Going green isn’t something trendy these days. It’s a necessity. We all need to do our share in keeping the world in a better shape for our children and their grandchildren. While the need for industrialization is still necessary, the technologies for making them more eco-friendly is present and well accepted. More and more people support companies that are ecologically responsible. Consumers have also been benefiting in green initiatives. Solar Energy has become so popular that solar panel prices have dropped in the past two years; some companies have even lowered their cost per panel per watt by as much as 40 to 50%. The laws of supply and demand have finally made economies of scale for producing such items in an inexpensive cost. This means that more and more people can afford solar panels because of its inexpensive price and the market for it has expanded to the middle class. It is hopeful that real estate home developers begin to use more and more solar panels in the development of their homes. Whether these solar panels are used as back up power for the homes or as a water heater, all such efforts work and in a bigger scale, help the environment as well.

There are other things you can do as well to help save the earth. Here are some suggestions that may be of interest to you:

- Replace bulbs that are not energy savers with ones that are. Prices for these energy saving bulbs are lower than they were when it was first introduced five years back. The other good effect of it is that it lowers your monthly electric bill as well. Teach your children to turn off the lights when not in use. Such habits will make them aware of how important energy saving really is.

- Plan your car trips with the family. Taking or joining a carpool once a week lowers your gasoline bill by at least 20% per year. If you can get a hybrid car, your additional savings in gas pays off the added cost in 3 years. If not, try getting cars with fuel efficiency. You don’t have to have a fast car, but one that gets you there with time to spare.

- Water your plants in the late afternoon or early evening. Doing so optimizes your grass in its absorption of water.

Some of these tips are nothing new but very commonsensical, but making sure that they are followed time and again, is but one of the many ways to help our world.

Steven Magill

It is important to test the voltage of the solar panel to make sure that it is putting out what was expected. Learn how to use a meter to test solar panel voltage from a professional in this free energy conservation video. Expert: Roger Bacon Bio: Roger Bacon is the owner of RGB Home Repair and Renovation in Santa Barbara California. He has experience in all phases of home repair and renovations such as plumbing, heating and solar power. Filmmaker: Diana Bacon

expertvillage

Interested in do it yourself solar power? Then you need to learn how to test your solar panels to make sure they are functioning properly. Learn how to test your solar panel with a multimeter from our handy video tip!

AltEStore

This shows how to solder solar cell ribbon to solar cells. Part 1. For more information, see openfarmtech.org See more info about constructing our solar panels here: openfarmtech.org We are looking for people who are interested in building the world’s first replicable open source self-sufficient decentralized high appropriate tech permaculture village – to transcend survival and evolve to freedom. Read more at www.OpenFarmTech.org Visit our myspace page www.myspace.com

marcinose

Used solar panel is a very affordable source of component for DIY enthusiasts who wants to power their homes with solar energy as well as for businesses that deal with solar power systems. Most people think that used panels are worthless but on the contrary, majority of them still functions well enough to be reused. Combined with the fact that they come with a much lower resale value, it makes the deal all the more attractive. Here we will look at what you need to take note of when buying used solar panel.

When you come across panels with obvious damages, try to avoid them unless you have no other choice. However, there are common problems like condensation under the glass, chipped or cracks glass or broken electrical connections within the panel which can be fixed easily if you know how. In my opinion, if you are starting out your own DIY project, just keep it simple and go for one that does not have mechanical or electrical problems that you need to fix manually. They may be a little more costly but as a beginner you may not want to spend days fixing the panels without even starting your project. When you have successfully completed your first project and have gained some confidence, then you may consider going for used solar panel with more defects.

Another thing to note is that older used solar panel tends to be larger in size for every watt they generate. If space is not an issue to you, these would make a good deal. You should also note that solar panels’ efficiency in producing electricity decreases over time but at a very slow rate depending on their condition. Some panels’ only produce 1 or 2 watt less than what they originally produce even after 20 years of usage. This is amazing and panels are known to last for 20 to 45 years since the first ones are still kicking.

You need a multimeter when inspecting used solar panel. You should measure both the DC voltage output and the DC ampere (current) output. A typical 12 volt panel should give you 21 volts in full sunlight while panels designed to be connected in sets of 4 (4 panels in series) will show 4 to 5 volts. DC ampere is used to measure the amount of current produced by the panels which directly affects how many watt the panels are generating. For a 12 volt panel, multiply the current by 17 volts to get watts.

Do not be overly concerned when you see browning of the panels, these are caused by the materials used in the panels and usually will not adversely affect their efficiently by too much. Always measure the efficiency of used solar panel by the voltage and current output.

George Tho is a DIY enthusiast. With used solar panel, you can power your home with solar energy and even set up a home business selling solar power system on a low budget. Find out how you can build your own domestic solar power system with less than $200 even if you are a complete DIY novice.

George Tho

The world today is a constantly looking for new and environmentally friendly ways to conserve energy and protect our ever dying world’s resources. There are more and more alternative energy sources and technologies that are being offered today reducing the amount of tasking fuel sources which are not only expensive to run, but have a major role in destroying our precious planet earth. It is due to a large extent of these fuel burning sources of energy that we are experiencing major changes in our world’s climate and have contributed considerably to global warming. These alternative sources are available more and more nowadays as the world are on a quest to fight global warming and therefore promote these alternative energy sources.

Can they work for you and your industry? Yes they definitely can, with advancements in alternative energy technologies this has not only become easier to implement, but considerably cheaper and by far more efficient and less destructive on the planet. You are probably asking the question; what alternative energy sources are there out there for me? Well there are several but the more naturally renewable these sources are, the better they are and the more viable sources to consider.

