Tuesday, February 16, 2010

There seems to be an energy crisis underway and it seems to be getting worse as time passes. It’s a crisis on two levels, environmental and economical. Fossil fuels are likely the biggest pollutants entering the atmosphere as they are considered a major cause of global warming. Still some disagree. Though true, it is difficult to argue the economical side as oil prices are rising!

Another thing that is impossible to argue is the fact that fossil fuels are finite. From this point forward, less oil will be produced until it runs out sometime at the end of this century. Someday you’ll look back at today’s high gas prices and consider them cheap! Solar energy is being looked at more and more, it is clean and renewable energy; the sun shines down on us whether we like it or not.

Solar power is the energy of the future. Learn how to solar power home for a very small and affordable investment. A few of the several advantages of solar energy are its free, easy to harness and is capable of providing more energy than what is needed by most households. You might be aware that a commercially sold solar panel has its worth in thousands of dollars, but did you know you can actually go solar for a fraction of that cost? To be specific, you can go solar for as little as $200!

Solar panels are made up of tiny PV cells, also known as photovoltaic cells. The PV cells capture sun light and store it in a battery. The energy stored in the battery is then transformed into exploitable electricity using an inverter. Solar power is a renewable resource of energy and free to harness once you have installed solar panels.

Installing ready made solar panels can be quite expensive and can cost you anywhere from $10,000 – $18,000 to solar power you entire home. You can solar power your entire home for a fraction of this amount if you learn how to do it yourself. Building your own solar panel from scratch is cheap and easy.

Various kits are offered to download from different vendors that will teach you how to solar power your home. The downloaded kits include steps for calculating the actual electricity that you require from solar panels based upon your utility bills. Once you have that information, you can start building your own solar panels. Typically, you can easily build a 100 watt solar panel in a day very easily. What’s more, once you repeat this process, you can completely go off-grid within a few days of work and perhaps sell the extra power back to the utility company. Now, how is that for a change? Yes, it is possible to get a check from your utility provider!

Once you learn how to solar power your home, the installed solar panels will pay for themselves many times over. Generally, solar panels have an average lifetime for 25-30 years requiring very little, or no maintenance. Once you add it all up, it just makes good sense to go solar all the way around.