When the wind blows constantly it quickly becomes annoying. Yet we can take that annoyance and turn it into home made wind power. In areas that have a mixture of warm and dry air, wind is a regular and sometimes extreme phenomenon. Vast tracts of land, such as farms and ranches, tend to be windier also. There is nothing to block the wind and slow it down.
There will never be a shortage of home made wind power and it doesn’t harm to the environment. The use of renewable energy decreases our dependence on our limited natural resources that will one day run out. That is one of the main reasons why we need to do our best to use alternative sources of energy such as the wind. It also won’t pollute the environment as there is nothing being burned and then released it the air when it comes to this type of energy source.
Wind machines do have to be installed to collect the energy and convert it into electricity. There is some cost involved in this but once everything is set up, you can collect all of the energy you need. Home made wind power pays for your equipment in a very short period of time. You can also feel good about not using expensive finite natural resources.
To collect wind energy, big pieces of equipment are installed that look very similar to the windmills of the old days. They are called turbines and they are designed to get the maximum benefits from the wind. You may be driving along areas of Colorado, Texas, and Kansas and notice miles of these turbines. They are in place to create enough energy to power entire towns.
Fortunately you can also purchase a residential size wind turbine. Even better, some folks are building their own with do-it-yourself plans or kits. These put home made wind power within the reach of just about everyone.
Visit the best renewable energy resource on the internet to find out how you can begin generating home made wind power.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
How To Set Up a Solar Power System
Almost everyone today is familiar with solar panels. Those are the flat gridlike panels that are used to collect energy from the sun, but how many of us know how to set up a solar power system
While solar panels might seem like a fairly recent invention, the idea actually begin life back in the early 1950s when it was discovered at Bell Telephone that silicon creates an electric charge when exposed to sunlight. This led to it being used in photovoltaic cells that make up solar panels. Basically the way it works is the sunlight hits the cells the cells absorb the energy and then the energy is drained off through metal contacts on the cell.
This conversion of light into electricity is what gives the photovoltaics (photo meaning light and voltaic meaning energy) its name. These cells are positioned next to each other and combined on a support system to make the actual solar panel. Solar panels with more and better quality cells will produce a higher output of energy if you know how to set up a solar power system. < But size isn't the only thing that matters when it comes to solar panels, the insolation or amount of solar radiation it receives will also have an effect on how much energy a panel will produce. This is why knowing how to set up a solar power system is so important.
A lot of things can affect the solar insolation that your panel receives. Does it have an unobstructed view of the sun all day? Is it situated so that the sun shines on it directly? How cloudy is it in your area? All these things have a direct effect on how efficiently your solar panels will work.
Even your geographical location can affect how to set up a solar power system. For example, the southwestern area of the US has a much higher insolation index in the south eastern or central areas. This means that solar panels located in the southwestern US will work a lot more efficiently than in the Southeast.
Knowing how to set up a solar power system correctly will increase the efficiency of the system. Solar panels work best when they are pointed directly at the sun and have an unobstructed view. The angle and position of the panels will have a direct effect on the amount of energy they can collect. You can optimize efficiency by using rotating mounts that allow your panel to follow the path of the sun so that the sunlight is always shining directly on the face of the panel.
If you are thinking about installing a solar energy system, then you really need to consider where you are going to put the solar panels. Often times they are seen on the roof which is a convenient place for them. However, if your roof is not southerly facing this may not be the best place for the panels. You don't have to have them directly on your house, there's pole mounted and ground panels that you can put in your yard. The key is to make sure that you face the panels for optimum sunlight so that they are working as efficiently as they can be and collecting as much energy as possible.
As you see there are a number of factors to consider before you really know how to set up a solar power system in an optimized configuration.
While solar panels might seem like a fairly recent invention, the idea actually begin life back in the early 1950s when it was discovered at Bell Telephone that silicon creates an electric charge when exposed to sunlight. This led to it being used in photovoltaic cells that make up solar panels. Basically the way it works is the sunlight hits the cells the cells absorb the energy and then the energy is drained off through metal contacts on the cell.
This conversion of light into electricity is what gives the photovoltaics (photo meaning light and voltaic meaning energy) its name. These cells are positioned next to each other and combined on a support system to make the actual solar panel. Solar panels with more and better quality cells will produce a higher output of energy if you know how to set up a solar power system. < But size isn't the only thing that matters when it comes to solar panels, the insolation or amount of solar radiation it receives will also have an effect on how much energy a panel will produce. This is why knowing how to set up a solar power system is so important.
A lot of things can affect the solar insolation that your panel receives. Does it have an unobstructed view of the sun all day? Is it situated so that the sun shines on it directly? How cloudy is it in your area? All these things have a direct effect on how efficiently your solar panels will work.
Even your geographical location can affect how to set up a solar power system. For example, the southwestern area of the US has a much higher insolation index in the south eastern or central areas. This means that solar panels located in the southwestern US will work a lot more efficiently than in the Southeast.
Knowing how to set up a solar power system correctly will increase the efficiency of the system. Solar panels work best when they are pointed directly at the sun and have an unobstructed view. The angle and position of the panels will have a direct effect on the amount of energy they can collect. You can optimize efficiency by using rotating mounts that allow your panel to follow the path of the sun so that the sunlight is always shining directly on the face of the panel.
If you are thinking about installing a solar energy system, then you really need to consider where you are going to put the solar panels. Often times they are seen on the roof which is a convenient place for them. However, if your roof is not southerly facing this may not be the best place for the panels. You don't have to have them directly on your house, there's pole mounted and ground panels that you can put in your yard. The key is to make sure that you face the panels for optimum sunlight so that they are working as efficiently as they can be and collecting as much energy as possible.
As you see there are a number of factors to consider before you really know how to set up a solar power system in an optimized configuration.
Visit the best resource on the internet to answer the question, "How to set up a solar power system?".
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