Hi Guys,

I hope that you’ve all had a really great day.

Up to now we have looked at various aspects of renewable home energy solution, however there is a crucial element that we haven’t looked at yet: Energy Storage.

Most home energy solutions operate within a just-in-time system framework; that is during the day their solar panels and wind turbines produce electricity and any surplus produced is pushed back into the grid. At night, their reduced electricity production often forces them to draw electricity from the grid.

At best you consume as much as you produce and if you use more than you produce you still have you still have reduced electricity bills.

Although we are going to concentrate on photovoltaic cells for solar energy and wind turbines for home energy solutions I believe that if you have the space then it is advisable to store some of the energy you produce.

Without storage, you operate within a “just-in-time” framework that is not only dependent on your variable end-use demands, but you are also completely at the mercy of one of the most uncontrollable variables known to us: the weather. After all wind turbines are useful only when the wind blows and photovoltaic panels work only when the sun is shining. Energy storage is therefore needed to store surplus electricity produced at times of low demand.

To date cost-effective energy storage has been the orphan stepchild of alternative energy even though energy storage is a core enabling technology for many classes of alternative energy. Because of this power storage has been a key constraint in preventing the widespread adoption and use of solar and wind energy in general.

The trouble is that the period during which energy is generate from renewable sources, cannot always be matched to the time of demand. This leads to volatility in your supply and reduced reliability and stability. Energy storage systems are therefore an integral part of any renewable energy system especially if you go off grid.

Energy storage must consider both the amount of energy that can be stored (energy density of the material) and the efficiency at which it can be recovered.

Short duration storage technologies are frequently more important than long duration systems. In general, technologies that can store huge amounts of energy are not particularly good at releasing it quickly and technologies that can deliver energy quickly are not particularly good at releasing huge amounts of energy.

When an energy storage system is used you get stability within the electrical system and the quality of the voltage supplied will be considerably higher than under a just-in-time system.

From a user point of view there are both technical and commercial criteria for selecting the most suitable technology. This does not stop there though; because when one considers an electricity storage system one has to balance the technical with the economics and each case needs to be looked at individually. It ultimately all boils down to a return on your investment.

As far as energy storage goes conventional, commercially available lead-acid batteries have a very high-energy efficiency and all other energy storage technologies have to compete with this.

Batteries are the most expensive item in renewable home energy systems when considering the system’s total lifetime costs; and there are big variations in battery lifetime in different installations.

Rechargeable batteries or accumulators are the oldest form of electricity storage and are widely used. However, progress in battery technology has been slow.

Batteries can respond to changes in power demand within microseconds. Only super-capacitors equal such a response time. Batteries usually have very low standby losses and can have high energy efficiency, depending on the application and the details of the operation.

Most batteries contain toxic materials, hence the ecological impact from uncontrolled disposal of batteries must always be considered. Because of this current battery research focuses on new and improved materials and manufacturing processes, as well as on their operating conditions.

Ultimately the choice is yours on whether you operate a just-in-time energy system or whether you integrate an energy storage system into your home energy system.

One could start with a just-in-time system and gradually incorporate a energy storage system gradually to your home energy system with some the money you save on your electrical bill.

As always, I wish you everything I wish for myself.

Until the next time.

Alain

Check out my review of the top 3 products for renewable home enegy solution
Check out my review of the Home Made Power Plant product
Check out my review of DIY Power System product

Hi Guys,

I hope that you have had a good Saterday.

Today I would like to touch upon the subject of whether it is time to start to utilize renewable solar energy. Personally, my interest in renewable solar energy, is to reduce my electricity bills and eventually go off grid.

As we know the sun is the life force of our very existence. The light and heat radiated by the sun, is what sustains life on earth. The leaves of plants convert the sun’s energy into food and fiber, which is in turn, sustains animal life on this planet. Green leaves are thus the powerhouses – the great driving force for Life on Earth. Photosynthesis is the life generating chemical process. Chlorophyll is thus the Molecule of Life.

