Going Green … Gradually

The Slow Journey to Reduce my Carbon Footprint

Archive for category Solar Power

Do You Wonder How Solar Power work

Mar 10

Posted by Ray Bonanza in Solar Power

If you pay attention to the news or information on the environment you have heard about solar power. But how does solar power operate and what is it? These are standard questions. What you should know is that solar power is energy from the sun’s radiation that is converted into heat or electricity. As of now, there are two different ways that you can use solar power: as a heat source and as an energy source. One must be cognizant of how solar power works, in order to be able to use it properly.

Ways Of Solar Power

Solar energy functions by converting the sun’s rays into heat with the use of solar thermal accumulators for warming water, and more specifically it works by changing the sun’s rays into electrical energy with the use of solar panels to supply power to the appliances in your house. Solar panels are an important part of assuring that you are able to use the power that the sun renders naturally.

The procedure is relatively simple in that the sunlight hits the solar panels and is then absorbed by semi-conducting materials such as silicone, which the panels are made out of. Electrons are bumped loose from their atoms and this permits them to be able to flow through the material in order to produce electricity. This sounds very complex, but it is knowledge that has been around and used for quite some time now!

Why should we answer the question of how does solar power work? It’s important because solar power is recognized as being the cleanest and most viable form of renewable energy obtainable in the world today. The technology involved with solar power is quickly becoming fabulously common and in fact universal. Solar power is not only more affordable, it is better for the environment so it should appeal to one and all!

How does solar power work around the home? It’s essentially up to you how you want to utilize it. Solar power can be used to heat water, your pool, or even with your central heating. You do have to use some money upfront in order to get the needed equipment, but even within as little as a few months after that you will have made your money back and will only be saving money, or even earning money because in some cases you can sell excess power to your electric company!

Solar power has been applied almost from the beginning of man, but only recently has it really become known as being the tremendous resource that it is. Also, by using solar power you will not only be saving yourself as much money as possible but you will also be saving the environment! Now imagine how solar energy will work for you.

Want to find out more about solar systems power, then visit Ray Bonanza’s site on how to choose the best design solar panel for your needs.

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Power Cords Will Be Taken Away By Appearing Solar Energy Products

Mar 3

Posted by Paul Albert in Solar Power

Solar energy products can be bought for a lot of different uses and will provide 100 % free electric power from simple sun light. These products are a great alternative energy solution and will help you spend less cash on batteries and electrical energy while helping our world at the same time.

One of the most frequent utilization of solar energy products is in a household solar power system. These have grown to be extremely popular in recent years due to their better performance and lower costs. If correctly sized, a solar electricity system can provide all of the electricity a home demands and will allow the homeowner to do away with their electrical power bill entirely every month.

These kind of systems are more versatile than ever before and make it possible for the average house owner to expand their own system in the future, and even set up the majority of the components by themselves. Other solar energy products are designed to help supply power for our own portable products and are a big part of the coming wireless wave. When I say wireless I mean the ability to utilize your devices without being connected to an electric power cord all the time.

Think about a world in which you have an individual’s pc recharged with a solar carrying case when not in use. A world in which you have a portable modem router that receives its electrical power from the USB port of the laptop. You’ve got a voice over internet video phone that works with the portable modem router for making video and audio telephone calls coming from wherever both you and your equipment are.

Yes these products exist and they also will mean much more portability. Fewer cords to stress with, plus more fun and work completed with your own equipment. The following five-years will certainly see a surge of portable equipment that can be powered by portable solar power. Laptops with more dependable power packs have been long established. Solar power carrying cases have become no problem finding. With the development of portable modem routers like MyFi that connect with satellite Internet services you constantly will have an Internet connection. As well as Video Phones that connect to wireless routers can be bought from quite a few Voice over internet protocol companies. The number of solar items with internal solar power and products that use solar chargers available are growing every day.

Looking to find the best deal on design solar panel, then visit www.historyofsolarpower.com to find the best advice on solar energy future for you.

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Ideas To Save On Energy Costs By Draught Proofing Your Sash Windows

Mar 2

Posted by Jason Latham in Solar Power

If you are going to save on your energy bills by draught proofing your sash windows, you might want to spend some extra time taking care of all of the draughts in your home and increase your overall energy costs. A home loses at least 25% percent of its total heat when it is draughty.

In addition to heat loss from sash windows, you may want to check the other windows and doors in your home and address the energy loss from all these areas. Properly treating sash windows and making them energy efficient often has the greatest impact on home energy costs because of their size and location in a home.

