Residential Solar Power – Build Home Renewable Energy

Renewable Energy – Home Solar Power Systems – Wind Power Facts – How to make energy efficient house and Save Cash!

Modern day energy conservation is imperative. Everyday we read warnings in the news of our rapid consumption of non-renewable resources and the constantly increasing demand on our power supply.

So, what can we do? For starters, how about living off the grid? If I have startled you with that proposition, let me tell you that living off the grid not only helps the environment and helps save power; it also cuts down or eliminates your electricity bill. Now, those are tangible benefits that will make you feel good about your role on this earth as well as the savings to the family budget.

Home solar power systems are incresing in recognition across the United States and around the globe . The reason for this trend towards do-it-yourself home solar power systems is simple to see, using renewable energy will save you big bucks and it benefits the environment.

Another proactive step you can take today to make use of renewable energy is to begin your own wind powered energy project and build wind power turbines to produce electricity yourself.There are kits for building wind power turbines available, which can be costly, but with the right wind energy information it’s possible to make your own wind powered electricity. Clearly how handy you are will be the deciding factor for buying vs. building but also keep in mind the cost. It is relatively easy and cheap to build wind power turbines in your own backyard.

When you take those factors into consideration why not start a DIY wind and/or home solar power systems project for your household?

Renewable resources are available each year, unlike non-renewable energy resources which are eventually exhausted. A clear-cut contrast is a coal mine and a forest. While the forest could be depleted, if it is managed properly it represents a uninterrupted source of energy, vs the coal mine which after it has been exhausted is dead. Nearly all of earth’s available energy resources are renewable resources. Renewable energy resources account for greater than 93 percent of all U.S. energy reserves. Annual renewable resources were multiplied times thirty years for contrast with non-renewable energy resources. In other words, if all non-renewable energy resources were uniformly exhausted in 30 years, they would barely account for 7 percent of available resources each year, if all accessible renewable energy resources were developed.

In 2004, renewable energy provided around 7% of the world’s energy utilization. The renewables area has been growing considerably since the last years of the 20th century, and in 2005 the total new investment was projected to have been 38 billion US dollars. Germany and China show the way with investments of about 7 billion US dollars each, followed by the United States, Spain, Japan, and India. This resulted in an additional 35 GW (gigawatt is equal to one billion watts) of power throughout the year.

Solar power info:

Renewable energy sources are even bigger than the traditional fossil fuels and in concept can with no trouble supply the world’s energy needs. 89 PW (petawatt is equal to one quadrillion watts) of solar power falls on the planet’s surface. Whereas it is not possible to capture all, or even the majority, of this energy, acquiring less than 0.02% would be enough to satisfy the present energy needs. Barriers to further solar production consist of the high price of making solar cells and reliance on weather patterns to generate electricity. Also, solar generation does not supply electricity at night, which is a specific problem in high northern and southern latitude countries; energy need is greatest in winter, while availability of photovoltaic energy is lowest. This could be overcome by buying power from countries closer to the equator during winter months. Globally, solar production is the greatest growing source of energy, seeing an yearly average expansion of 35% over the preceding few years. Japan, Europe, China, U.S. and India are the major growing investors in solar energy. Advances in technology and economies of scale, together with mandate for solutions to global warming, have led solar energy to develop into the most probable candidate to replace nuclear and fossil fuels.

The obtainable solar energy resources are 120,000 TW (terawatt is equal to one trillion watts). Less than 0.02% of these accessible resources are sufficient to completely take the place of fossil fuels and nuclear power as our source of energy. Assuming that our rate of usage in 2005 stays constant, we will deplete conventional oil in 40 years, and coal in 154 yrs. In principle neither will in fact be depleted, as natural constraints will force production to decline as the remaining reserves dwindle.

In 2007 grid-connected photovoltaic electricity was the fastest developing energy source, with installations of all solar cells increasing by 83% in 2009 to bring the total installed capability to 15 GW. Virtually half of the growth was in Germany, now the world’s leading consumer of solar electricity (followed by Japan). Solar cell production increased by 50% in 2007, to 3,800 MW (megawatt is equal to one million watts), and has been doubling every two years.

The world’s most powerful photovoltaic power plant is the 20 MW Beneixama solar power plant in Spain, while a 116 MW plant is being built in southern Portugal, one of the sunniest places in Europe. The largest photovoltaic facility in North America is the 18 MW Nellis Solar Power Plant.

Wind energy information:

The available wind energy estimates range from 300 TW to 870 TW. Using the lower estimate, just 5% of the obtainable wind power would supply the existing worldwide power needs. Nearly all of this wind energy is obtainable over the open ocean. The oceans cover 71% of the world and wind tends to blow stronger across open water since there are fewer obstructions.

According to the Global Wind Energy Council, the installed capacity of wind power improved by 27% from the end of 2006 to the end of 2007 to total 94.1 GW, with over half the increase in the United States, Spain and China. Doubling of power took about three years. The total installed power is approximately three times that of the actual average power produced as the estimated capability represents peak output; actual capacity is generally from 25-40% of the nominal capability.

Information for 100% off the grid power:

Photovoltaic energy is not available at night, making energy storage an important matter in order to give the uninterrupted availability of energy. Both wind energy and solar power are intermittent energy sources, meaning that all accessible output must be taken when it is obtainable and either stored for when it can be used, or transported, over transmission lines, to where it can be used. Wind energy and solar energy can be complementary, in areas that experience greater wind in the winter and greater sun in the summer, but on days with no sun and no wind the difference needs to be overcome in some manner.

Solar and wind solar systems that are completely disconnected from the electrical grid have usually utilized rechargeable batteries to store excess electricity. With grid-tied systems, surplus electricity can be sent to the transmission grid. Net monitoring programs give these grid-tied systems a credit for the electricity they deliver to the grid. This credit offsets electricity supplied from the grid when the solar and/or wind power system cannot meet demand, effectively using the grid as a storage system. Credits are usually rolled over month to month and any outstanding credit is paid out yearly.

Eliminate your usage of non-renewable energy and help give the futuregenerations a greener, healthier place.

If you are believing it is not very realistic to use 100% off the grid power, look for a DIY wind and home solar power systems guide and you will be surprised to learn that these energy alternatives are not only cost-effective but also really feasible to build yourself.|It is not a pipe dream to achieve 100% off the grid power. There are high-quality DIY wind and solar power system tutorials available on the internet that make the possibility of living off the grid not only feasible but cost-effective too.} For more information check out my blog Residential Solar Power – Build Home Renewable Energy

This entry was posted on Monday, October 19th, 2009 at 1:42 pm and is filed under renewable energy facts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.