I view solar panels as those green leaves and photovoltaic cells in the same light as that of the chlorophyll molecule in those leaves.

Renewable solar energy can provide us with much more than just food and fibres. Renewable energy can provide us with both economic and environmental benefits as well.

The technology is already in place, but a change in governmental and social attitudes towards this solar technology is required. As much as vested interests would like to slow the process the high cost of energy is forcing this social change upon us. If governments were able to tax us for this free energy (after our initial investment to install electricity generating or hot water heating solar panels), government policies would change overnight. Let’s face it if we all produced our own electricity governments and other vested interests would loose a captive revenue stream.

Every 15 minutes the sun produces enough power to supply the earth for an entire year. The United Kingdom receives 60% of the solar energy received by the equator. Each square metre of the UK receives between 900 to 1200 kWh each year. This energy is equivalent to the production of 1000 power stations.

Forgive my little rant here, but in light of this, is it not rather egotistical of man to assume that he has an effect upon the earth’s temperature? Climate change has occurred long before man made his apparition on this planet and will continue to do so long after we will disappear from this earth.

All one has to do, regarding the so-called global warming myth, is to educate oneself and follow the money. It is only a scam to fleece us of yet more of our earnings.

In many areas the cost of electricity is simply too high to avoid alternative sources.

Renewable solar energy is an excellent source of electricity. Rather than using dwindling fossil fuels (if you believe in the peak oil theory) to feed power plants, we can take advantage of renewable solar energy. Renewable solar energies come with very little pollution when they convert electricity from solar panels or thermal devices and once installed will not contribute to the effects of so-called global warming.

Another considerable advantage of solar power is the fact that energy production at the point of demand reduces and even negates the need for transmission and distribution infrastructure.

My motive for using renewable energy is purely a selfish one. I want to be as self-sufficient as possible. During a power outage I still want to be able to go on with my life as though nothing has happened and as I certainly do not like paying ever increasing energy bills nor do I want to pay so-called value added taxes on these bills. I would like to be in control of the energy I produce and use.

I know that there are days when the sun doesn’t shine enough to generate the electricity I may require should I use a just-in-time system, but there are far more days when the sun is there and not being utilized to power our homes, businesses and workshops. Once you invest in renewable solar energy, you can save greatly on maintenance costs as most solar systems have no moving parts and typically do not require maintenance, other than periodic cleaning of the solar panels. A Photovoltaic panel life, for instance, is typically 25+ years.

By utilizing passive renewable solar energy, you can build a solar home that requires very low energy use. To use passive renewable solar energy you must include south facing windows in your home design, in combination with products like brick and stone that provide heat radiating thermal mass. In combination with a solar hot water system and solar electric panels you can take full advantage of renewable solar energy resources.

It is also possible to build your own solar panel and solar hot water systems for your design. By building your own components you can greatly reduce the time needed to pay for your renewable solar energy system as at least half the cost of a commercial system comes from labour.

Building your own solar energy system also allows you to fully understand the mechanics and physics behind harnessing solar energy. This can have an educational benefit for all members of your family. Building your own systems will lower the cost of your renewable solar energy by at least half when compared to purchasing a system and having it installed professionally.

Start utilizing the power of the sun and design a plan for your renewable solar energy system. With a bit of research and some elbow grease you can be on your way to a lower monthly budget and a more environmentally friendly home or business. Renewable solar energy is going to be the way of the future.

As always, I wish you everything I wish myself.

Until the next time.

Alain

Check out my review of the top 3 products for renewable home enegy solution
Check out my review of the Home Made Power Plant product
Check out my review of DIY Power System product

Hi Guys,

I hope that you’ve all had a really great day.

Are energy cost driving you crazy? You can bet your bottom dollar that it’s not going to get any better real soon.

Let’s face it the Power Companies are charging us way too much for power! And yes, we do need electricity but until now we had no other way of getting it.

Prices for energy have risen, year by year, at alarming rates and the basic reasons for doing so are not going to change in the foreseeable future.