For example:

Solar light: What is solar light? Solar light is energy that is given off from the sun. Solar Panels, which would be situated on your roof, take sunlight in this sunlight or solar energy is the fuel in this instance and this gets used to produce energy. This energy gets stored in the panels and is ready whenever you need it, even during the night. Solar Panels are low cost as once they are installed; their maintenance is minimal and work 24’7 thus not only saving you money in the long run, but our planet. There are a lot of different industries using solar panel energy and these industries run effectively and efficiently and most importantly, safer for our environment.

Ever considered wind power? Why not? Many Industries and even little cities are running off wind generated energy. Large windmills are set up all over the area, especially in areas with high volumes of wind. These windmills use the wind power to generate energy and supply these cities or industries in need of this energy to survive. Wind is a renewable and green source of energy and today it is being used world wide.

Geothermal Power is another alternative source of energy currently being researched today specifically for the mining industry. Geothermal power is when heat from the earth is extracted and converted into usable energy. Geothermal power is cost effective, reliable and extremely environmentally friendly.

Have you ever been on holiday and seen massive waterfalls. These waterfalls are massively powerful and generate SO much energy naturally from the falling water, so it would make perfect sense for us to try and tap into that source and generate massive amounts of energy. Like wind power, entire cities are running off this energy source and are running effectively and efficiently. This is by far a cleaner and highly renewable source of energy than burning fuel.

Today with the increase in global warming awareness these forms of energy are becoming widely available and a huge necessity in not only reducing the destruction of our environmental resources but generating dependable energy for not only industries but our homes too. The awareness of global warming and the need to preserve our worldly resources in order for sustainable life has also brought about many different forms of energy sources. Hydraulic lubricants and industrial lubricants have even been researched to provide these alternative energy sources with efficient and environmentally friendly technologies. For Example: Research into Corn being used as an alternative for petrol in our cars and animal and food waste is being transformed into fuels.

These are alternatives are not only cleaner and friendlier on our environment they are instantaneously renewable whereas our fossil fuels take years and years to recover. So search any business directory and consider the possibilities of an alternative energy source in your industry or home and take full advantage of cleaner, reliable energy at half the price and not to mention, safer for our planet.

Cameron Diesel

Despite being aware that solar power is an excellent source of renewable energy and that it’s free and eco-friendly, many are not inclined to make use of it. The reason is not difficult to guess. It’s the price of solar panels that deters homeowners from using solar power. On an average a solar panel would cost about $2000.

Your Basic Solar Panel

If you are inclined to use solar power, but get bogged down due the price of solar panels, you could easily make your own panels at home at a fraction of the commercial price. Some of the items needed for making panels include solar cells, sheet of glass, wooden casing, solder and some very ordinary hand tools. None of the items is very expensive and all of them are easily available at hardware stores. Moreover, you don’t need ant technical skills for making one.

Rest of the system

Once you have finished assembly of the solar panel, you have to connect it to other parts to have a functional solar power system. You’ll need a battery, an inverter and a charge controller. You should understand that the output that you get from the solar cells is direct current D.C., whereas most of the devices work on A.C. So, you need an inverter for converting direct current to alternating current (A.C.). The battery works as a storehouse for storing power that can be used when the sun is not around at night. The charge controller stops the backflow of current and overcharging of battery.

On connecting all these devices, you circuit is complete and you can use the power generated at home for operating some of the domestic devices.

As you can understand the output of the system depends upon the number of solar cells and hence the panels. For producing large amount of power to run your entire household on solar power you need more number of panels, yet the good thing is that it is not very expensive considering that you’ll not have any recurring expense of electricity bills.

Mike Jameson

I had some little solar panels laying around and wanted to see if they would power the Arduino. They did. So, I wanted to see if I could make a sun tracking circuit to autonomously follow the sun throughout the day. So I did. Here is the result. If you wanna try it, you can download at: code.google.com … The code is not perfect or commented. Enjoy

luwe1

As a responsible citizen and as a responsible home owner, you should definitely consider your options for renewable energy. With the advancing technology of today, there are even more options for renewable energy systems that you can have for residential use. Although these systems have been in use since the beginning of the 20th century, the efficiency of these systems have been on the rise for the past decade. Nowadays, residential renewable energy systems are very efficient and their prices are getting lower everyday with technological advancements. Hence, it is not too expensive nowadays to install a residential energy system at your home.

Most importantly, there are federal and state incentives for most type of residential energy systems that you can install at your home. Especially on the federal level, there are many tax breaks and rebates that you can get from the federal government when you install residential renewable energy systems in your home. This way, although you may make your initial investment, you will be able to get most of it back in the forms of incentives. In addition, many states such as New Jersey, California and Texas provide you with extra incentives when you install residential green and replenishable energy systems such as solar panels or residential wind turbines.

Due to these incentives, many banks will provide home owners with advantageous credits and loans to make it worth while to purchase a renewable energy system. Moreover, in the event that you produce more electricity then you use, you will be able to sell the excess electricity to the local utility of your company. This way you can even make some money on some days.

As you can see, installing a residential renewable energy system can be very advantageous to the home owner. You can get these systems with very low interest loans and you can also lower your costs considerably by getting incentives from your state and federal government. In addition, you must also consider the fact that residential renewable energy systems will increase the value of your home. In fact most homes which have residential renewable energy systems will increase their values by as much as $30 to $50 thousand dollars. This way you can be sure that your investment in a renewable energy will return to you threefold. Moreover, you can be proud of yourself for contributing to save the world’s environment by using green energy at your home.

Dowl White