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Archive for the ‘Renewable Energy’ Category

It seems that fuel costs for the home rise above inflation each and every year. I’m not completely sure why this is the case. There have been many changes in the way utility companies are run in many countries. The biggest change is that many companies have become privatized. This means that they are responsible to their shareholders and their aim is to make a profit. This may explain why prices have been going up from a cynical perspective.

However, the companies themselves are at pains to point out that the real reason for increases is that the fuel used is becoming scarce. Coal, oil and gas are resources that are used by power stations to create electricity or are supplied directly to homes. All of these resources are finite and the more they get used the harder they become to find and extract. All these extra costs have to be passed on to the consumer by the utility companies.

Within this context and partly because fossil fuels are thought to contribute to environmental change, people are keen to find alternatives to traditional energy resources. Solar power has been around for many years and is becoming a viable alternative to fossil fuels for generating power to the home. This article will cover how to run a house on solar energy.

So, you can run a house using the sun’s thermal energy. The best application of this is to heat water that can be used in the home (or even a swimming pool).

The principle behind this idea is that if you expose a flat metal plate to sunlight it will become hot. If the plate is painted black then more of the heat power is absorbed. If you put insulation on the underside of the plate then less of the heat is lost back to the environment.

Once you have a hot plate you can allow water to come in contact with it and the result is heated water. This can be piped into the home to be used however it is needed. The solar heated water can also be connected to the standard water heater thus saving grid supplied power on making the water hot. Energy used to heat household water is one of the most expensive items on most utility bills. This could be reduced if a solar water heating system is installed.

Sunlight can also be used to create electricity. The technology that utilizes sunlight is known as photovoltaics (PV). A PV cell is made from a silicon based semi conductor. The PV cell reacts with sunlight to displace an electron. The flow of an electron from a negative to a positive terminal is the creation of electric current. By increasing the number of PV cells connected in series you can increase the voltage between the positive and negative terminals and the current of the electricity.

This is direct current (DC) which can be stored in batteries or converted to alternating current (AC). Using an power inverter. AC is used in homes to power lights, and most appliances that plug into wall electrical sockets.

The solar panels that you may have seen on the roofs of many a home are a number of PV cells formed together in a series or parallel configuration to optimize the production of electricity. Installing a solar panel in your home has become easier as the energy industries focus more attention on solar power. The cost and installation of solar panels has also come down in recent years

Solar panels have become easier to install as utility companies become more conducive to solar energy. Many states have agreements whereby the electricity company must buy electricity from the household at retail price. This can make installation and viability of solar power more acceptable.

The advantages of this is that the utility company will install the system and the home is still attached to the grid as a safeguard should the sun not shine or a problem occurs with one of the components of the solar energy system.

The next step is to go off the grid completely. This is more responsibility for the individual and more knowledge of the system is needed. They will also need a back up energy generation system should there be any problems.

This article is brought to you by George Zalcman. George Zalcman has always had a passion for green technologies, and believes that we should all get on the boat before natural resources become limited. George Zalcman is part of an air to water technology hoping that this will eventually bring an end to the water crisis as well.

The need for using devices driven by alternative energy sources has become imperative. The main reason is that the stock of fossil fuels are depleting fast. The excessive usage of conventional energy driven devices have also led to the pollution of environment to a great extent. That is why a lot of people are resorting to solar energy driven products.

As a matter of fact, the Solar power driven appliances help a person in saving his energy costs. In the last few years the government in various countries has become more proactive in promoting and marketing Solar Energy driven devices. A number of car companies have also come up with their version of solar energy driven cars. Unlike the fossil fuels the solar energy is not likely to come to an end in the near future.

The residents of Australia who are thinking of switching to using solar power driven appliances can use the various products of the company Solargain. It is a company that specializes in making water heating items. In fact it has over two decades of experiences in making water heating solutions. The company boasts of more than a million satisfied clients all over the globe.

The Solar Water Heaters of this company make use of the power of the Sun to heat up water quickly and effectively. The solar water heaters of the company comprise of high performance roof mounted solar power collectors and avant-garde hot water storage tanks. One can obtain highest government incentives by purchasing its water heating items. It’s products come with the assurance of top notch quality so the owners can use them for years without worrying. Most of its items come with a long 7 to 10 years warranty.

