Net Metering – Save Money With Home Solar Power Systems




I have been re-reading my copy of Michael Harvey’s Earth 4 Energy e-book to get some idea for a new blog post.

I came across the chapter where Michael wrote about the “Grid Intertied Solar Electric System” and “Net Metering”. I thought that would be an interesting topic…well for solar power enthusiasts anyway.

For those who are new to the realm of home solar power system, the grid intertied and net metering topics might be foreign to you. I will try to explain them in more detail.

Generally, as you know, a residential solar power unit uses solar cells to generate electricity from the sun energy. The electric power will go through many electrical components such as charge controller, AC breaker, meter gauges, battery bank, power inverter etc before it reaches the load or the electrical appliances.

Do you know the solar energy system does not have to be independent?

An independent solar system is totally disconnected from any external power circuit or grid. There are multiple pros and cons by having an independent system.

Usually, this kind of system is not chosen by choice. Home owners may have to use this system if there is no power grid nearby or it will cost too much to pull a new set of cables.

The independent system is 100 percent dependent on the sun for energy. As you can see, there may be some disadvantages in using this system. What happens during cloudy or rainy days? No sunlight, no power.

Tying Into The Power Grid

For a home solar power system to be more practical, some home owner will tie the system to the existing power grid. Hence, the name “Grid Intertied Solar Electric Systems”.

According to Earth4Energy, there are 3 types of grid tie-in solar systems.
1) On Grid
2) Grid-Tied
3) Utility Interactive

Selling Surplus Power Back To The Utility Company

One clear advantages that many home owners like about residential solar power system is the “net metering” or “net billing” effect. This happens when the amount of power generated by the solar system is more than enough to power the household appliances.

What do you do with the surplus power? You sell it back to the power utility company. The exchange happens when you notice the power meter is moving backwards.

When this happens, you will be getting credit on your future electricity bill. Not only are you saving money, you are making money by getting free energy from the sun.

Not all districts have this kind of arrangements. You have to consult with your local electricity provider or statutory regulatory agency for further information.

To experience the net metering effect, your home solar power system would have to be scaled up considerably. Meaning, you have to build larger solar arrays and have a bigger battery bank.

The amount of power generated has to be more than what you require on a daily basis. At this point, you have to consider your Return On Investment (ROI).

There are many other benefits of using a home solar power system. Michael Harvey wrote a comprehensive chapter in his Earth 4 Energy e-book.

If you want to know what you will get from Michael’s renewable energy manual, be sure to check out the Earth 4 Energy review page.

Earth For Energy Scam – Is Michael Harvey’s Earth For Energy A Scam?


Here’s a question that I get quite often on my blog, “is Earth For Energy from Michael Harvey’s another scam?” I have always wondered why people ask such question. I guess it is understandable if you have never bought anything from the internet before.

The Earth 4 Energy e-book is one of the top selling renewable energy guides that you can find on the internet. It has been around for more than a year and it is still the top selling home green energy guide on the web.

If you didn’t know, the main web site for Earth For Energy (Earth 4 Energy) is at www.earth4energy.com. When you landed on the web page, you will see a big headline that say “How to make your own solar panels for less than $200” (screen shot below). Basically that is the promise from Micheal Harvey, the e-book author.

Low Cost DIY Solar Panel

The question is, can we make a solar panel for less than $200? If we can’t, that will definitely make Earth For Energy a scam. Don’t you think so?

I decided to do some research to prove my theory.

The picture below shows the cost breakup on the DIY solar panel. As it turns out, you can actually make the homemade solar panel with less than $100, instead of $200. Great!

From the costing breakdown, the largest material cost is in the Photovoltaic (PV) cells. Is is $67.50.

To make the solar panel as recommended by Earth For Energy, you will need 36 pieces of 3″ x 6″ solar cells.

Michael Harvey suggests for us to look for cheap solar cells at Ebay. And that’s where I’ve headed.

Cheap Solar Cells At Ebay

It took me about 5 minutes of browsing in Ebay and I did find a few good listings. The closest one that I’ve seen is an offer for 36 pieces of 3″ x 5″ solar cells for $56.50. The price is quite close to the solar panel budget as shown in Earth For Energy.

In fact, I’ve also found an offer for 70 broken 3″ x 6″ PV cells for $17.01. Broken cells may not be the best, but some of them still can be used. But you have to test them with a multi-meter first.

In Conclusion

So is Earth For Energy a scam?

The project budget costing versus the actual material cost is pretty close. If that is the case, Michael Harvey’s promise of showing us how to make a solar panel for less than $200 may just actually work. The rest is on your personal effort of actually building the panel.

From my conclusion, I do not thing the guide is scam or fraud. Nonetheless, I would suggest for you to try it for yourself.

Hey..if it doesn’t work, you can always ask for a refund. Micheal has given his personal guarantee on his manual. If you don’t see any value in his e-book, you can ask for a full refund within 60 days from the purchase date.

==> Click here to visit Earth 4 Energy now!

Portable Solar Power System – Free Energy On The Go




One of the first renewable energy e-book that I bought from the web was Michael Harvey’s Earth 4 Energy. Before I started this blog, I do not have much knowledge about solar power or wind energy.

The place I stayed in is very close to the equator and pretty much has sun coverage 365 days a year. There’s only 2 seasons here, which is the hot and rainy season. Solar energy would work just fine here.

At home, we do use solar power, and it is for water heating only. From what I’ve learned, the system is also known as passive solar energy system. The system does not use any active mechanical movement to generate the hot water. It may be hot and humid here, but we do need hot water for shower at night.

Come to think of it, the solar water heater has been installed for more than 20 years. Imagine that! And it is still going strong. I am actually quite amazed by the long life span of the system.

As I was reading the Earth 4 Energy manual, I came across Chapter 3 where Michael mentioned the “portable solar power system”. I got me thinking. What can we do with a movable energy generator?

Making the system does not seem very difficult. In general there are only 4 main components which are the solar panel, charge controller, battery, inverter and finally to the load or electrical appliances. This is sort of like a mini version of a full blown home solar power system. As its name suggest, the system can be moved from one place to another.

I think the portable solar energy system is great if you are an outdoor person. If you like to go camping or weekend fishing trip, the system seems like a good fit for you.

Imagine setting up a solar array on a tree, let it soak up the sun ray, store the power in the battery and use it to power a heater to warm up the camp at night. Free energy thanks to mother nature.

According to Michael, the small solar energy system can be made with a budget of less than $200. Honestly, I think this is possible but you would have to do some leg work.

Some of the parts such as the Photovoltaic (PV) cells for the solar array can be sourced from ebay. It is the same case with the battery. I actually did 2 blog posts on that.

I wrote about how to find cheap solar cells and how to find inexpensive battery on ebay couple of days ago. I did the search on ebay myself and I know you can find cheap part for a Do It Yourself (DIY) solar power system.

If you are a person good with hand tools, building your own portable solar power system would not be much of a challenge. It is a matter of getting it done.

If you want to bring your electrical equipment such as heater, toaster, laptop, radio etc when you go camping, you need a power source for them. The movable solar power system is perfect for that.

There are a few other suggestions in the Earth 4 Energy e-book on how to find cheap parts. Some people are not really convinced and think Earth4Energy is a scam. If you want more information, read the e-book review that I wrote on this blog. It may just change your mind.

Home Solar And Wind Power Videos

Do you want to know how you can use solar modules or wind generator to reduce your home energy consumption? If you do, check out the 30 solar and wind power for home videos e-book we’ve compiled. It’s free to download.

==> Click here to download the free e-book now!