By now, I’m sure that you must have considered generating your own electricity. I know that I did, every time that I receive an gas or electricity bill. It did not seen to matter what I did to try to keep our energy bills down, the bills kept on rising.

If you are thinking about purchasing a solar electricity system for your home or business then you are joining millions of other energy-conscious individuals around the world.

Solar electricity systems provide reliable, pollution free energy from a renewable resource better known as the sun. Solar electricity systems are becoming more affordable as advancements are made in photovoltaic designs and construction.

Adding to the affordability, many solar electricity systems are able to participate in net metering in several states. This means that if your solar electricity system generates more power than you are using, your meter runs backwards resulting in an even swap of power that you use at other times when you exceed the power supplied by your own solar electricity system.

As most home energy solutions operate within a just-in-time system framework. This means that the surplus energy produced by the system is not stored. It is either used as it is produced or, if you are participating in a net mettering system, pushed back into the grid. At night, your reduced electricity production forces you to draw electricity from the grid. This system certainly cuts your electricity bills and may even produce a small windfall if you use less electricity than you produce.

Before you invest in a solar electricity system for your home or business, it is advantageous to understand exactly what you are purchasing and how solar electricity is generated.

The building block of any solar electricity system is the photovoltaic cell. Photovoltaic cells are wired together to produce solar electricity modules. The electricity produced from the modules or panels is then passed through an inverter that changes the current from AC to DC, making it usable to power household appliances and the utility grid.

It is often to your advantage to incorporate batteries into a solar electricity system so that you are able to store excess electricity generated by your system. The stored electricity can then be used in times of low sun light and power outages.

It is important to realize that solar electricity systems work only when the sun’s UV light hits them. This is not a problem if you utilize battery backup systems or are connected to the grid.

Installing a commercial solar electricity system. However, with net metering and government funded rebates, many are able to pay off systems much more quickly.

The cost of installing some of the commercial solar electricity system to a home can come with an initially high investment cost and it can makes it very difficult to get a return on your investment. However, with net metering and government funded rebates, many are able to pay those systems off much more quickly.

You definitely don’t need to understand the physics of solar electricity systems to understand it’s appeal. A solar electricity system will never run out of fuel nor will it increase our dependency on foreign oil.

Stop thinking about a solar electricity system for your home or business and start investing in your freedom by starting your research of solar electricity systems today.

I wish you everything I wish myself.

Until the next time.

Alain

Check out my review of the top 3 products for renewable home enegy solution
Check out my review of the Home Made Power Plant product
Check out my review of DIY Power System product

• Passive solar energy
• Hot water heating solar panels
• Electricity generating solar panels
• Photovoltaic cells
• Electricity generating wind turbines for the home
• Building your own home electricity generating power plant
• House design
• Calculating your energy requirements
• Energy storage including battery types
• The case against commercial industrial wind power
• The case against commercial industrial bio diesel

I’ll start with an explanation of where I stand on some of the issue that in effect affect the above.

My paradigm or worldview provides me with a framework to organize new thoughts and information. This is how we all “make sense of the world around us.” Our paradigms filter out what doesn’t fit from our worldview. However it appears that for some reason or other we cannot seem to be able to learn what doesn’t conform to our paradigm and because of this, our paradigms can either liberate us or imprison us, depending on how true to our reality they are.

My paradigm has shifted many times in the past. At times the shift is slow and gradual, whilst at other times the shift has been rather sudden and violent. Some 13-years or so ago I had a series of paradigm shifts. I have always been an avid reader and to some extent I have always known that governments, religion, mainstream media, big business & the education system were actively sabotaging society.

With these paradigm shifts I learned not to ever take anything for granted, to cross reference any story, to see through the propaganda and most crucially to follow the money i.e. who benefits.

Repeatedly, through time, some grand fraud or other is concocted by the unholy alliance of governments, religion, mainstream media, big business & the education system, each with its own agenda and vested interest.