Solargain unique Open Loop Hot Water system is liked by tons of customers and users. One should buy these solar water heaters if he leaves in a no frost area. In this setup the mains water flows in the solar collector and gets heated by the sun.

The hot water gets stored to the storage tanks and the people can use it later based on their needs. Australian market most technologically advanced water heater solution is the company Closed Loop system. This can be used by the users who live in areas that undergo chilly weather and snowfall. The people living in hard water regions can also benefit from using these Solar Panels. These water heaters are quite easy to install.

The main advantage of buying a solar water heating solution from the company is that the buyers can avail its same day Hot Water service. It gives the clients the best value for their money. The customers can avail this service just by making a phone call to the company representatives. The company has a team of veteran and professional technicians.

This article is brought to you by George Zalcman. George Zalcman has always had a passion for green technologies, and believes that we should all get on the boat before natural resources become limited. George Zalcman is part of an air to water technology hoping that this will eventually bring an end to the water crisis as well.

Would you like to design a windmill?

Windmills have been with us for centuries. The idea of a windmill is to capture the winds energy to rotate the blades, converting wind energy into mechanical force. This mechanical force can be used to turn a generator and produce electrical power. Originally they were used to pump water or grain. Today modern versions typically use high tech, lightweight components such as carbon fiber in their construction. You do not need to use these costly materials. Windmill building can be accomplished by a knowledgeable, do it yourself type of person, for a very affordable cost. With simple hand tools, hardware store access, and basic construction ability, you can construct your own windmill.

The primary goal of a windmill is to maximize the conversion of wind energy into mechanical energy. It needs to be tall enough to get above trees and other obstacles. You should first check out your local building rules before embarking on a windmill building project. They may limit the height or location of the windmill. The blades need to be shaped so that they capture the wind. They should be made from lightweight wood or plastic and turn with ease Think of an airplane propeller.

The two kinds of windmill designs are horizontal axis and vertical axis. The horizontal axis ones are the most often used. Their vertically rotating blades face the wind. The downside to this design is that when the wind changes direction, the horizontal axis type will not be very efficient. A vertical axis type can produce wind energy from any direction. It’s main shaft is vertical and the generator can be located on the ground unlike the horizontal axis. Another often overlooked windmill building step is to know the general direction and speed of the wind in your area to help decide which type to build. You can use an anemometer to determine your wind speeds.

If you are interested in windmill building, you will need to know the basic parts. The base, needs to be strong, and heavy. This will help keep the machine from falling over in strong winds. The tower that can be made from wood, or plastic tubing. The blades will capture the winds energy. The size of the blades will be determined by the size of your base. On a five foot machine your blades would need to be one to three feet long. The nacelle normally houses the gearbox. A basic wind turbine can use a simple shaft to connect the blades to the tower. And the last part, the generator, that will be turned by the windmill to produce power.

Here are a couple other windmill building tips. You will need wind speeds of at least 7 miles per hour to start making power. Twelve to twenty mph is recommended for optimum results. An eight to eleven foot tall machine can produce 700-1000 watts of power and can be built easily. Remember, it is important to know your areas laws, wind speeds and directions, and power needs before starting your windmill building adventure.

A windmill is a very cost effective way to start producing your own renewable power. The wind is a renewable energy source that is not going away. There are loads of windmill building plans on the internet. Review the best windmill building plans here.

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Lots of eco-enthusiasts are attempting to figure out what it will cost to install a set of solar panels. This guidebook is fashioned to aid you in selecting the style of solar panels you require for your installation, homemade or commercially designed.

There are a wide array of expenses that go along with installing solar panels which will be escalated or decreased depending on your intensity of participation with the process of installation. The highest expenditures method entails buying full retail for solar panels and their installment. The least expensive type includes build your own solar panels and installing yourself. This manual will assist you to choose the best style for your situation.

Kilowatt hours, also known as kW h, is the amount of power which is used by the average US household every month (one kW h). In a thirty-one day month there will be seven hundred and forty-four hours. Considering each hour of energy from your grid can be 20 cents, then each month the average house uses one hundred and fourty-eight dollars from the grid. There usually are lots of factors that can differ your monthly electric bill, average watt price or amount of electric consumption levels may vary for each household. Calculating your watt consumption will allow you know the amount of kilowatts your planned solar panel system will need to generate.

At the expensive end of the scale are solar panels that are obtained from a retail shop and installed through one of their workers. This option often costs tens of thousands or more, depending on how much energy your place will require. If professional installation is the path you wish to take, you want to pay attention to the cost per watt when calculating in the price of installation.

Many experts find that the value of professionally installed solar panels can cost on average $7 to $9 per watt. That means a solar panel system that is quoted at 4 kW can cost nearly $28,000 to $36,000.

The question is a bit tricky. The answer involves variable details such as:

- For how long does the sun shine at your home and how many days is it cloudy?
- What angle are you putting the solar panels at for how many hours per day do they get sun?
- How much does the sun filter through the atmosphere depending on your distance from the equator?

Totaling these issues is too complicated to tackle in this manual, but here is an estimate based on a California, San Francisco Bay home. An average house in that area can receive two thousand kW h each year with a one kilowatt solar panel. A usual house in the Bay Area uses eight thousand kW h per year. For a residence there, on average 4 kW capacity is sufficient to cover all power consumption. You can locate numerous calculators for solar energy by googling “solar energy calculators” at google, which will allow you to discover the power you can expect from solar panels at your house.

Assuming a commercial installment by professionals, again referencing the 4 kilowatt hour scenario detailed above, a professional installation can be around twenty eight to thirty six thousand dollars. If you receive less sunshine than California, it would be more expensive. This is not an average of the price of kW h, but we will assume that energy from your grid averages $0.20 per kilowatt hour (within California). Eight thousand kW h per year totals $1600.

This places the pay-off date past twenty years. Several professional installers have specials which, if added to government subsidies and tax breaks, may at times reduce this figure to 15 years. This remains far too costly for most consumers to invest in a solar panel system.

An excellent alternative to reduce the total cash necessary for a solar installation is to do it yourself. There is a do-it-yourself kit that explains how to build your own solar panels. Building your own is a viable way to reduce the price of a solar panel system from too-costly to affordable.

You do not need to be a carpenter, anyone can make solar panels using the right guide, using pictures and diagrams. Anyone can build their own solar panels with comprehensive training videos, reducing the price of your installation by tens of thousands. What is required are good directions that can take you through the process step-by-step using many methods of teaching, like a well-written training manual and instructional videos.

This article is brought to you by George Zalcman. George Zalcman has always had a passion for green technologies, and believes that we should all get on the boat before natural resources become limited. George Zalcman is part of an air to water technology hoping that this will eventually bring an end to the water crisis as well.

Solar energy energy means the power which is in the form of heat and light, gives all life on Earth, configure the Earth’s climate and weather and is predominately responsible for the group of resources as a whole known as renewable energy. Solar energy systems have gained a huge jump in popularity because of the rising cost of conventional power sources and there harmful effects on environment. By installing solar power to our home or office we can recover your investment over very short period of time and continue to save money on utility bills for the life of your system. Moreover, you can gain lots of manifests by using solar energy. Solar power systems reduce the expenses and even help in the cost of hot water generation and cooking.

It is the simplest procedure for solar energy system to install is a solar energy water heater that can produce some or all of the household and commercial needs. Simply solar hot water heating systems can be built in a weekend a and installed by a good excellent professionals with tools that are probably already around the place.

Solar energy is used in solar heating system for residential homes can provide warm pools,hot water, heating and even energy can use for cooking. Instead of paying energy companies for use of non-renewable resources of power, not only the people are saving money,but help saving the environment as well. Most systems that offers solar power for residential homes opposite the conventional systems in the house.

During the times of extreme cold,hot water can be heated using conventional sources. During extreme heat or cold, solar water heating system and cooling systems can be added with additional use of conventional power systems. Even those residential homes that obtain only forty to seventy percent of their power from solar power systems keep a huge savings over a constant period of time.

