Clean New Power

renewable energy for a better world

Clean New Power header image 1

Solar Power Home

January 16th, 2008 · solar power

In the past few years, the solar power home has become a lot more popular. One big reason this is happening is that some power companies and governments are now providing compensation for people who incorporate solar power into their houses. Solar panels and components are also getting a lot less expensive, putting solar power within reach for a wider segment of the population. However, before you jump right in, there are a few things to think about in regards to powering your home on the light of the sun.

First, you’ll need to know how much power you use in your home. You can do this by figuring out the wattage required by all the appliances in your house. You can also look at your power bill to see how many kilowatt hours (kWh), your home uses each month. Compare this number to the power available from solar systems. Remember, if the numbers on a solar system seem too good to be true, they probably are. Make sure that you’re investigating reputable providers and that any system you’re thinking about buying comes with a warranty or guarantee.

Most people use too much power to directly replace their existing power provider with a home solar system. However, that doesn’t mean you have to give up on a solar home. There are a number of different ways to incorporate the benefits of solar power without going completely off the grid. Solar water heaters are popular. In these systems, the sun’s power (with or without the use of solar panels) is used to provide hot water for the entire building. Rooftop tanks are popular, but check to see whether or not your roof can support the extra weight. Some people with swimming pools switch to a solar-powered heating and filtration system, to reduce the environmental impact of their pools.

If you’d like to provide electrical power to your home via the sun, you’ll require a solar power system. This doesn’t have to be a standalone setup, however. One popular method of providing sustainable power without going off-grid, and without having to buy expensive batteries is called a grid tie-in. In this setup, power produced by your solar power system goes to supply your house if it’s needed, and when it’s not, it goes back into the power grid. Your power company will reimburse you for this power, either at the rate it costs them to produce that power, or by running your meter backwards.

Remember to consider your location. Solar power isn’t for every home. If you don’t receive enough hours of direct sunlight, you could have trouble justifying the expense of a solar power system. Consider making adjustments to your home to allow it to use passive solar energy, using a wind system, or look into power companies that produce their electricity in a sustainable manner instead. While passive and active solar installations are easiest with new construction, don’t rule out adapting your existing structure to be more efficient and make use of the sun’s energy.A solar power home isn’t right for everyone, but it can work for many homes. Investigate further to find out if your home and your site are right for using the sun’s power.

→ No CommentsTags:·

The Basics of Home Wind Power

January 8th, 2008 · wind power

With rising energy costs, households all across the country are looking for alternatives to paying for electricity. One of the more intriguing options is a home wind power generation system. Unlike a fuel cell or solar system, home wind power generation has a low total cost of ownership, and can lower electricity bills by as much as 80%, depending on how much wind your home’s location typically gets. It’s also environmentally friendly, and releases no CO2 into the atmosphere.

 

Wind turbines capture kinetic energy from the wind, converting it to electricity by using a reduction gear to take the slow moving fan blades to run a fast generator in the center, which then delivers electricity to the house. If your utility uses net metering, any excess electricity you generate is credited against your bill – indeed, in some months, the local electric "bill" is a check because you gave them more electricity than you used. Most turbine companies will send a crew out to set up the turbine, and help you fill out the paperwork with your utility.

The primary benefit, from an engineering standpoint, of home wind power generators is that they eliminate the overhead caused by transmission line power losses. While an individual wind power generator isn’t as efficient as an individual coal fired burner on a BTUs to kilowatts basis, the reduction in transformer and power line losses makes up for it. In terms of carbon offsets, for a typical household use, a wind power generator offsets about 1.2 tons of sulfates and nearly 200 tons of CO2.

A typical wind power turbine costs about $12,000, with larger ones going to $20,000 and will last for 20 years. Dividing even a high end one by 240 months (20 years times 12 months) will give a per month cost of around $85; the question becomes "Will it save you more than $85/month in electricity bills?"  And the answer to that is dependant on your location and local zoning ordnances. Fortunately, wind turbines are very low maintenance, and as demand for them rises, prices are coming down. There are models for as low as $6,000 available now.

It’s an open matter as to whether or not a wind power generator increases your property’s resale value. In some markets, where green consciousness is high, it is – in others, where having a giant fan sticking out of the backyard is considered an eyesore, or blocks line of sight for the neighbors, it’s definitely not – talk to your local community advocacy groups to get the lay of local opinion before installing one.

 

→ No CommentsTags:··

What Is Wind Power Generation?

January 3rd, 2008 · wind power

Harnessing the wind for man’s use was the third form of energy mankind controlled, after fire, and animal power. Used for sailing ships since ancient times, and windmills to grind grain and pump water since the Renaissance, wind power generation has been with us for centuries, and has the potential to help our modern society reduce its fossil fuel consumption.

Wind Power Facts

Modern wind power generators don’t grind grain or run pumps; they’re turbines that generate electricity that’s stored in battery units or used directly. Using modern construction techniques, modern wind power turbine blades are made of lightweight materials so they can turn freely as they catch the wind; a set of reduction gears takes the angular momentum of the turning blades and spins a small electrical generator inside the housing; the power is either stored in a battery for local use (for a home based wind generator) or put directly into the electrical grid.

At current prices, wind power is still more expensive per kilowatt-hour generated from coal, at least until the costs of pollution and CO2 remediation is factored in. Once those factors are put into place, it becomes a bit more competitive, but is still a marginal case. Most homeowners who install private wind power generators do so to have a public display of their environmental "green-ness", and to trim down their electrical bills.

Equipment And Location

The archetypal image of wind power generation is a tower with a three bladed "fan" rotating on the end of it – they’re called wind turbines. These tall towers (as tall as 50 feet high in some areas) use both active and computer guidance to have the blades of the fan facing the incoming wind; some also have solar generation plants. They’re usually painted haze gray so that they’ll blend in with the sky, though even this causes some communities to vote against them as eyesores.

The "Not In My Back Yard!" attitude has driven a lot of innovation in the wind power market, including moving them out of marked migratory paths, and into offshore locations, where they’re often tied with tidal bed generators. Moving wind power sites offshore lets them use the generally stronger ocean winds to move them, but also causes problems with wear and tear due to the effects of salt water and constant battering by waves on the pilings at the base of the tower.

Rural Use of Wind Power

The other effect of the "NIMBY" attitude mentioned above is that rural areas are the dominant users of wind power – particularly in the Great Plains and mountain west, where a lot of no longer viable ranching land is available, there’s plenty of room to put up forests of wind power turbines, and they can usually be made shorter, particularly in locales with strong wind.

Some of the older wind power generators used in rural areas actually bring to mind the windmills used to dry out the Zuider Zee in the Netherlands, and are used to draw groundwater from deep underground. Most were built to generate electricity in the Australian farm country, where getting conventionally supplied electricity to rural stations was almost impossible. These designs were then imported to the United States where they’ve made a deep impact.

As the social pressure for more "green" power sources grows, the demand for wind power generation is rising – and with it, hopes that the installation cost will drop. It’s still the costliest form of commercially viable power sold to the grid, and is something of a "boutique" power source. Even so, it’s a great way to add extra generating capacity to rural areas, and is affordable for home owners to install.

→ No CommentsTags:···