By Y.T. Lee

There are many people who are not worried about their energy bills. In fact a few of them have arrangements with their banks to pay their utility providers directly. One fine morning such people will be surprised, that is if they bother to check their bank statements. The fact is that most such people hire accountants to undertake mundane tasks like going through bank statements. All that these people do is to sign the account statements prepared by their accountants. These people will, at one stage of time or another, realize the value of a solar energy house, when they eventually check their utility bills. They do not know that the costs of electricity have jumped up by leaps and bounds.

The utility companies announce such increase in prices in their bills, but one has to glance at these bills to know about the impending increase in costs. Unlike these people, there are another group of people who have value and respect for their hard earned money. They know that the power costs are getting out of hand and they search for alternatives like sourcing electricity through solar cells. Nature has gifted us with sunshine and it does not cost any money to access and use the same. The solar power cells convert the light energy emitted by the sun and turn it into electric power. The power can be directly fed into their electric gadgets or it can be stored in heavy-duty cells (like the ones used in automobiles) and use it as and when required.

Ask any person who has installed such solar cells, especially those who have assembled the same via kits available on the net and in stores that specialize in electric equipment, and they will tell you of the substantial savings they are benefiting. Those who are interested in installing a solar power rig in their home first have to calculate how much power they require from such cells. Once these formalities are over with, they can purchase a kit that will provide them with the requisite power. Installing such a kid is childs play and a basic knowledge of soldering is more than enough. The kits generally contain of individual solar cell modules, an exhaustive and illustrated setup manual and an aluminum panel to hold the completed solar cell array.

These cells are connected to each other in series and the final output point goes directly into the equipment that needs power or to the battery. These kits are so cheap that they pay off for themselves within a few months post installation. The current generation photovoltaic cells convert about 30% of sunlight that falls on them to electrical energy, but scientists are working to make more efficient photovoltaic cells that will provide more power per exposed meter of solar cells. The prime advantage of using solar cells for a solar energy house is that they hardly require any maintenance. Just dusting the panels once every few days to ensure that sunlight falls on them properly is more than enough.

About the Author: If you need video instructions to make

home solar power panels

, visit

homesolarpanels101.com

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=367247&ca=Home+Management

Submitted by: Eric Badgely

There are many reasons to make your home more energy efficient. Not only does it benefit the community around you and help create a more healthy and sustainable world, but it is also a good way to save money personally. There are multiple ways to make your home more energy efficient, some more invasive then others. Easy steps include things like reducing the amount of water you use on a daily basis: washing full loads of clothing, not doing dishes with the water running constantly, or placing a brick in the water chamber of your toilet. Turning off lights when you leave a room, and using energy efficient light bulbs can also help reduce your energy bill.

There are a some slightly more complicated ways of saving energy in your home that if planned correctly can make a huge difference. Old, incorrectly installed windows can hinder your energy efficiency more than you might guess. If you live in an older home with single panes, it would be wise to have your windows evaluated and possibly updated to a newer technology. Some double pane windows even have argon gas between the panes that slow the transfer of heat from the outside in, and from the inside out to help with both extremely hot and cold weather.

There are some other energy efficient systems that can be installed in your home to reduce costs and dependency on non-renewable sources of energy such as fossil fuels and coal. These systems can not only save you money month to month on your energy bills, but also increase the resale value of your home. If you decide you want to invest in a energy efficient system the first step is to do an energy audit on your home, to check the energy usage and develop a plan to make the most of your system.

One of your options is to install a solar powered system. These systems can be expensive to install but in the end they pay for themselves in reduced energy costs. Solar systems use power from the sun to generate the electricity to run the utilities in your home. One of the most common types of a solar power system is used to heat the water in your home, but there are systems available for room heating as well. If you can afford the initial cost of installation then a solar powered system is a great way to increase energy efficiency in your home.

Rain water harvesting is another way to help reduce costs in your home, and even in a whole neighborhood of homes. It takes quite a bit of planning to make it possible to harvest raindrops but the outcome can be extremely beneficial. If you have to ability to get a whole community in on the project the cost per house is nothing compared to the money saved by this energy efficient system.

If you are in the process of building your own home, or renovating, then it is the ideal time to think about how to make your house energy efficient. Good insulation in the walls and window treatments can save you a lot of trouble down the road, and cross ventilation in the rooms can reduce the need for heat and air conditioning. Even the design of your house can have an impact on its energy efficiency. Higher ceilings can help cushion the impacts of summer heat and reduce air conditioning bills by noticeable amounts.

About the Author: This article was produced by Eric Badgley; specializing in

Bellingham Real Estate

and

Whatcom County Real Estate

. http://www.bellingham-realestate.net

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=406237&ca=Real+Estate