Commercial solar energy is growing and emerging field in the arena of green energy. Any Individual or company who produce more solar power than they can connect to the power grid and sell that energy so that others may use it and gain huge amount of profit. Because the non-renewable natural resources are becoming more and more costly and harmful to environment.

Whether small scale solar energy producers or 10 Megawatt commercial solar energy producers are joined to the grid, the power will save natural resources. It may require enhance metering policies for some energy providers that have not implemented meters that can measure energy going either ways on the grid

Suppose,we unite all the natural power sources and other options, we will not only save our natural resources such as oil and coal, we save a lot of money also, we will have a positive impact on the world.

This article is brought to you by George Zalcman. George Zalcman has always had a passion for green technologies, and believes that we should all get on the boat before natural resources become limited. George Zalcman is part of an air to water technology hoping that this will eventually bring an end to the water crisis as well.

Almost daily, you hear news reports about the increasing numbers of homes in foreclosure. What you don’t hear reported is how increasing energy costs are so often the cause of this devastating problem.

Are you losing your home because you can’t afford to pay your energy bills and your mortgage? If you aren’t facing foreclosure can you afford temperature settings that keep you feeling comfortable inside your home?

During the recent U.S. housing boom, builders completed homes quickly. Interest rates were low and investors eager to money in on high returns on investments. Unless you were knowledgeable about energy-efficient home features and made sure they were included during construction, chances are your new home wastes a lot of energy. It’s also likely you don’t feel comfortable in your home due to uneven room temperatures, drafts, cold floors, etc which is costing you a bunch of cash.

There was a time when home air conditioning was a luxury. Now it seems more like a necessity. Average temperatures in North America have risen over the last 21years, remaining high for longer periods and forcing people to turn on air conditioners powered by electricity to survive excessive exposure to heat.
 
Rate caps that once held down electricity costs are ending countrywide. Maryland residents recently experienced the shock of a 70% electric rate increase. Pennsylvania residents will receive the first of several rate increases starting in 2008.

The housing industry facing huge losses from foreclosures is working with homeowners to reduce monthly mortgage costs. A reduction in mortgage costs may help, but this is only a temporary solution. Moving to another home, unless it is energy efficient will not solve the problem.

Also, Arizona claimed the country’s second highest state foreclosure rate in 2009 with even more than six percent of properties that received at least one foreclosure filing during 2009, and Florida was the country’s third highest foreclosure rate at 5.93 percent of its properties getting at least one foreclosure during the filing year, because of the rising cost of power useage.

This raises concerns in the energy industry. Recent trends have noted that consumers are pumping up their debt and low balling their assets to receive lower payment plans for energy useage. The fact that we are paying for higher costs of power useage .

The best solution is to implement energy saving features in your home as quickly as possible. This will not only be good for you financially, it will also be good for the planet.

There are so many possibilities that we all can do in order to leave a lasting impression for the next generation. If you have children or grand children we all then share the same responsibilities. That’s to insure they will use what we use and to experience what we have experience.

This article is brought to you by George Zalcman. George Zalcman has always had a passion for green technologies, and believes that we should all get on the boat before natural resources become limited. George Zalcman is part of an air to water technology hoping that this will eventually bring an end to the water crisis as well.

With many people now considering the switch to green energy sources, the question becomes is there an advantage in choosing renewable power over traditional energy sources? Renewable power does have its advantages, and the following reasons to use this type of energy should be considered by everyone.

1. Renewable power sources are totally non-pollutant- Since renewable energy sources are natural, being derived from the sun, the wind, and water, there is no worry of any negative effects from pollution.

2. They are also non-depleting – Since there is always going to be sun, rain, and winds, power derived from theses sources will not deplete.

3. Renewable energy decreases greenhouse gases in the air by releasing less carbon emissions – Traditional energy sources such as oil, natural gas, and coal, emit harmful hydrocarbons into the air when burned. Using renewable energy sources will decrease the carbon footprint left behind by traditional energy sources.

4. The use of renewable energy cuts power costs – Alternative energy sources can help save cash on electricity. It can also save on the expense of oil or gas heat. Since the energy does not have to come from a company that is supplying the energy from their sources, as the energy will be supplied by natural sources, the savings will be passed on to the consumer.

5. Renewable power can be supplied locally, rather than imported from other countries- Instead of having to import things such as oil from countries that have an abundant supply, alternative power can be supplied locally by the use of natural energy sources.

6. Income related benefits – The UK government has provided a number of income related benefits to households who decide to switch their homes over to renewable power sources.

7. Freedom of choice – Instead of being forced to use the power company that is provided for a specific area, switching to renewable power allows people to choose from a number of suppliers.

Alternative power sources are the wave of the future, and besides being better for the environment, they can save you cash on your energy bills as well. Renewable power sources will not run out, and are something that every household should consider using in the future.

There are so many possibilities that we all can do in order to leave a lasting impression for the next generation. If you have children or grand children we all then share the same responsibilities. That’s to insure they will use what we use and to experience what we have experience.

This article is brought to you by George Zalcman. George Zalcman has always had a passion for green technologies, and believes that we should all get on the boat before natural resources become limited. George Zalcman is part of an air to water technology hoping that this will eventually bring an end to the water crisis as well.

Are you searching for an economical way to energize your home or business with energy? You can enjoy using having the energy when you need it, even if the traditional means of power goes off. You can even help create a better world by using solar panels as they are very economically and environmentally user friendly. Using solar panels will also reduce the amount due on your monthly power bill and they make great backup sources when you need them, whether or not the power company line is working. Solar panels are fairly easy to install and can be used in conjunction with other economic power solutions such as wind or water energy as they do compliment each other very well. However, there are a few things you should know about solar panels before you begin.

You might like trying your hand at making your own solar panel, which can make a really interesting home or school science projects when you make these with your children. You can make just one solar panel to see how they work or you may want to make a lot more and install them on your roof or on poles to create the power you require. On the other hand, you can always purchase solar power kits now; there are various types from which to choose. These various kits will include all you need for solar panels such as wires, mounts, inverters and either photovoltaic or thin film panels. You might like to install them yourself and save money or you might want to hire a professional contractor to install them for you. Having a professional install them for you offers the advantage of other benefits such as solar energy user incentives and an assortment of rebates.

Your solar panel incorporates the use of Photovoltaic cells. These cells will generate the energy by transforming natural sunlight into power which is then stored. You can use this power later when you need it. When you make your own solar panels, you will also have to have an inverter when making residential treatment, especially made for converting the DC energy current that solar panels generate into, 110 AC energy for your normal everyday use.

There are also thin film solar panels which are much more lightweight than regular solar panels. Using this type of solar panel eliminates the need for rack mounting. They are generally quick and easy to install as they are applied to the roof panel. It normally takes about ten minutes to install your thin film solar panels.

Basic Supplies for making your own solar panels include:

- 1 Sheet Copper Flashing – A pair of Shears to cut your Copper Flashing – 1 Wide Mouth Jar or 1 Clear Plastic Bottle – An Electric Drill with a Brush or Sandpaper Attachment – A 110 AC power Inverter – 1 Micro-ammeter – Some Tap Water – Some Table Salt – 2 Alligator Clips

Having solar panels installed on the roof of you home or business are worthwhile additions to your structure, whether you choose to make them yourself or buy one of the various kits. You really should consider using solar panels to help lower you energy bill, whether you choose to use a photovoltaic or thin film solar panel.

This article is brought to you by George Zalcman. George Zalcman has always had a passion for green technologies, and believes that we should all get on the boat before natural resources become limited. George Zalcman is part of an air to water technology hoping that this will eventually bring an end to the water crisis as well.

Modern technology, owes ecology, an apology is a very famous old saying about the massive advancements in technology that do good to the mankind but destroy the valuable natural resources. If you look around you, you can see that whenever, there is a technological advancement, there will be an ecological problem with it. So obviously, the old saying is becoming very much real. Things aren’t very different in the case of the web hosting technologies.

Unfortunately, technological advancements are very rapid in the case of web hosting and the damage to the environment is greatly increasing each day. Apart from the carbon footprints that the systems of web hosting emit each day, the world’s greatest natural resources are being exploited for web hosting today. You will be well aware of the fact that the more advanced web hosting technologies require very powerful servers to run on and so these powerful servers require huge power to operate.