This unholy partnership of self interested businesses, so-called scientists, grandstanding politicians, alarmist campaigners and a main stream media pushing their sponsors agendas provide a new twist on a very old practice; companies and individuals using public policy to line their own pockets.

This loose grouping, to put them in the same category as the military-industrial complex, can I supposed, be called the climate-industrial complex. A grouping that does not promote any discussion or free thoughts on environmental matters but will attack and vilify any detractor or person not on message. They would really make the Spanish Inquisition proud by their labeling of any and all dissenters as heretics.

This loose grouping however have their own vested interests and agendas and will at times work against each other, which in my mind is a blessing in disguise.

For the last few years, they’ve been trying to terrorize us into accepting that human society was on the brink of extinction because of man-made global warming. We are warned that, unless we take drastic action to reverse it – then islands will disappear, whole cities will be destroyed and polar bears will drown. However, when the universe conspired against the global warmists by giving us rather cool summers and a really long and cold winter it quickly became climate change.

Climate change has occurred long before man made his apparition on this planet and will continue to do so long after we will disappear from this earth. As this planet has been considerably hotter and colder than it is at the moment, is it not rather egotistical of man to assume that he has an effect upon the earth’s temperature?

The climate-industrial complex / environmentalist movement has taken on a religious like fervour with saint Al Bore as its spokes person.

When it comes to so-called carbon trading, an industry created out of thin air that produces nothing but is going to cost the general public and taxpayer an arm and a leg one should follow the money and check out who will benefit from such a scheme. Interestingly enough Al Bore’s name pops up. He buys his carbon credit from, wait for it, his own carbon trading company. A company he conveniently started in 2004 two years before he brought out the fictional film “An Inconvenient Truth” in 2006. The man whose home uses up as much energy as 20 average US homes. In 2006 he used over 191000 kWh of electricity whilst the average American home only used less than 11000 kWh. How’s this for an inconvenient truth!

Carbon trading is a scam used by the climate-industrial complex to redistribute even more of the taxpayer’s and general public’s wealth into their own coffers and the same as always: the control over our lives for its own sake, thinly disguised by phoney self-righteous posturing.

Hey! If you feel guilty about your so-called carbon footprint or if you believe in this sh1t I’ve got some pet rocks to sell you or even better you can buy your carbon credits from me… For more information email me at… Aw, forget it, I’d be scamming you too wouldn’t I.

The vested interest of climate-industrial complex / environmental movement cares little for the people of this planet. They don’t care that there policies sentences the poorest in Africa, Asia and South America to death just as long as they have done their bit for the “planet”.

Now back to my interest in renewable home energy solutions.

About 13-years ago a friend of mine who worked in photovoltaic (PV) research told me that I would not believe the amount of political interference in their research. And that at that time, keeping in mind that this was 13-years ago, every single home could be self-sufficient in energy. The only thing that was stopping this was the vested interest of energy suppliers and government interference.

The vested interest of the power companies which, apart from the electricity supply companies, also include the gas and oil companies, have kept this virtually free energy away from the general public.

However, various researchers, engineers and enthusiasts have continuously worked on private projects and the information has rippled out into the wider community.

Other advances in the manufacture of improved electrical and electronic equipment as well as in lighting technology has helped to reduce our energy consumption.

Another area that was and to a certain extent still is problematic is the storage of energy, especially electrical energy. However, battery technology is improving and can make a substantially difference to renewable home energy solutions.

This revolution has been long in coming. I believe that we have reached critical mass and that it will be our choice whether we continue paying exorbitant prices to the energy suppliers or we spend a bit of capital up front and enjoy vastly reduced energy bills or even go off-grid altogether.

I believe that there is a place for solar and wind energy, though, probably not in an industrial scale but certainly for home use.

The choice is ours.

Large industrial complexes will still require energy from energy suppliers but we no longer have to help subsidize them.

I wish you everything I wish myself.

Until the next time.

Alain
Check out my review of the top 3 products for renewable home enegy solution
Check out my review of the Home Made Power Plant product
Check out my review of DIY Power System product