Archive for April, 2010

Wind Power Turbine Considerations

Wind power has grown by leaps and bounds as a source of renewable energy.  Worldwide, wind energy has grown at around 30% annually in recent years.  The beauty of it is that it uses no fossil fuel and therefore produces no harmful emissions or wastes.  With that said, let us look at the types of wind turbine designs that are used for this energy source.

Wind Turbine Designs

There are two (2) basic designs for wind turbines.  They are determined by their drive shaft.  The most common design is the horizontal axis turbine that consists of a horizontal shaft that drives usually three blades.  The other design is the vertical axis turbine.

Most wind turbines used in the home are horizontal axis turbines.  They generally look like any type of room fan that you would see.  To make them effective, they need to be pointing in the direction of the wind.

Although the horizontal style is more popular, the vertical design has its advantages.  For starters, they don’t need a braking mechanism during storm conditions, and secondly, they need very little relative wind to get going.  Better yet, vertical models do not need to be built as large as do the horizontal ones.

Roof Mounting

One of the most popular mounting locations for wind turbines are your roof.  It wasn’t that long ago when mounting one of these units on your roof would have been disastrous.  Intense vibrations on a windy day most likely would cause serious damage to your home.  However, those problems have been corrected significantly due mostly to scaling down in size.

Tower Mounting

A tower mounted wind turbine is a great option, but you have to plan it properly.  A tower unit can be extremely costly depending on how high you want it to be.  Of course, the higher the tower, the more potential energy you can capture.  On the other hand, when you go higher, you will need more material for your tower – such as guy cables.  Also, a tower unit requires more land as well.

Solar Energy for the Home

There are countless ways in which you can use the sun to make your home run more efficiently.   When it comes to solar power, you must consider both how to collect it and how to put it to work.  This largely depends on the energy needs of your home and where you live geographically.

Collecting the Heat of the Sun

There are two (2) basic types of solar collection available.  The first are basic solar collectors, and the second are solar photovoltaic panels.

Solar collectors are characterized by the way they collect heat thermally using either water or air to transfer heat into another location.  This type of solar collection is very basic and much easier and a lot more affordable to use.  However, you cannot expect to completely convert your home to this type of solar power.  It is not capable of meeting the demands.

Solar photovoltaic panels collect heat from the sun and converts it to electricity to be used anywhere in the house.  This type of collector is far more expensive and more complex than a straight thermal solar collector.   Depending on where you live, using photovoltaic panels are able to meet many of your home’s power demands.

Putting Solar Energy to Work in Your Home

The best way to go about converting your home to an alternative energy source is to take small steps.  Most home owners begin by using the sun to heat their water.  After that, they will address how to heat their homes, followed by how to use solar energy to power up the remaining portion of their energy needs.  Also, people that have pools will typically use the sun to heat their pools.

Heating Water with the Sun

This is the best place to start using solar energy simply because you can use straight solar collectors which are far less expensive and far easier to work with than a photovoltaic.  It is definitely easier to turn solar energy into hot water than electricity.  There are two (2) basic ways to heat your water with the sun.  You can either use an open loop system or a closed loop system.

An open loop system is one that heats water as a batch and doesn’t use any kind of antifreeze system.  These are typically used in warm weather climates where freezing is not a concern.  The only drawback with open loop systems is that you have to pay close attention to water quality.  Hard or acidic water will quickly corrode and damage the piping.

A closed loop system is one that utilizes antifreeze as a heat exchange medium.  While this system is more complex and has more moving parts than an open loop system, it is much more efficient and reliable.

Heating Your Home with the Sun

This will be a huge challenge in your solar conversion plan.  If you are building a new home, then you will be able to easily incorporate solar heating into your plans.  However, existing homes are another story altogether as many existing heating system are extremely inefficient.  There are two (2) basic approaches to solar heating systems: passive and active.

A passive solar heating system is one that employs direct sunlight to heat a living area.  Sunrooms and greenhouses are great examples of passive heat.  Obviously, this type of system is better suited for new homes which can be designed to directly solar heat directly into the rooms of the house.  For existing homes, passive systems are not as available for use.

An active system is one that uses fans and pumps to move heat exchange fluid around your house from various solar collection units.  Active systems are generally what are needed for most homes.

In reality, hybrid systems which are comprised of both active and passive elements are usually the end result of using solar power to heat your home.

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Which Renewable Energy Should You Use?

Image via Wikipedia

Before you go running out and investing the coolest and latest renewable energy craze, you really should determine which system would work best in your home.  Regardless of whether you are checking out solar panels, wind towers, geothermal wells, woodstoves, or a hybrid system comprising of several elements, take the time to examine your home closely first.

There three (3) areas to consider:

1. Money: How much are you spending every month to heat and cool your home? Which of these are really pinching you every month?  Take the time to calculate how much it would cost to install a new system, and how quickly it would pay for itself.  If you were to conserve instead, would the system be worth the cost?
2. Energy: What fuels are currently powering your house?  Make sure that the overall you are considering will replace the energy in terms of comfort and reliability.  A large home may benefit from a geothermal system, while a smaller home might needs a few solar collectors.
3. Location: When you live will determine to a large degree what type of renewable energy would suit you best.   If you live in a rural area and have restricted access to the electrical grid, then you may just want some solar panels and be better off staying off the grid altogether.  If you are looking at woodstoves, then you need to ensure a steady supply of wood for your needs.  And should you be considering a wind turbine, then you will definitely need some serious space and local wind power.  Of course, being rural makes it easier to build a tall turbine which are usually much more productive than traditional ones.

Summary

Switching to a renewable power source in your home will do wonders for your Green Awareness.  You will start to think about how much your energy system is producing begin looking for ways to improve your efficiency.

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