A lot of people believe wind energy is the best alternative energy solution. As of lately, the global economic crisis has made people realize how important the energy situation really is. So people are now trying to find the best solutions to this crisis, hence the recent popularity of alternative power sources such as solar panels and wind generators.

On top of saving you money for your bills, it is also one hundred percent harmless to our environment, and it will not cause any holes in the ozone layer ,or require you to cut down the rain forests. Nor will it emit a toxic gas from a tailpipe, poisoning the air we breathe, as is done routinely in today’s society as if it is “normal”. The only effect a wind generator will have is to provide free unlimited energy, with no negative side effects whatsoever. You would think it would be preposterously impossible that such a wonderful device, could cause anything bad, as you sip on a smoothie made by a blender that used $0 worth of energy, and didn’t hurt a single gnat……Smile

While the energy is free after you have the wind generator running, it may be expensive to have it installed by professionals. Because of this most people would rather do it themselves and save 90% of the ridiculous fees the installers charge. It wouldn’t make sense to go and spend several thousand , just to save a couple hundred a month, especially if you did not have more than a couple hundred to spend. You would be waiting until next year to see the return on your investment, if you had had it installed by professionals.

There are guides available on the internet that will show you how to install it for next to nothing, and it will be set up and running in a couple of minutes. These guides will also give you plenty of tips that will help you maintain the wind generator, thus keeping you from having to ever spend money on a technician. There are even do it yourself kits available that are a small fraction of the price of an assembled wind generator. If you want a wind generator, but you don’t want to spend thousands, then you are going to have to not be lazy, and spend an hour of your time assembling it. Take a look at the Power4Home site.

Using off grid solar power has gotten a lot easier now, with recent improvements in technology and an increased concern about the environment.

Once limited to people who lived in remote places where electricity was either expensive, inconvenient, or impossible, off grid homes are now moving closer to civilization. Taking your home off the municipal power grid is less expensive and easier than it has ever been, and solar power is the most common way to do it.

In a setup like this, you will need:

 

• solar panels
• a regulator
• batteries

 

An inverter allows you to use AC power instead of DC, and most systems have computerized control centers to make it easy to monitor what’s going on in your system. Whether or not your home is right for off grid solar power will depend on your location and how your home is situated.

It is important to be able to get enough hours of sunlight per day to charge your batteries with all the power you need.  In southern latitudes with mostly clear weather, this can be pretty easy. However, farther north, or where there is often a lot of cloud cover, this can be trickier.

Before you start installing an off grid solar system you should evaluate if your home receives enough sunlight to merit one. If not, you may wish to look at other sources of green power, such as wind.

There’s a limit to how much power can currently be produced from the sun. Solar panels are costly and you need plenty of space.  This means that most people in off grid situations need to carefully monitor their usage to make sure that they are not overtaxing the system. When you’re off the grid and you’re out of power, you’re really out of power, after all.

However, most people are able to reduce their power requirements to the point where they can meet their energy production and they always have plenty of stored energy for their daily routines.

Off grid solar power is a great choice if you want to be more self reliant, are concerned about the sustainability of your power generation, or if you just want to be able to control things a little more.

It will save you money in the long run, though initial setup can be costly. You won’t have to worry about rate hikes or inconsistent service.  It’s all in your hands.  In return, you must learn to take care of your system and adjust your life accordingly.  For many people, it’s worth it.

Steven C. Jones writes about renewable energy and living off the grid. Check out his blog about off grid solar homes and wind power for your home.

The United States Department of Energy is providing specific information on it’s website concerning the harnessing and distribution of solar powered energy sources on a broad commercial level, as well as to individual residential consumers. According the Department of Energy website, commercial power plants designed and constructed to make use of the renewable energy of the sun can be disbursed to provide energy to residential consumers without the necessity for purchasing personal solar technology systems for individual households.

Passive solar energy is the term used to describe a method of building design which considers the sun’s position in relation to the building to maximize solar heating sources. Without installing any technological devices specific to collecting solar energy, such as solar panels, utility costs can be dramatically affected by simply designing and constructing buildings to utilize the south facing walls for solar heat absorption and cooperatively designing the ventilation system of the building to direct the heat throughout the rest of the structure. By conscious placement of the structure there is a dramatic effect on energy consumption required to maintain the temperature within the building. Obviously, during the hot summer months, steps must be considered to shade the south facing walls from the sun’s impact, or the cost for cooling the building will overshadow the cost savings advantages exhibited during the winter months.

While the obvious benefits of passive solar power as a means of heating buildings includes that solar power is an unending energy source and no chemical reaction is required to convert the sun’s heat, therefore releasing no chemical bi-products or environmental pollutant emmisions, there are negatives to the use of passive solar energy which must be considered. For example, productive use of passive solar energy is dependant on the amount of consistent sunlight which can be expected for a geographical location. Even in areas of continual sunny weather, the heat transferred by the south facing walls in a passive solar application must be retained throughout the night time hours after sunset.

A compromising alternative to a spotty passive solar application may be to take advantage of the newest technology in solar grid films. While traditional collection grids designed for harnessing solar energy were previously constructed in large panel form which were typically attached to the roofs of buildings, new technology is emerging which has reduced the solar collection cells into a thin film which may be positioned flush with existing roof systems for unobtrusive installation. These films are much less costly than their predecessors in that less raw material is required for construction and are now also being seamlessly integrated with different types of roofing systems for virtually undetectable installations. Use of this type of solar energy system will allow your dwelling to remain on the electric utility company’s energy grid, but permit you to use the energy exclusively from your solar energy collector when available, at no cost. In this way, your home is hybridized to use passive solar energy to reduce overall fuel consumption, collected solar energy at no cost, and supplement your energy shortages with the utility company’s provided electricity.