subject: Top Five Ways To Get Free, Renewable Energy From The Sun [print this page] Renewable energy sources don't come much cheaper than solar powered and in most locations, all-year-round sunshine will give you several options to utilize this: try these great solar investments...
1) A solar thermal panel can be installed within a few hours and can heat all the water you need.
Even basic DIY skills are all that is needed to construct and fit these to the roof of your home and to adapt the existing water storage tanks and pumping.
2) Solar photovoltaic (PV) cells that produce electricity directly from sunlight are still pretty expensive for the average home owner.
But, and this is a big BUT, if you are concerned with saving the planet and not just reducing the utility bill, systems are available that can generate up to 2kw of electricity.
This is about a third of the average household's requirements for an investment of $15,000-$20,000.
Payback will take time, of the order of a couple of decades rather than years. But the technology continues to evolve and prices continue to fall as production volume increases. Energy generated from solar cells is already on a par with that generated by oil-based plants.
Home lighting using cells that are charged during the day and release electricity at night are a common feature for garden settings, but will not generally give enough wattage for indoor requirements.
3) If you want to heat a pool, there are types of blankets offered by swimming pool suppliers which actually absorb heat and release this into the pool while it is being used.
4) Adding a solar collector into the current filtration system your pool uses is a more high-tech option. Install the solar panel between the filter and the return to the pool so water on the way back is heated.
It's as simple as it sounds. In fact, with a few raw materials from the hardware store, the average DIY enthusiast can adapt their current system in a matter of hours.
5) Solar powered ovens for the home are still lie in the future, but a gas fired barbecue can be replaced with DIY cookers that are both simple and cheap to make.
In fact if you are prepared to wait for hours, roasting and baking boxes can be constructed for next to nothing.
Hikers can carry lightweight cookers for heating water in the wilderness without the risk of fire and as a project to demonstrate the power from the sun, this is one thing the whole family can be involved in just for fun.
Using solar power should be seen as a way of making yourself more self-sufficient. yes, it can cut the cost of your utility bills but using it means you also have the option of having your own electricity on tap should the main power grid fail for some reason.
