Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Top Ten Reasons to Think About Renewable Energy

During the election, I kept hearing about renewable energy, and I understand why. In today’s economy, people are looking for ways to cut cost out of their budget.

I have trimmed back on my telephone service to the bare minimum, saving $40 a month. I cut my trash bill by $26 a month, by taking my trash to a dumpster at the local gas station for $2 a bag. Now for the Biggie… Renewable Energy – what a concept!

I’m in the process of eliminating my electric bill! That alone will save me about $1800 a year. Over the next ten years, I can save $18,000! I will probably save more than that though, because that’s figuring it at today’s rates.

These are the reasons that I came up with. You may come up with even more.

1. The obvious one will be that I won’t have to pay for electricity any longer... Instead, the power company will pay me, if I produce more than I can use, I can sell it to the electric company. That will be too Kool – getting a check, rather than sending one!

2. I found out that it won’t cost me an arm and a leg, like I originally thought it would. I can actually build it myself for around $200

3. The time is right. The economy worldwide is in a heap of trouble. By making my own electric, I won’t have to rely on others.

4. With the ever-growing shortage on fossil fuels, I’m not waiting around for someone to tell me ‘Sorry We Ran Out’, so I figure now’s as good a time as any.

5. I looked into it and found out that it’s not hard to do. If I create renewable energy, than anybody can!

6. This is great for our environment and our children and grand children will thank us for it. There may be some gas left when they reach driving age! Knowing that I am doing my part to conserve our planet feels great!

7. When I can make renewable power (my own electricity) for less than $200, I would be foolish not to!

8. I will be able to spend the money that I save on more important things, like food, making my mortgage payment, and other things I might need.

9. I won’t have to scramble any more during ‘Power Outages’

10. When I install my renewable energy system in my home I will increase the value of my home by thousands! Can you imagine telling a potential buyer – Oh by the way, you won’t have an electric bill if you buy my house!

I always sit down and make a list of the pro’s and con’s, before I do something. I really can’t find any con’s in this one though. The only one I had in the beginning was the initial cost, and I found a way around that. After making my list, I decided that there is definitely a huge incentive to get started right away. You can just keep shelling out or do something about it. The choice is yours! Here’s what I did to save money, I converted to solar power.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Want To Cut Your Electric Bill? Then You Need To Know The Advantages and Disadvantages of Solar Energy

Ccut your electric bill with solar energy. While solar energy is known to be very environmentally friendly it doesn't only have advantages but also some disadvantages. Lets discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages of solar power.

Solar energy can be used for electricity, heating and cooling, heated water, cooking, and even for producing salt desalination. Solar energy comes from the suns rays. Solar energy is known to be very environmentally friendly. However, when the suns rays enter the earths atmosphere it is quite dilute.

Although solar energy is known to be very environmentally friendly it doesn't only have advantages, but some disadvantages, as well. Lets talk about some of the advantages and disadvantages of solar energy.

Why don't we begin with the primary advantage of solar energy. You can cut your electric bill way down, or even eliminate it. Solar energy is clean. To make electrical energy or heat with solar energy you need only the suns rays. There's no need for fossil fuel in conjunction with sun rays to produce electricity or heat. You just need a solar energy collector or solar power panels in order to collect the suns solar energy.

Solar energy is less expensive than conventional electric . That is another featured reward of solar energy. Just by utilizing solar energy you can save a lot of money on heat. In return you will get smaller electric bills and it also means that you don't have to maintain heaters or furnaces.

If you live in a rural area where there are no power-lines solar energy can be your solution. There are rural areas where power companies have no means to access your home. Solar energy is a great alternative because it provides you with anything from heating water, a supply of electricity, and even cooking, and that pretty well covers all of the bases.

Another great use of solar energy is for desalination in regions where fresh, potable water is scarce. Solar energy evaporates brine and leaves the salt crystals in the bottom of the catch basin. The water in turn condenses into another basin where it is now potable.

While all of the above-mentioned is very useful, solar energy also has some disadvantages. These disadvantages also need to be talked about to paint a better overall picture.

The main disadvantage of solar energy is that its dilute. Which means that you have to have a bunch of solar collectors installed around your house. Solar energy may be really cheap but the solar collectors are relatively costly and involve regular maintenance in order to operate properly and efficiently. If you decide to go with solar energy you will need to calculate the ROI (return on investment) in order to know if the investment is cost effective.

One primary disadvantage is that you need the suns rays to make use of solar energy. If you are situated in a part of the where there is not much sun light then you could have a bit of a problem. In other areas, the suns rays are almost always covered in clouds making solar energy collectors less efficient. You should first know if the sunshine in your area is abundant for the most part of the year. Of course if you live in desert areas like in Arizona or New Mexico the sun produces a lot of sunshine for the majority of the year and is ideal for solar energy collection.

Finally the sun only shines during the day. Therefore if you need electricity or hot water during the night, like many of us do, it can be a problem. You will need a backup system like the old utility grid or you will need to store the electricity for later use. There are battery systems available, that can store electric for use when the sun goes down.

Solar energy is very clean and an alternative to conventional heating and electrical systems. this is true it is also good to understand the disadvantages of solar energy. If you are thinking about employing solar energy you should read this first to make a wise decision.

The advantages of renewable energy definitely outweigh any disadvantages. If you’re like me, and your looking for a way to cut your electric bill, and are sick and tired of paying electric bills, that just keep doing through the roof, visit us at EnergyMoneySavings

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