Solar Panel Systems, Energy Efficiency and Your Home
Reducing your Electric Bill with a Solar Panel System & Renewable Energy
Using a solar panel, wind turbine or other renewable energy system to produce electricity and reduce your electric bill can be a sound long-term investment. Depending on the type of technology, you can expect a full return on your investment within 3 to 18 years. With financial or tax rebates from your utility company or state and national government, the payback period on your investment can be cut in half.
However, the very first step to considering any renewable energy system must be how to make your home or business more energy efficient. Generally, the basic rule is that for every you spend on making your location more energy efficient, you save to on the cost of the solar panel or wind turbine energy system. Let's go over some basic ways you can make your home more energy efficient.
Making Your Home Energy Efficient
One of the easiest things that you can do to reduce your electrical consumption is change out your regular incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). CFLs use 65 to 75% less energy than a normal light bulb that produces the same amount of light. By replacing a normal 100 watt incandescent light bulb with a 32 watt CFL, you will save to in electricity costs over the lifetime of that bulb (10,000 hours). Now imagine how much you would save if you changed out all of your light bulbs to CFLs!
The technology for these bulbs has quickly evolved and improved in the last few years, while the cost has come down dramatically. You'll find that there are CFLs that will now fit most light fixtures and lighting needs-there are even dimmable CFLs!. Head out to your local department or hardware store and buy CFLs for as many of your light fixtures as possible. The investment is well worth it.
Another alternative to traditional lights are tubular skylights . Tubular skylights look a little like shiny stove pipes that start with a transparent dome on top of the roof and come down into some room for day lighting. We frequently see customers using tubular skylights to bring daylight into hallways and closets. The light is, of course, entirely natural and in some installations can provide as much illumination as a 100-Watt incandescent light bulb.
Energy Star and EnergyGuide
One of the biggest consumers of electricity in most households is the refrigerator. In most households, refrigeration is the number one electricity consumer after any electricity-based heating or cooling systems. If your refrigerator is over 10 years old, chances are it's electrically very inefficient. Consider replacing your current refrigerator with one that has a high Energy Star rating. Remember that just because a refrigerator may have earned the Energy Star label doesn't mean it's the most efficient model available-it only means that its efficiency exceeds the federally mandated efficiency standard by at least 15%. You can even do much of your investigation online at the Energy Star website. There you can search for the brand, type and size of refrigerator you want and sort by energy efficiency. When you shop in stores, consult the yellow EnergyGuide tags that are attached to all new refrigerators (and many other appliances). EnergyGuide is a different government program from Energy Star that offers information about annual energy consumption and shows you where each model lands in a comparison with similar models. For maximum energy savings, select the model that's a leader in efficiency in its class.
Ghost Loads
Also known as "phantom loads", ghost loads are the sneaky devices that constantly consume small amounts of electricity 24 hours a day-even when they're not actually doing anything useful. While each device by itself may not consume much electricity, the combination of all of them within your household may easily consume the equivalent of two or three 60-Watt incandescent light bulbs left on all day and all night. Over the course of a single year this adds up to over 1 Megawatt-hour-in other words, enough electricity to power an entire energy-efficient house for 2 to 3 months!
What are these mysterious ghost loads? The most common examples are the "power brick" adapters, or power supplies, that charge or operate cell phones, laptop computers, cordless drills, answering machines, radios, inkjet printers, and many other household devices. They're actually small transformers, turning AC electricity from the wall outlet into DC electricity for use by the device. While any one of these devices may only consume a small amount of power (e.g., 3-20 watts), a dozen or so of them, running simultaneously and continuously, consume a significant amount of electricity. What's worse is that even when you're not charging your cell phone or the battery for your cordless drill, that AC adapter may continue to consume power just because it's plugged into the wall. Other well-disguised ghost loads are those devices which have the "instant on" feature, such as most modern television sets, VCRs, DVD players, many radios and even many computers. While all of these devices are supposedly turned off, they are actually consuming anywhere from 3 to 20 watts continuously-just to stay ready for you to use them.
Frequently Asked Questions
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QUESTION:
Is there solar panel systems for Single Phase 230V with and MAX ampearge requirement of 65A?
Is there solar panel systems for Single Phase 230V with and ampearge requiement of 65A? If so whee can I find one? It is for a single phase submersible water pump system.-
ANSWER:
That's about what - 15 kW? It could be done, but at this size, each system is custom-made. I have reservations about whether this would be cost-effective, as the up-front cost is going to be in excess of ,000 if I'm figuring right.You can try asking your question on the solar water pumping forum here http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/index.php to see what the experts think.
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QUESTION:
solar panel systems to become more economic and time soon?
does anyone think now that now there is pretty much a new government solar systems, wind generators and other items along the line will become more middle class pay grade friendly? i was looking into solar panels even with incentives and everything it still takes 20 years to pay itself off.-
ANSWER:
I have heard the 20 year break even thing a few times and I don't see how you figure that. I just got a system and without the state rebates my payback would have been around 10 years. With the rebate of K and only a fed tax credit I should break even between 6-7 years. If the 1st few months is any indication I may break even sooner. The federal tax credit was increased during the 0billion bailout. Now homeowners can get a 30% federal tax credit on the installed price on top of any state or local rebates. My systems price was K, so I would have had an additional ,800 tax credit. I live a typical middle class life, and we were able to easily afford the K out of pocket, that was less than 1/2 the average cost of a car and they will last 25 years which is twice the life expectancy of the average car. They also cost less than the average built in pool and many middle class families find ways to pay for them. It's a matter of perception. I will be getting free electricity for aobut 18 years, how can that not be affordable.
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QUESTION:
How well do solar panel systems work in homes in the city?-
ANSWER:
solar panels work where there is sun. If the city is filled with smog, it'll be a little tough. But if it is a normal city environment, it'll work fine. Be sure to install it on the south side of the home, or where the sun gets to most (if not in the western hemisphere
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QUESTION:
Who sells the most economical solar panel systems for homes in southern California?-
ANSWER:
I would look to see if Citizenre is available in your area. The Citizenrē REnU program gives you the chance to adopt green energy in your home without having to make a huge investment.Instead of making you spring for ,000 or more in gear, a new company, Citizenrē, will loan you a complete rooftop solar power system, install it for free and sell you back the power it generates at a fixed rate below what your utility charges. The company makes money off your system from those monthly payments, augmented by federal tax credits and rebates.
Its a pretty cool deal - you get a complete solar system & the ability to lock in your electric rates, guaranteed, for as many as 25 years (maybe more), and help reduce global warming/greenhouse gases!
I'm looking into it for my own house.
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QUESTION:
Has anyone used a solar heating panel system with an Intex pool and filter? Do they work?
Pool store personnel say the solar panel systems won't work because the Intex pool filters won't push enough water thru the system.-
ANSWER:
The pool store guy is right. Those intex pumps are junk. Look for a used 1Hp pump or buy one from Harbor Freight.You can unplug the Intex pump and use the new pump to push the water through the Intex filter. That is how I did mine. I have to clean the filter more often because the increased water flow.
Someday I will just buy a sand filter and have a really clean pool.
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