Posts Tagged ‘Simple Fact’
July 31st, 2010 | 
Author: For newcomers to the alternative energy industry, and especially those who build their own household solar panels, one area where some struggle is with deciding how many panels they need in the first place. The simple fact is that sizing a solar power solution can seem complicated. The thing is – it really isn’t.
Before we move on to calculating your energy requirements it’s important to note here: This is actually one of the biggest reasons we suggest Green Power Easy as the #1 Guide to Alternative Energy; they are the only DIY guide that includes a supplement specifically intended to help you make the calculations. Even without the guide though, the topic itself isn’t that complicated.
Calculating Energy Requirements
The first step in calculating how many solar panels you need for your home is to calculate how much energy you use on a daily basis. There are two ways you can go about this:
- Look at 12 months worth of energy bills and add up the watt hours you use each month and then divide by 365 days.
- Calculate it based off of the electrical devices you use in your home.
If you choose the 2nd method you should mark down the wattage that each device uses and multiply it by hour many hours a day you use that appliance/device. Remember that watts = volts x amps, so if you were calculating the energy requirements for a device that didn’t list wattage, the labels on the appliance will list amps and volts so you can get the figure that way.
Your list should look something like this:
100Watt bulb x 4 hours per day = 400 Watt Hours
400 Watt fridge x 8 hours per day (runs about 1/3 of the time) = 3200 Watt Hours
Once you have a list of everything in your home simply add up the numbers to determine how many watt hours of power you use each day. At this point it’s important to note that energy efficiency matters, and you should consider working to reduce your power needs before converting to solar power.
How Many Solar Panels for Your Home
Once you know how many watt hours you use, calculating how many household solar panels you need is quite simple. If you calculated that you needed 15,000 Watt Hours of energy each day and you were planning to build 100 Watt solar panels then your calculations would look something like this:
100 Watt Panels x 10 hours of sunshine each day = 1000 Watt Hours of energy produced each day.
15,000 Watt Hours / 1000 Watt Hours = 15 Household Solar Panels needed.
Of course this is where things get slightly more complicated. If you are going off grid completely and you don’t have a backup power solution (such as the power grid), then you should double that number. In that case you’ll also use a battery backup and you need to calculate your amp-hour requirements. The amp hours needed won’t determine how many panels you need, but it may determine how you have to wire them. For more complicated systems like this it is suggested that you get a guide (Green Power Easy is excellent at explaining the steps needed) to help you with the calculations.
If you’ve been looking to convert your home (or just to build a single solar panel or wind turbine to supplement) this is the guide we recommend:
Click Here to Visit Green Power Easy – The #1 Guide
Click Here to Visit Earth 4 Energy – The #2 Guide
Click Here to Read Our Reviews of All of the Top 5 Guides
Either Green Power Easy (#1 on our review page) or Earth 4 Energy (#2 on our review page) will make it easier for you to really learn about DIY Solar and Wind Power!
Other Top Post
What is Wind Power Energy and How Does Wind Power Work?
How to Build Your Own Solar Panels
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Seeing The Wind!
Wind Power Generation Systems Are They Really Worth Considering?
Posted in Alternative Energy Sources, Solar Energy | 
Tags: 12 Months, 365 Days, alternative energy, Amps And Volts, Daily Basis, Diy Guide, Electrical Devices, Energy Bills, Energy Efficiency, Energy Industry, Energy Requirements, Newcomers, Simple Fact, Solar Panel, solar panels, Solar Power Solution, Two Ways, Watt Hours, Wattage, Watts Volts | 
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Is wind power generation really possible in residential areas? Many homeowners have watched their power bills grow increasingly higher every year. Despite the fact many continue to pay their outrageous electric bill with out realizing the power used at home can be produced for free no questions asked. This free power is called wind turbine power. It was once thought to be to expensive to build a wind power generator to power a home. While wind turbines have been around for years it wasn’t until the 2008-2010 recession. When people began considering wind energy or solar energy to power their homes.
One of the main concerns everyone has when it comes to wind power generation systems. Is how much will it cost and is it really worth considering such an alternative solution. There are several retail versions of wind generators currently on the market which cost anywhere in the range of $5,000 to $20,000. Even though these wind generators would produce enough power for a typical home. However it would take 5 to ten years to fully recover the cost of these wind turbine systems.
With prices like this many are turning to DIY style of wind power generation. By building your own wind turbine it is possible to regain your investment for the parts required to build the wind turbine in as little as a few months. Depending on how big of a wind generator you will be building it could be much sooner. The DIY style could cost as little as $180 for the parts and installation of the wind turbine.
So you want to know how to build your own wind power generations system for your residence? To do this you will need to place the turbine on a high tower allowing it the maximum kinetic energy from wind. You may also want to consider the vertical axis turbine for those living in highly populated residential areas. For the simple fact it may not be entirely possible to build a high enough tower to place a horizontal turbine one in your area. The typical horizontal turbine tower needs to be anywhere from 80 to 130 feet high. So if you can not get that type of clearance in your residential area a vertical axis turbine would be better suited for you. All though keep in mind vertical axis turbines typically don’t produce as much kinetic energy for there is a lot of drag from these wind generators.
If you are one of the lucky ones who do not use much power or built a large enough wind turbine generation system. That you do not use all the power produced by your turbine. You will be able to sell this excess power back to the power company. This is called power buy back. With the number of current DIY Homemade Wind Power Generation Systems on the market. You need to be aware that there are some that work and some that don’t. Choosing the right DIY guide is key. Be sure to do your research before buying any Wind Power Generation Guide on the Internet.
Posted in Alternative Energy Sources, Wind Power, Wind Turbine Generators |
Tags: Alternative Solution, Generations, High Tower, kinetic energy, Power Bills, power generation, power generation systems, Recession, Residential Areas, Retail Versions, Simple Fact, Solar Energy, Vertical Axis, Wind Energy, Wind Generator, Wind Generators, Wind Power, wind power generation, Wind Power Generator, wind turbine, Wind Turbine Power, Wind Turbine Systems, wind turbines |
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