6,400 homes. If you do the math, Sempra is using renewable energy that can meet or beat the price performance of carbon-based fuels, creating milestone grid parity, electricity from the sun, wind or other green sources matching or surpassing the price operation of traditional methods. The company can produce power at a cost of 7.5 cents a kilowatt-hour, less than the 9-cent standard for normal electricity.The article further states that El Dorado Energy Sola, owned by Sempra, is producing electricity at costs below anything comparable to date. The company has inked a 20-year deal to sell the electricity to Pacific Gas & Electric, whose service territory covers much of central and Northern California. I am excited to see proactive growth in renewable energy sources. Apparently, First Solar, a company that supplies Sempra with solar modules, stock went up 20 percent based on this information.Dickerson explains that Sempra constructed the project on 80 acres next to its El Dorado Energy gas-fired power plant, located about 40 miles southeast of Las Vegas in Boulder City, Nevada. The solar facility uses photovoltaic panels similar to those mounted on homeowners’ roofs, except the panels are anchored to the desert floor in long rows and there are lots of them – 167,000, to be exact.The original method of converting sunlight into electricity by using a semiconductor, polycrystalline silicon (used in computer chips) had been pricey and in short supply. Now, a lower cost method by using a semiconductor known as cadmium telluride, thin-film cells, is a cheaper product to manufacture.Both consumers and greenies should applaud at the decrease in cost to generate electricity through renewable energy.Sempra is so optimistic about the cost-effective methods, the company plans to install an extra 50 megawatts of First Solar panels at the El Dorado site. Additionally, the company is planning another project near Phoenix of about 500 megawatts adjacent to its Mesquite Power Generating Station, a gas-fired plant.Being a Californian I am proud to say that most of this expansion of renewable energy is based on a California law requiring state’s investor-owned utilities to generate 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2010, a figure that’s set to increase to 33 percent come 2020. I am sure we will see more companies like Sempra to commit cutting its greenhouse gases dramatically. Clearly with the solar power costs dropping significantly throughout the industry, as consumers we’ll benefit. The technology is becoming much easier to adapt while producers are becoming more proficient as they place a strong foot hold in the market to expand, grow out and service other areas as well.

Pros And Cons Of Solar Power

Sunday, December 27th, 2009

As we are all now learning the sun can provide us with an almost endless source of clean as well as renewable energy. This is why many people are now looking to install solar powered systems into their homes rather than relying on electricity companies to supply the power that they need. However before making a decision about whether to install such a system in your home you need to know the pros and cons of solar power.
Below in this article we look at some of the advantages and disadvantages that can be had from having such a system installed either at your home or at your office. It is these, which will then help you to decide whether having a solar powered system is the right investment for you, or not.
Advantages to Using Solar Power
1. The main advantage to using solar power is that it can save you money. Although you will have to spend some money in order to get a good system installed at your property, once installed the energy that you are drawing from the sun itself is free.
2. In a number of cases many governments are now trying to get more people to use alternative methods for supplying power to their properties in order to help cut down on pollution. This in turn is helping to slow down the process known as the greenhouse effect, which is very detrimental to the Earth.
3. Because you do not have to rely on fuel to provide the energy to your home you are not likely to incur the kinds of costs that others have to face. This has become even more apparent in the last few months because we have seen an increase in the cost of a barrel of oil.
Disadvantages to Using Solar Power
1. The main disadvantage, which can often put people off considering having a solar energy system installed, is the cost. Because of the components that make up the system are expensive so having one installed can be. But as more and more people start to weigh up the pros against the cons of having such a system installed, then we are likely to see manufacturers and installers becoming more competitive in order to win business.
2. The other disadvantage that comes with having such a system installed is that if it does not get sufficient sunlight then it will not be able to store the energy that is required. Therefore before having a system installed you need to look closely at where you live and how much sunlight where you live actually gets each year. If you are in a location where sunlight is rare then such a system is really not a viable option.
Above we have shown you a few pros and cons of solar power. But on the whole if you live in a location where you get sufficient amounts of sunlight and are looking to become a little greener in order to save the planet, then getting such a system installed may be a wise investment for you

