subject: Making The Switch To Smaller Scale Energy Products [print this page] Sometimes people concentrate on one way of providing green energy services while neglecting another one. When it comes to matters of scale, the pendulum swing seems to be between large-scale projects, like wind farms or large solar arrays, and smaller-scale needs, such as those for homes or even individuals. But after much of the initial concentration was spent on the bigger projects, in recent years the development of energy products has taken a turn toward the smaller scale; toward providing for the needs of individuals and families.
The majority of energy research, initially, was directed at the bigger picture, like enormous wind turbines and industrial sized solar panels formulated to be used in wind farms and on the roofs of huge buildings. But quickly, as scientists caught on that a number of the requirements for renewable electrical energy originated from the volume of power required downstream, by everyday people, new products became available that allowed these people to lessen that requirement and create some of their own energy in the home.
It wasn't just corporations or large projects that created the big energy demand in the nation's power grids, though those do account for the larger proportion of it. But homes also require renewable power sources, which would make their own contribution to reducing the "dirty" energy that has to be fed into the grids. So the existing technologies, mostly wind and solar, began to be scaled down and energy products created that were suited to the needs of a home. Solar panels came first, of course, but now there are small wind turbines as well that can help provide the needed energy.
Renewable energy products aren't just restricted to large-scale devices that can supply an entire home. People are already familiar with small tools like calculators powered by light energy. But now they can buy miniature solar panels to power fans or recharge cell phones, or portable wind or solar generators as alternative energy sources when camping or doing other outdoor activities.
People can be energy efficient in almost every aspect of their lives, and it's all thanks to the researchers who have taken quite large-scale technologies and learned how to apply them to smaller, more personal needs.
