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Adding a solar power system to your home need not be a financial or techno disaster. There are sound reasons why most of us can benefit from solar power and we need to explore these reasons.
First of all, there are many different forms of renewable energy – wind generation, ethanol supplments to various forms of gas and oil, solar hot water, solar heating of saline solution for nightime power production and some other lesser known events. To be a candidate for solar power you should be geographically located in a solar area 4 or higher. Germany, the world leader in conversion to solar power is solar 4! Most of the United States is Solar 5 or higher. These terms refer to the intensity and amount of time you receive enough solar energy to power a system.
The first question most people ask is: Is it feasible? If you have a home with a southern facing roof or open area you have crossed the first divide. The sun rises in the east, transits across the southern reaches of the heavens and pours out its energy for free!. The suns rays are composed of “photons” which bombard everything on earth. When they bombard the razor thin patch known as a solar module, the specially arrayed material there becomes unbalanced and the seeking of balance causes electrical current to be born and transmitted across the module to a system of wires connecting all modules. This current is put together with the other modules and bingo! You have enough current to run your house, business, farm, etc. etc..
Let us assume you have the average 3 bedroom, 2 bath home of about 1500 square feet, on one or two levels. Your using in the neighborhood of 1.6 Kilowatt hours per month in the winter and substantially less in the summer. At $.08 (Western States) to $.11 (Eastern and southern states) you ride the rollercoaster of bills that are almost unaffordable to your much smaller spring to fall bills. Applying solar hot water and solar electrical modules is a common combination in todays era. The solar hot water covers your need for a hot water heater, which is a large portion of your household bill. The rest can be covered by a 1.6 Kilowatt solar panel installed on the roof and hooked up through converters and various hardware hooked to the power box.
In our state (Oregon) we must use, or have certified, all of the above, by a Solar Power Installer. Specially trained individuals generally oversee the job and work with the electrical utility to insure that all is done within normal compliance rules. Without these individuals and the assistance from your power company, you should never attempt to do this program. In many places is is illegal, in other places you lose your governmental incentives, which can run as much as half of the $15-25,000 initial expense.
The payoff is when you stand in front of your power meter and it is running backward! That is putting money in your “reserve account” for use on the day when your needs run more than your generation. At the end of the year, you and your power company settle up – usually presenting you with a bill for $5 per month for some months and a surplus for others – or a complete wash!
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