5 Reasons Why Solar Power is not the Answer

Saturday, December 26th, 2009

In spite of the obvious importance of solar energy for our future energy reserves, and the huge amount of energy, that the sun provide us for free, I want’ to emphasize some of the draw-backs of solar energy, with the current technology, and share some of my worries about the problem that using solar energy still have.
I intend to drip some cool water on the entire hot “solar power” lobby, not to abolish it, but to speed them up, and causing them to think again about the problems.
Availability
Although solar energy is a great source of energy, it is still can be unavailable and unreliable some time. we need to remember that on our spherical earth, receiving different amount of light during the day and throughout the year, making it hard to retain constant energy supply. moreover, our current devices require a huge surfaces of panels in order to collect a small amount of energy, making it unachievable.
Price
solar energy, in our current situation is very expensive. Yes, sun is for free, but the current technology is very expensive, and in terms of surface needed relative to the production of electricity with fossil fuel, it is still very expensive. So prices have to be dramatically reduced , before it will become a good energy resource.
Efficiency
As I already said, our current technology is extremely inefficient. There are two main ways to produce electricity form solar energy: photovoltaic cells – which produce electricity directly from the sun, but are very inefficient and expensive, and heating fluids using the sun (like solar boiler), to drive turbines that produce energy. these two methods are still very ineffective, energetically speaking. There must be other ways to produce electricity efficiently from solar power.
Possible effect on the environment
Although it might sound strange, solar energy in its current form can be harmful to the environment. First, the materials used for the production of the panels, and the methods of production are very unfriendly to the environment. Second, these large surfaces, consume a huge space, and increasing the use of solar power will cost in many space wasted on solar panels. Third, increasing the reflecting surface of earth might cause a phenomenon of reflecting the sun light out, causing global cooling (this is not a joke!). Global cooling, looks good in first glance, might be horrific in the future. messing with earth climate was never a good idea. Not mention the effect that such a phenomenon might have on plants and photosynthesis, which are the basis for life.
effect on technology
Finally, since the current situation of solar energy in insufficiency and economically problematic, I think that the time to promote solar energy has not arrived yet, most of the concentration should be in increasing the investment in research and development, so the future generation will benefit from a good solar energy solutions.

Doing Your Bit For The Global Environment Through Solar Power

Saturday, December 26th, 2009

Environmental campaigners have been trying to change the way we think for a long time. As yet I do not think they have really succeeded. Now there is another appeal to saving the planet, it might be cheaper than letting it all go to pot! The cost of energy has been increasing for a long time and we have all simply adjusted our mindset to accept this. But there is another way. Solar power.
Solar power used to be unobtainable for most people as it was expensive to install and no one really made it seem appealing. Now it is a different story. With a little bit of research you can find amazing ways of saving money using solar power.
Getting Solar Power Installed
All the investment in solar power is up front, or so it used to be. You used to have to buy all the equipment and then pay a company to come and install it and also pay for any maintenance it needed. Now you can go about this in a different way. Some companies will actually lease you the equipment. For this you pay a deposit and then you pay a monthly amount to the company. So as long as your monthly lease is less than your current energy bills you are saving money. Another option is a grant. You will need to check the availability of grants in your area. These are basically issued to help with the initial set up costs.
Where To Start
First you need to review your energy requirements. Some areas will be easy and obvious to change. For example, are you heating a swimming pool? This is very expensive to heat traditionally and is also very simple and cheap to change to solar. If you are looking to convert you whole home then it is worth consulting one of the companies who specialize in this. They will come and see your house and will be able to advise you how to change and they can even divide the project up so that you can do it over a period of time depending on grants and personal funding.
How Does Solar Power Work.
There are two ways in which we can use the sun to reduce our energy bills. Either the heat can be used to heat water and reduce the costs of heating your home, or your can use photovoltaic panels to convert the suns light into energy. This energy can then be stored in batteries, so your home will not stop functioning when the sun goes down. If you are looking at installing photovoltaic panels you must carefully consider their location as you want them to be as efficient as possible. The best location is on a pitched roof. This tilt means that they will be able to catch more sunlight than if they were on a flat roof. If you know the place where you want to place the panels then you can contact one of the companies who sell them and they will also be able to advise you how much energy you will be able to swap from traditional sources to solar power.
So Why Should You Be Swapping Over To Solar Power?
Well, before hand you may have thought it was all impractical, now you know that the advice, and in some cases the funding is waiting for you. With a possible global recession on its way, now it a good time to start reviewing your outgoings, and if a little investment is going to save a lot of money it has got to be worth researching. Secondly, it will only add to the value of your real estate, so your investment will be safe. Finally, you are doing your bit for the future generations.