Build Your Own Solar Panels

If you are looking for a complementary energy source for you home solar, home wind turbines are an obvious choice.   Solar energy only be converted to electricity with solar panels during daylight hours.  I always like to point out to people that many sources of energy are derived indirectly from the Sun.  Even oil comes from the Sun in a roundabout way.  Crude oil is essentially fossilized plant life. How do you think all those plants managed to grow millions of years ago?  Photosynthesis, that’s how.  Wind energy is also solar energy.  Heat from the sun causes convective currents.

The great thing about wind power is that is available day and night.  In fact, it’s pretty common for more energy to be produced by home wind turbines at night than during the day.  That is considered a disadvantage by big power companies because  electricity is less valuable during off peak hours.  Home owners with their own alternative energy system could care less about that.

There have been two main stumbling blocks in the past that have kept home wind turbines from becoming as popular as solar panels.

1.The tower or pole on which a home wind turbine generator are typically mounted can be quite expensive and require permits which are not cheap or easy to obtain.

2.The noise generated by the rotor can upset homeowners and neighbors.  I have heard of compromises whereby the generator would be stopped for 8 or more hours at night.

Mounting a small turbine on the roof of your home or garage would solve the first problem but the noise issue would be even worse for the homeowner.

An Ohio based inventor who markets his innovations through a company called WindEnergy7 LLC realized that the advantages of roof mounted home wind turbines were great enough that the main drawbacks of noise and vibration had to be overcome. After scores of prototypes were tried, he eventually patented an award winning design. The patent is specifically for the roof mounting hardware. Complete kits that include wind and solar power are modular. Homeowners that opt for a single turbine and a couple solar panels can double or triple their capacity later on.

The only permit usually required for installation is for the electrical work. These systems can be installed in a day by well trained dealers. If you are interested in becoming a customer or a dealer contact WindEnergy7 LLC. The following video shows excerpts of the many hours of video tutorials produced by this company.

RV enthusiasts are all about freedom and solar panels can further enhance their experience.  Solar power is in fact so useful to RVers that many new recreational vehicles have solar panels factory installed. Read more about RV Solar Panels>>>

The British government enacted what is referred to as a feed-in tarriff.  Homeowners stand to benefit financially when they invest in clean renewable energy like solar panels.   It’s a big commitment on the part of the government as they promise to keep paying for 25 years.

The most dramatic and immediate result of the scheme is that retailers are falling all over themselves and each other in an effort to grab a market share of the inevitable surge in solar panel sales.  TESCO is the biggest supermarket chain in the UK and their foray into solar will be worth watching.  I worry that the rush to supply homeowners with affordable solar power may result in products of inferior quality hitting the marketplace.  Thin film technology may improve in the future, but the many of materials that were made recently are not expected to have a lifespan of 25 years.