For years now, the same plead to go Green is in the air. Push, push, push, it seems never ending. Hollywood is going Green, the President is going Green, and the people are following their lead. Many businesses nowadays are using Lean principles, efficiencies, recycling, keen on environmental issues with Hazmat, and the list goes on and on. What's all this mean for the blue collar citizens who wish to go Green ? Money. Lots of money. For what ? Literally, it costs several dollars per watt of electricity produced. Watts & Volts & Amps, Oh my. Don't expect high rates of return on any Renewable Energy System, just a slow steady one.
Let's start with a few simple facts. Solar power is fueled by the Sun & UV rays, right ? Sure. The wattage produced is a different story. Say we have a 75 watt Solar panel. 75 watts is enough power to supply about 3 efficient 100 watt light bulbs. Most efficient bulbs run about 25% wattage than the true blue bulb. When the Sun is out, everything is bright and the bulbs are gleeming with life. Wait a minute, where did the Sun go ? Tricky clouds jumped in front of my Sun and the bulbs went out. Why ? The panel is still producing energy. Just not enough to meet the demand of the 3 bulbs. From here we use batteries to store the power in. Deep-Cycle batteries to be exact. At $80 dollars per battery, we're getting expensive already. The average battery bank is around 5-10 batteries. 10 x 80 = $800.00. Yikes ! Consider going Grid-Tied. Set your system up to collect power and backfeed it to your power company. Nowadays, we get exactly what they charge per kilowatt hour, back into our pocket books. Not bad. And NO batteries either.
We don't need to start at this level of cost, rather, begin at about a $800.00 budget and work our way down. For instance, we have the 75 watt Solar Panel mentioned above. $200.00 to make one. Costs another $500 to order one. Let's stick with the home built Solar Panel for now. Wiring comes next at about $50.00. A charge controller is very important. $100.00. Deep-Cycle batteries, say 1 of them @ 120 amp hours. $80.00. Next, we have the Inverter to change over D/C current to A/C current to run simple things that do not involve complex circuitry like TV's & DVD players, Computers. $200.00 for 2000 watts capacity. DO NOT RUN MSW (MODIFIED SINE WAVE) INVERTERS FOR COMPLEX CIRCUITRY, OVER TIME IT WILL RUIN IT ! PSW - Pure Sine Wave only for circuitry. Grand total is $630.00. Installation is easy for a true handy person, otherwise set some extra money asside for an installer. Should only take a few hours to install. Nothing hefty or expensive. Most of the items involved here cost much less than stated, however an overbudget is usually the best solution to put smiles on our clients faces. A small system like this would be perfect to run that small string of lights mentioned earlier.
Just a note to all you savy tax payers: 30% of this is a 1 to 1 tax credit on your 1040 schedule 5695 form for 2009. A 1 to 1 tax credit means just that. For every dollar you pay the Fed, you get it back at tax time. For example: $630 x .30 = $189.00 TAX CREDIT. What does it cost to build now ? $441.00. Not bad. Even better yet, have a professional business install it for you. Tax Rebate from your state is another 30% off of the top. Check your states Rebate program first before calculating at the DSIRE web page, otherwise, another $189 is taken off the $441 = $252. Perfect. What happens now ? That string of lights should be on a separate circuit from your power companies and is no longer being charged electricity rates. Savings, depending on your area could range from .05 cents per day to .25 cents a day. Multiply that by 30 = $4.50 per month savings average. Most electric bills average around $100.00. So 4.5% is being saved per month, thus about 56 months to pay off $252 dollars @ $4.50 per month plus you're not being charged for this anymore.
Save the planet ? You bet ! Think of all the greenhouse gasses saved and the carbon footprint. And to top that off, consider the fossil fuel we are saving. If I use this power to hook up a hybrid car, what am I saving now ? That makes us literally breathe easier. So next time you're interested or curious about Renewable Energy, consider this:
Don't think of the CASH,
Think of the CAUSE !
Use Green Energy !
It's FREE, It's FUN,
It's the way NATURE intended it to be !
FREE yourself from the greedy hands of those Utilities !
Some books that might be of interest: Got Sun Go Solar , Solar Power your Home for Dummies(beginners)
Power With Nature 2nd Edition
Visit: http://GreenAnything.net for more info on Renewable Energy....See you there....
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