An easy way to check for heat loss in your home is to light a candle slowly move it around the frame of windows and doors. When the candle flickers, there is a draught that needs attention. There are a few steps you can take to help eliminate draughts from your sash windows that are affordable and relatively easy to carry out.

Using heavy curtains is one way to take care of a draughty window immediately. By hanging a heavy curtain in front of the window you will effectively stop the heat loss and the entry of cold air in your home. Heavy curtains will act as an extra layer of insulation for the room and will keep air from passing through the windows.

Using clear silicone bathtub caulking works very well if you have lose panes in your windows. Older sash windows often have panes that come loose. The silicone will seal the pane into the frame of the window and keep air from passing through any gaps.

When the windows are very old and have not been maintained regularly, you may need to have a secondary glazing completed by a professional to give them a bit more life. However, it will be important to make plans to have a professional group remove the windows and re-fit them with parting bead, foam, and seals to achieve the greatest benefit and save on your energy bills by draught proofing your sash windows.

If you’re going to save on your energy bills by Sash window draught proofing, you may want to spend little extra time taking care of all of the draughts in your home in the form of sash window repairs London and cut your overall energy costs.

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The Cost of a Home Solar Power System

May 23

Posted by admin in Energy, Natural Resources, Solar Power

I want to go solar. I’ve been thinking about it for a few years, but it hasn’t seemed economically feasible until recently. Now it seems like people are really installing solar power, not just in commercial buildings, but for residences too.

Cost of Solar Power

Cost of Solar Power

The first question of course, is how much will it cost. I want to reduce my negative impact on the environment, but the more that costs, the harder it is. With solar power, you can save on your electric bill.  So the question becomes how long will it take to recover the cost of installing the solar panels.

The first step is to find out how much it would cost to install solar power for my specific house. I’m not ready to call contractors out for bids yet. I’d feel bad wasting their time when I’m not really ready to commit. So I found an online calculator.  This is the website of a California company that installs solar systems.

I went through my old electric bills and found out that my average bill is about $150. Then I went to REC Solar’s online calculator. Using the tool, I look up my house using an online map. Then I draw an outline of the roof area where I’d like to put solar panels. South facing is best, but East or West could work too. You tell it what your roof pitch is, what direction it slopes down and how much shade it gets. It calculates how much sunlight the panels can collect. I enter my average electric bill and who my power company is, and it calculates the cost and the anticipated savings. It tells me that the system will cost $48,000 and that there are incentives which bring the net price down to $25,654. If the price of electricity stays the same, I would break even in about 14 years. After that, I’d just have free power. Cool.

But this calculator assumes that my average electric bill is the same every month. Actually, it’s significantly higher in the summer when the air conditioner is running. My power company is SCE, and they don’t buy back excess electricity. This means that on those winter days when I don’t use much, any excess electricity will be wasted. And on those hot summer days, I’ll need to buy electricity from SCE. I’ve seen some information about batteries that can store the power. I’ll have to check out their cost and capacity.  I seriously doubt if they can save enough power from the winter to use in the summer.

I probably need a smaller system.  One that will provide less than 90% of my average monthly electricity.  I notice that the calculator has a field for Solar System Size and that it’s set to Premium. The other choices are Value and Starter. I selected Value, which offsets about 75% of my electric bill and costs $19,240 after incentives. Starter provides 54% of my average electricity and costs $13,702 after incentives.  Hmmm. I think electricity bills are graduated, meaning that my first kilowatt costs less than my last. This should mean that I’ll get more bang for the buck with a smaller system. On the other hand, I’m sure there are costs of installing the system that remain the same no matter how many panels you install. I’ll have to think more about this, but for now I’m going to concentrate on the Starter plan. It still comes out to about 14 years to recover the cost, but now I think it’s more accurate because I know I can use all of the power it generates. If my power company purchased kilowatts I didn’t need, I might make a different decision. If I had an electric car, which I hope to one day, I’d probably go bigger. I’ll want to make sure that I can start small now and add panels later.

There are still some other factors to investigate before it’s time to get bids. I need to find out whether the tool accurately estimated the amount of solar power I’ll get from that many square feet, whether I’ll really be able to get those incentives, how I’ll finance the cost, whether my homeowner’s association allows solar panels, what kind of expenses are required to maintain the system, and whether I should do it myself or hire someone. But those are questions for another day.

I think I’m going to have a hard time resisting the next time I see solar panels for sale.

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