Getting Started With Renewable Energy

Getting started with renewable energy article in Home Power Magazine gives a straightforward advice about professional load analysis and site survey when starting with renewable energy.

The first step in renewable energy system planning is to determine how much energy is needed to be made:

• If the site is off grid, the stand-alone systems must provide all the site’s required electricity with renewable energy sources or a backup engine generator. This is when energy efficiency and conservation becomes critical. For this reason, most renewable energy consultants will ask for a detailed load profile. These systems also need to be accounted for seasonal energy availability. For example, more energy will be used in the summer because the house is for vacation use or pumps a lot of water for irrigation. In a year-round home, the critical energy time may be winter, when more lights and other loads are used.

• On grid sites doesn't require accommodating the complete load. Systems can cover as little as 10% to 50%, or even over 100% of home’s electrical use. Utility detects the imbalance and supplies only what is demanded from the user. Any extra energy produced will go to the grids, which will buildup KWH credits that can be used when system’s output is lower.

When determining energy requirements, most dealers will roughly calculate what size of system is needed and give a ballpark cost figure. Then the installing dealer or RE consultant will visit the site and assess what RE resources are available on the property. When planning the system, everyone who will be using it should know how it was planned, how it works, and what he or she can do to make it run well.

For solar energy, site surveyor will evaluate the property with a solar site selector tool. It helps determine which locations the property or roof are shade free. This will show the best location for PV array or solar water collectors. PV arrays can be put hundreds of feet away from home, but solar hot water systems need to be much closer because long pipes become costly and incurs high heat losses.

If the property has a potential wind energy site, wind turbine might be a great asset. However, wind turbine requires regular maintenance and poorly cared components can become hazards. Surveyor will determine if adequate room exists for a tilt-up tower, or freestanding tower is necessary. Freestanding towers have smallest footprint, and may be the only appropriate tower for a small lot.

Micro hydroelectric systems can be one of the most cost effective but sometime hard to implement because local, state, and federal authorities can have jurisdiction over the activity, unless water resource is completely privately owned. Hydroelectric works well with solar or wind energy sources since water still flows when there is no sun or wind.

Hybrid systems are best for off grid system because one source can backup another source and vice versa. However, hybrid capability is less important on grid-tied systems which use utility grid for backup. Battery-less grid-tied systems are often the most cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and easy to operate systems available.

Source:  Home Power Magazine

Solar Energy DIY– Converting Your Home to Solar Power

When beginning a solar energy DIY home conversions project, one question many people have before they start is: What will I need to complete the conversion?

Of course, before you start with anything, you should get a good DIY solar guide, and you will be walked step by step through the process of setting up your solar energy solution. Aside from that though, let’s cover the basics of what you will need, in order to go solar!

There are 7 main components you’ll need when wiring up a solar energy solution for your home. It should be noted here that we’re talking about converting a home, and not just creating portable solar energy solution (in which case you’ll only need 4 components).
 

Convert Your Home Today:

Before you install your home energy solution, you’ll need the following components. These are listed in the order they will be wired into your solar energy system.

1. Solar Panels – In most DIY applications these will be built by you. You order discount photovoltaic cells, and assemble those into 50W, 75W, or 100W Panels.
2. Array DC Disconnect – This simple device is basically just a switch. It allows you to cut the DC power from your solar panels should system maintenance be required. If you shop around you’ll likely pay less than $25 for this component.
3. Charge Controller – Most home systems will be built with a battery backup. The charge controller ensures that a consistent amount of power is sent to the batteries, and that the batteries don’t discharge at night. Again, if you shop around for this component, it won’t be a large expense.
4. Deep Cycle Batteries – To store the power from your solar panels, you will need deep cycle batteries. If you find reconditioned batteries, these can be obtained for fairly cheap. Better yet, you can get old batteries for free and recondition them yourself.
5. System Meter – This component is actually optional, but it is suggested so that you have a clear way to see how much power is being fed into your home from the solar panels.
6. Converter – Since your solar panels produce DC power, and your home runs on AC power, the converter makes the solar energy usable by your home. A 1500W converter likely won’t cost you more than $50.
7. Backup Power – Most systems will also include some sort of backup power. In an off grid application this would generally be a generator. In a city or town, the power grid itself provides the backup.

From there the system gets wired into your home breaker box. At this stage, unless you are qualified, you might consider getting a qualified electrician to install the system. At any rate, you now have an idea of what will be needed to get your home running on solar energy.

If you haven’t done so yet, you should also consider downloading a copy of one of the top guides to teach solar panel DIY. Doing so will ensure you have all of the information you need to get the conversion finished right – the first time! 

Click here to download your copy of 'The Easy DIY Guide To Solar And Wind Power'

Solar Panel DIY Guide

 
           

Alternative Energy Sources

In this video Mark Koh explains about alternative energy sources that can be used as alternative options to fossil fuels, how they work, and how they are used today. Some of the more common sources are: Solar, Wind, Hydro, and Geothermal energy. The video will only explain briefly about solar, wind, and hydro energy sources.

Also this the following video explains more about some other types of alternative energy sources like Tidal, and Waves sources: