Endless Energy For All

Converting your home completely to solar energy
can cost as much as $40,000 prior to state and federal energy financial incentives and depending on how many kilowatts you will need to run your home. Instead, start small with a low cost do-it-yourself kit that can run tools in your garage or items in your camper.

When I was a young man with my first car I used to like to change the oil myself. I could put in a good quality oil and filter and lube the grease fittings for about $6. I can still change it my self today for less than $12 but I choose not to. I would rather not get involved with draining the oil, pouring the used oil into containers, wiping out the drain pan, cleaning myself up and taking the oil down to a collection site. I would rather pay the $30 to let someone else do it.

However, some people really enjoy working with their hands and find the decrease in cost and increase in personal satisfaction from the accomplishment worth, for what is to them, a minor effort.

But most cars today use non-renewable energy sources. So do homes. Thirty years ago I remember talk about everyone "going solar" and using other alternative energy sources because of the sharply rising cost of oil and natural gas. Today, very few people are using alternative residential energy sources.

This is primarily because of the high cost of retro-fitting your home to get it off the power grid. Typically, using 2008 costs, expenses can run as much as $45,000 to set up a typical home. Some figures put it even higher. Of course getting your chunk of this endless energy for all can be much less depending on your whether your state has incentive rebates to go along with the federal rebates.

Instead of trying to take your home completely off the power grid, meaning to stop depending on your local power company for electricity, or gas, try taking a small bite out of your power bill. Try a do-it-your-self solar power kit. One such kit sold by
HomeMade Energy can get you started for $200 or less.

A small solar home electricity system can economically run some of the power tools in your garage or take it with you to run some of the items from your camper.

To the point, if you are handy and want a short project, fairly easy to do, that could show big financial returns, then a HomeMade Energy project may be just the ticket for you to get your share of endless energy for all.

A recent TV commercial shows a man being followed by his wife and child and an odd assortment of other people pleading with him to go "green" when buying a washer and dryer in order to save the planet. He's not sure. But when the salesman says he could save enough in the operation of one appliance to buy the other, he turns to the group behind him and says, "Why didn't you tell me that?"

Humor aside, the ol' pocketbook is where most of us make our energy conservation decisions. The utility companies that supply our nation with power is a useful entity that most people need. But when they raise the cost of supplying you power, most of us get angry and just take it on the chin. If you went into your favorite restaurant and they raised the menu prices drastically you could show your disapproval of this price increase by not eating there.

But when utility companies, which pretty much have a monopoly on power supply, raise prices, you can't just not use the power. You have to have it. Now, however, the technology is available for the average person to begin the process of getting off the grid . This refers to decreasing the use of power supplied by the utility companies, and the possibility is open to just about everyone.

Renewable energy technology demand has increased as more people strive to get their share of endless energy for all. As a result, more efficient and easy to use components have been developed to make living off the grid a viable reality for those who are both concerned about their energy consumption, saving the planet and/or keeping your wallets from getting any lighter.

The process for creating renewable energy is a relatively simple one. In order to harness a low voltage direct current you will need a power source such as the sun, water or wind. The voltage is then converted using an inverter into usable household current called alternating current or AC. Any excess current generated by the system is stored in banks of batteries. From there it can be called upon during peak demand times, or if the source of your direct energy is unavailable.

More importantly, there is little attention needed to be given to your power source mechanism beyond the maintenance of your batteries and to make sure demand for energy does not exceed your supply. The keystone to living off the grid is to make sure your daily energy demands is equal to the size of your system.

Global warming has been called into question lately and whether you believe it or not does not matter. It is never wrong to be as energy efficient as possible in order to conserve nonrenewable resources and to keep as much money in your pocket as possible. Save money! Now why didn't someone tell you that before now?

Singer songwriter Bob Dylan was more correct than he knew when he sang, "The answer my friend is blowing in the wind. The answer is blowing in the wind," in his iconic protest
song of the 1960's.

Using the wind as an engine of usefulness to get your share of endless energy for all is nothing new to people. Various civilizations
for centuries have used wind in some form to either sail a boat, power a mill for grinding grain or acting as a water pump. Even as far back as the 1880s windmills were being used to generate electricity .

Currently, wind power is growing the fastest of all the renewable energy sources and technologies. In this method of energy production air flow turns wind turbines and creates electricity. The amount of power the turbines produce are determined by the speed of the
wind. More wind, more speed.

Windmills are an excellent choice for those who live in areas of high wind. But even if its not windy in your area you can stil use renwable wind energy to supplement your present electricity supplier.

A number of companies offer do-it-yourself guides to building your own windmill to use re-newable energy to help lessen the cost of your electric bill.

In addition, rather than build just one windmill to power a certain portion of your home, such as a water heater or power tools, build several wind turbines to make enough energy to power your whole system. As an added benefit, many states allow homeowners to sell their excess power back to the utility companies. Somehow I really like the idea of getting a check from my electric company instead of a bill.

Moreover, besides lowering your energy bill, the most important part is the decrease of
environmental impact. There is little or no pollution from renewable wind energy and no harmful greenhouse gases to contribute to global warming.

It can't hurt to take a look at what's involved in building your own wind turbine. It can help
Renewable energy and free power from the wind has a nice sound to it. Power from the wind, that's the answer my friend.