As the demand for web hosting increases, the power consumption by the service providers have reached its peak. If this situation prevails, we will just end up in energy crisis. It would be great if someday, the web hosting service providers find solutions for their power consumption. The day is not so far. It is closer than we think. The green web hosting solutions have already started to gain huge popularity worldwide.

Green energy For Green Technology

Making use of green power is the only solution to make the web hosting solutions become more eco-friendly. Power consumption is not the only harm that the modern web hosting poses to the environment. When compared to the power consumption all other harms such as small carbon foot prints are just negligible. Thankfully there are great alternative options to generate green energy to run the power hungry servers. Some of the very best green web hosting service providers makes use of the solar energy and wind energy to generate the electricity they need. This method of green hosting is more eco-friendly as they don’t need any power backup systems that have harmful emissions.

Many people have misconception that the green energy sources such as the solar energy and wind energy cannot produce necessary energy to run the advanced servers 24/7. The real fact is that these green power sources can run servers which support advanced Ruby on Rails Hosting and Joomla web hosting too. Though most of the Ruby on Rails Hosting and Joomla web hosting service providers have not adopted the green web hosting methods, the use of alternate energy sources is slowly gaining popularity. Because of the reason that the maintenance and running costs of green energy solutions are less when compared to the conventional sources, the web hosting service providers are happy to adopt it.

Happy or not happy- If green hosting is not a future technology, our future in this planet will be a question mark.

This article is brought to you by George Zalcman. George Zalcman has always had a passion for green technologies, and believes that we should all get on the boat before natural resources become limited. George Zalcman is part of an air to water technology hoping that this will eventually bring an end to the water crisis as well.

Tidal power, often referred to as tidal power, is achieved through the capture of the power created as water moves in ocean currents and tides. Two types of tidal energy can be harnessed for power-efficient energy. The first is called kinetic power. This is tidal power directly created as the water is moving in rivers and in oceans as tides. The tidal energy that requires one more step, called potential energy, comes from the difference between low and hide tide height.

This height is commonly referred to as head. The kinetic tidal energy process uses turbines to produce the renewable power. To understand this process think of windmills and visualize them underwater – this is the means for kinetic tidal power. It is becoming increasingly more popular because its impact on our ecology is so much less dramatic than the building of dams, or what some refer to as tidal fences or barrages. The United States and other countries across the globe are studying their coastal areas with an eye for the suitability of the region for the production of kinetic tidal power. The ideal of these have high speeds of the water that occurs in the local channels as they enter the river or bay.

Water currents in rivers that run between islands are especially good for tidal power as the currents there are highly concentrated and often quite powerful. Tidal power, with solar and wind power, are one of the most popular and well-touted of the sources of renewable power. This is because ocean tides especially are caused by the orbit of our solar system. Ocean currents, as part of this process, happen because of the way winds are affected on the earths surface. This tidal energy supply is, thus, deemed inexhaustible.

The primary energy source here is the kinetic energy produced by the orbit of the system of earth and moon, and earth and sun. Tidal energy has an excellent potential as a future source of the generation of electricity because the energy generated by these galactic rotations will continue unabated forever – or so scientists believe. Tidal power is not something new, however. European tidal mills have been a part of grain grinding operations for almost one thousand years.

How efficient tidal ocean dam power is depends on the height of the tidal swells rise and fall. This is commonly referred to as amplitude. This amplitude can be as high as 33 feet 10 meters. This occurs where the tidal waves are funnelled into fjords or rivers and water velocity is extreme. The speed of the water might be as fast as 16 knots. One example of this is Vancouver Island in Canada. Even greater amplitude is experiences in the Bay of Fundy, where the amplitude might reach 56 feet 17 meters. This is because the tides resonance amplifies the ocean waves. Thus, we see that the selection of the right location for a tidal power generator is crucial to its success as an efficient source of green energy.

This article is brought to you by George Zalcman. George Zalcman has always had a passion for green technologies, and believes that we should all get on the boat before natural resources become limited. George Zalcman is part of an air to water technology hoping that this will eventually bring an end to the water crisis as well.