From Guest Blogger Jess Greenberg: Alternative Energy — Bringing Solutions to Residential Power Problems
Everyone knows that there is a limited supply of fossil fuel left on Earth and this may pose a big problem in the future. This issue is not only a major concern for the big corporations and businesses, but is also affecting the masses too. With the recent energy price hike, people are now looking for alternative energy sources to keep their bills to a minimum. Businesses are also looking for alternate sources of energy as a backup power source in case of blackouts. There are many alternative sources of energy and some have even taken the liberty of turning it into business, which is quite convenient for home owners.
There are many types of alternative energy sources to choose from. Just take into mind that these energy sources need specific type of instruments for effective usage. If you are looking for an alternate energy source, make sure to consider if you have the time and the resources to afford such an endeavor.
Here are some of the most common alternate energy sources used by households today:
Solar Energy – If one looks at the Internet today, there are a lot of private individuals or companies who are into selling solar panels and materials needed to construct a DIY solar energy kit. It’s very common and is also the easiest form of alternate energy to access. One can easily place a solar dish on the roof of a house and when the sun hits the solar panels, it creates power for the household. The price tag for each solar panel kit varies, depending on its size and the amount of power the panel generates.
Natural Gas – Carbon power plants owned by successful companies are offering their services to residential areas that want to use alternative energy. Considered as natural gas, it is very safe and effective. Most companies have power stations placed in every region, so if you wish to get this kind of alternative energy, check to see if your area is included.
Wind Power – Wind power is another type of alternative energy that can be used for both residential and business purposes. One would have to build a wind vane in order to harness energy. Again, there are lots of companies that offer wind vane sales and installation, so always make sure that you do have the resources to afford it. Additionally, make sure that the area where you are going to use the wind vane . For agricultural areas, small hydroelectric dams provide alternate energy sources used for machineries, but these are expensive to build.
Other sources of alternative energy – In big agricultural farmlands, farmers usually apply biogas as an alternate source of energy. However, biogas is only applicable in the rural areas and not in urban areas where crowds of apartments or houses are built near each other.
For residential purposes, people would choose to contact companies that offer private energy services since these are easier to get in touch with and also, there is no need for you to buy anything or build anything. In times like these, using alternative sources of energy is the answer for low energy costs and helping conserve what little energy that is left on our planet.
The most effective alternative energy system that home owners can use to reduce CO2 emissions was omitted, i.e., solar heating for generating hot water and heating the home.
Why don’t people take solar air and water heating seriously? I design and make solar air heaters. Even the crapiest one I ever made worked great. It is the simplest most efficient thing to do with the sun. I read a comment one time where some guy was saying solar energy does’t work well and is expensive because he bought PV panels to run his hot water heater and the whole arrangement was really expensive and didn’t work that well. All I could think was this is why we are not further along than we are. People like him either choose or get sold the wrong tools for the job and end up complaining all of it doesn’t work and convincing others that it shouldn’t be persued.
Brian,
I don’t know anything about your solar air heaters; perhaps they work very well. However, here in Albuquerque, one sees many solar air heaters that are no longer usable since the transparent plastic covering has disintegrated; apparently it could not tolerate UV. Obviously that sort of thing gives solar heat a bad name even though properly designed and installed solar heating systems can work very well.
When I lived in San Diego, I had a solar water heater installed on the condominium in which I lived for a few years. Except for a pump failure apparently resulting from a poor pump selection, it worked very well. The fact that the new owner scrapped it was not the result of poor performance. In my opinion, solar water heaters, and perhaps solar space heaters, are undersold.
I started out using actual glass but about 5 years ago I made my first one using double wall polycarbonate with a UV coating on one side. It works great. A lot of people are using Pal Ruf corrigated roofing material available at home depot and other home stores with great success.
I think what gets me is people think this stuff should never require maintanance. They maintain their heaters, cars, replace pool covers every couple of years, awnings after 4-5 years, canvas on their boats. The sun destroys everything eventually. Glass is one of the few exceptions. The polycarbonate I am using seems very good so far. At one time they were using semi translucent fiberglass. Pretty tough stuff but even that takes a beating eventually.
The thermal energy collected with a ‘solar’ air or water heater can also be stored effectively. Imagine a water tank under your basement floor. Your hot water from your solar, thermal collector goes to the tank, as a heat exchanger, in a ‘closed-loop’ system, all summer long. The water tank gets warmer and warmer each day, until it is as hot as the hottest water your solar system can produce. During the winter, a parallel closed loop system removes heat, via the heat exchanger principle, to be circulated under your floors to warm your home during the winter.
Place a thermometer on your basement floor to see the capacity of heat storage available without insulation. If the tank is insulated the tank will get warmer without heating the basement, unless your ‘heating system’ allows it.
That may be effective for a new house built around the storage system. However, it would probably be impractical to instal that storage system in an existing house. Fortunately there are other storage systems that can be installed in existing houses.
There are alternatives to power sources
This company offers several types of power options including green power.
Biogas Plant Manufacturers in a big way. We have expertise to design and manufacture wide range of Biogas Plants a CHP system can generate power and heat from bio, sewage and landfill gas, which is economical, eco friendly and climate neutral. We are into the business of converting waste to energy with the help of Biogas Plant.