Go Greener Tips

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.