Breaking Our Home Energy Dependency With Solar Technology


Our life today is overly dependent on electricity; we almost feel incapacitated without electric supply being available at any place. We however hardly ever spare a thought about electricity being not eco-friendly, do we?

Despite all the concern about promoting eco-friendly products and gadgets in our day to day life, we keep using electric power with abandon and thus, albeit unconsciously, defeat this very idea!

Solar technology systems can certainly help; yes this novel technology has been used to produce power systems that can run most gadgets right from TV, sound systems to garden illumination that we use.

In fact, we have to use solar cells to produce power; these convert sunlight into electricity. The gadgets that are used to get power for domestic use comprise panels that are exposed to sunlight and thus act as the receptacles that provide solar radiation to the cells that convert it into electric power.

It may sound somewhat cumbersome but just a look at the actual gadget will satisfy you about their simplicity of arrangement and design. Further, these systems operate silently and need least regular maintenance; installation too is pretty easy.

If well-assembled, solar power systems are long lasting. The most important feature of this way of getting power is that you are deriving it from the perennial source of sunlight that happens to be available free of cost to every individual!

So, once the system is installed in your house, you don’t have to pay for power consumption. Ovens in your kitchens and geysers in baths that consume heavy power and cost you a fortune by way of power bills, are well suited to be run with solar power systems. They also do not cause any mess around the area they are installed at and give an extremely clean look.

You do not have to worry about the location for installing such a system; solar panels are available in a wide variety of sizes and you may pick as per the availability of space in your house. Other than the panels, the systems do not have any bulky parts.

So, the whole solar power system can sit with least obstruction or change to your existing outlay and the benefits can be brought home with least fuss. One important point before you can think of getting electricity through solar systems is that you should be located at a place with enough sunlight through most parts of the year.

It is always advantageous to install these systems on roof tops so that the panels receive sunlight throughout the day time. The government encourages installation of solar systems through grants to real estate developers under Non-profit Affordable Housing Expense Program.

Power is a huge concern worldwide and any alternative source is being promoted to help meet its generation-demand gap. If you are hunting for an economical property, it may be worthwhile looking for one equipped with subsidized home solar power system.

Though if you are the one with some technical orientation, such a system is never a problem to assemble with the help of “do-it-yourself” solar kits. Else, even paying for the technician in getting it installed may be quite worthwhile considering the long term benefits of economy in running power costs.

How To Reduce Home Energy Consumption Without Breaking The Bank



The following are a few small smart tips which can help you to conserve energy at home before you decide to install a home solar power system.

Changing light bulbs

Instead of using conventional bulbs, why not use energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs, which are now being used widely by many households.

Though they are expensive but in the long run, these bulbs will seem to be small investment. The life of these bulbs is twelve times more as compared to the conventional bulbs. These bulbs have proved to use only 25 % of power than the conventional bulbs.

No overheating or cooling

There will not be any need to overheat or overcool any room during different times of the day or during different seasons. Automatic and preprogrammed thermostats would be a great buy as these thermostats will automatically adjust different conditions during different timings of the day.

These thermostats will automatically set the heating or cooling as per the requirement of your house. Once you have started the air conditioner, most of the cooling gets wasted if there are leaks in doors or windows frame.

Simply plug these leaks so that the cooling created does get wasted. You may use effective draft stoppers meant to plug the leaks. These stoppers are quite durable and flexible and get fitted almost at all the spaces.

Cleaning air filters

Simply by cleaning the clogged filter on your air conditioner can save you 5 % of the energy bill. This small step is often neglected or is simply forgotten.

The clogged filters compel the heater and air conditioners to consume more energy as these machines have to work harder to perform their intended tasks.

Next target should be your home water heater. Manufacturers normally set these at 140, this result in high power consumption. Simply bring it down to 120 and see the results in your next power bill.

Smart dish cleaning

While using dishwater, always make sure that it is completely full before you run it. There is no need to dry the dishes, let these dishes get dried automatically in the normal course of time.

Planting trees

If you live at place where the climate is hot and the large part of your house faces the south, just consider planting some trees that will give you shade and cooling effect to your entire surroundings. Consider painting your house with a light shade, so that the sunlight is reflected away.

By planting trees and painting your house with light shade, gives you complete protection from sunlight and helps in saving energy inside the house. More so you are also keeping the environment clean as trees absorb the toxic carbon emissions.

These steps though small can play an important role in saving the consumption of energy at home. If possible, you must also inculcate these energy tips to other family members, so that they also contribute to energy saving.

Remember energy saved is energy produced; you not only save the energy and money but contribute lot to the environment. These small steps can contribute a lot in saving energy. Who knows, with the amount of energy you saved, you may even reconsider using a solar power system at home.

What Are The Government Doing To Support Solar Power Usage At Home?



What a great deal that you get the solar panels for your home and the government pays for it, though you will not get solar panel free, but the federal tax incentives can cut the cost by 30 % for residential solar power installation.

Many states have many offers such as incentives and rebates, some of the rebates and incentives match the federal incentive offer. There are other utilities also which have similar offers and many new cities and towns are being added.

In the recent meeting at the Town Hall in Belmont, MA promised to extend all the facilities to have free solar panels installed at their homes. In most cases only solar electric system is covered, but now both solar electric system and solar hot water system are being covered.

It is a matter of interest to see that in most parts of the country a comprehensive solar energy system can be installed at minimum cost. Federal State and Local Program Bolster Solar investment offer a hefty reduction in the prices and installation of solar panels at your home.

This in fact is a better option than getting free solar panels, as the professional installation cost can be around 40 % of the total cost of solar energy system. This will prove to be a double benefit to those households who have installed solar energy system; they not only save 60 % or more of the cost but save lot of money every month on the energy bills.

In addition, if they have tie up with the grid system, they can sell additional power to the local utility. The town of Pendleton has followed the same system, which otherwise would not have been possible to install solar energy system in their homes.

The good thing was that the town residents formed a group and got the group discount on the system which they bought for their homes. The results were very encouraging; it may not be possible to get such a discount in your area, but the department of Energy-Efficient Mortgages which offer specialized and discounted loans for alternate energy projects, this also includes solar energy.

The government program also encourages solar in other ways, most local government exempts the solar energy costs from the property tax, irrespective of the fact that the with the installation the value of your home appreciates.

In addition to this the federal tax credit can be spread out for many years, if the amount is more than the taxable income for the year in which solar energy system was installed. It is not necessary to install a whole house solar energy system to get these incentives; even smaller packages like starter systems are also eligible for these advantages.

It is a fact that bigger is the solar system you get bigger incentives that means more savings and more value addition to your home. Even though you may not be able to get the solar panels free, but with overall incentives and advantages attached to it, this is the most ideal investment for your home.

Thinking of setting up your own home solar power system? If you are, check out the Power4Home program by John Russel where he teaches you how to build a DIY solar panel with a budget of less than $150. For more information, read up on the Power4Home reviews on this blog.