Advantages of renewable energy
Supplies of fossil fuels are dwindling all over the world. Because of this, governments and environmentalists are warning people that something needs to be done to keep up with this demand. People are looking at the advantages of renewable energy and whether it is a source of power that they are able to utilize.
Another major problem with fossil fuels is that they have a terrible impact on the environment. There is a direct correlation between the use of fossil fuels and global warming. Global warming severely impacts the way of life for both human and animal species, and changes weather patterns which includes heat waves, hurricanes and droughts.
Take me off the power grid go/offgrid
Realize that the controversy of Global warming is still brewing, however it will also make good economic sense to utilize free sources of energy and harness it to save money on utilities, etc.
One of the greatest advantages of renewable energy is that it is a clean green form of energy and produces a minimal carbon footprint. Because of this many, people are getting on the renewable bandwagon and choosing to use renewable energy sources such as solar power, wind power and geothermal energy.
You will find that there are more jobs created with the use of renewable energy, and these are more likely to stay in the United States as well. Many of these positions offer good pay and benefits.
Another one of the advantages of renewable energy is that the government is stepping up and providing tax credits and incentive programs for people who choose to install renewable energy technology. There are currently federal tax credits available for people who choose to install solar power. These federal tax credits make up 30 per cent of the value of solar systems and can be used for both commercial and residential properties.
Get the rest of the article on their site at:
Tags: alternative energy rebate, build your own solar house, building solar tips ideas, home solar building, passive_solar_design, photovoltaic, Solar_Home_Plans
Profit Opportunity: The Government Has Solar’s Back
By Christian Hill [Comments by Wes Waddell]
[The Public is Left Paying the Bills]
Yesterday, I talked about the tremendous year the solar industry had in 2010. While the S&P was up nearly 20%, some [solar and utility] companies saw gains as high as 80% and 120%.
And for the first time ever, the industry installed over 1 gigawatt of capacity.
[Charging record price rates for the power produced]
Solar has a lot of momentum going into 2011.
And that tailwind is being reinforced by the US government.
For the past few years, they have been giving the [solar utility] industry all the help they can in the form of tax credits, grants, and incentives. These totaled $2.5 billion last year. That was four times the 2009 amount.
[Yet not a penny for individuals or the poor! Yes, we are eligible for tax credits, but since only the upper middle class and the wealthy can afford the initial costs to put solar on their homes, almost nothing it being paid out.]
One example is the Treasury Grant Program (TGP). It lets the owner of a commercial solar project take a 30% cash grant instead of a tax credit.
[Individuals get only the tax credit option and even using the highest tax bracket, that equates to less than5% of the actual cost of a whole house system. The reality is that as an individual, you only get to deduct a part of the cost (not including installation costs that are included in commercial grants) and then you still only save at the percentage your tax bracket falls into. In rough terms, a $10,000 solar system plus $5,000 dollars of installation gets a commercial company $4,500 in grant money. That same system for an individual will get you only $2250 assuming a 50% deduction in a 30% tax bracket. Effectively, the poor that pay little, if any, taxes to start with, see no deduction at all.]
The TGP was set to expire at the end of last year.
But the US government wasn’t about to let all the momentum the solar [Utility] industry has built up slip away.
So they extended the TGP for another year.
The government [and me as well] is aware that this is about jobs too. Job growth for solar companies is forecast to be 26% over the next 12 months. That compares to 2% for the overall economy.
[But that job growth is for only one small segment of the economy. Just imagine the job growth if individuals had an extra $100 to $200 or more a month to spend because they didn't have the high (and rising fast) utility bills to pay. I'm guessing that that 26% for solar companies would pale in comparison to even a 10% jump in the economy as a whole. I have no doubt that it would be closer to 20% or more with the influx of consumer spending accross the board that would happen if individuals spent their utility money on goods and services instead of on power bills.]
And the job growth should continue. The industry is expected to add 24,000 new jobs this year and nearly 300,000 jobs in the next 5 years.
[But at what cost? How many other businesses will close because consumers are paying ever increasing amounts to the utility companies for what is esentially FREE Power?]
You can bet that the government will do everything it can to support an industry that can wean us off our foreign oil dependency and add jobs at the same time. [Not to mention pay lobbyists and goverment officials large sums of money for their support.]
[The rest of his article is on investing in solar companies... as if many of us still have the cash to invest in anything. You are most welcome to read it and if you do still have investments, I would encourage you to read and pay close attention as Mr. Hill is quite right in his assessment for 2011 and solar. Unless the people come together and let the government know that they are not going to stand for any more spending on businesses while the general public is left to keep footing the bill... and I know that that isn't going to happen this year... then solar power companies are going to be most profitable for the next few years.]
So 2011 will likely be another strong year for solar. The question then becomes: Where should you consider investing?
The largest photovoltaic manufacturer in the world is First Solar (FSLR), the blue line in the chart below. The company is headquartered right here in the US but does a significant amount of business globally.
Another option is JA Solar Holdings (JASO), the red line in the chart. They are located in China and sell their solar cells to larger manufacturers.
Finally, look at LDK Solar (LDK), the yellow line in the chart. Also located in China, LDK is more of a fully integrated solar company. They produce their own solar cells, develop solar projects, and sell materials to other solar companies.
Wherever you invest, keep a close eye on your positions. Subsidies and tariffs can change at any moment and have a major impact on a company’s business. Use a 25% trailing stop to protect profits and capital.
Tags: building_solar_house, home solar installation, home solar systems, solar government grants, solar power rebate, solar tax deductions
Solar Power and Heating Options
There are two basic types of solar for use around the home or business: Active Systems and Passive Systems.
Active Solar or Photo Voltaic Systems
Active systems are used to generate electricity so you can power appliances and electronics. These systems consist of Photo Voltaic (PV) cells arranged in an array or grid that when combined with storage and power converters (power inverter) can, in theory; literally run anything powered by electricity.
While there are a number of different types of solar cells and panels used in this type of system (too many and too complicated to discuss here), the main thing you need to know about this type of system is that you will either use the normal electrical power grid to store and/supplement your homes energy needs or you will be using a bank of batteries to store the days excess energy for powering your home/office during darkness and cloudy conditions.
Some folks even use a combination of the two so that they have a backup power source if the main utility power goes out. I’m actually planning on just such a system for my home as we frequently lose power during winter months.
Each of the systems has it’s merits but the main thing you’ll want to consider here is cost. The off grid system is going to cost more as you will need a good quantity of batteries to store the energy generated from the solar panels. If you are building a home where grid (public) power is not available or where you need to pay the power company a large sum to run the wires to your home site, then it can get to the point where the off grid system is more cost effective.
Where possible, a grid connected system with a smaller bank of batteries that act as a short term backup system is my recommended install if you can afford it. The one good thing about active solar systems is that once you have one… even a small one installed, it becomes easy to add to it so long as you have the room for more panels and/or batteries. When you are connected to the public power grid, you do have the ability to start small and add to the system over time. Off grid systems must be capable of handling your complete power needs from the start.
Plan for as much solar power as you can afford without exceeding your needs or breaking the bank. If you are going off grid, try your best to plan for serge power needs that may come up from time to time such as around the holidays. You’ll be so glad you did.
Passive Solar Systems
Passive Solar, unlike active, generates no electricity on it’s own. Passive Solar systems are meant to use the suns energy to heat things only. Passive solar design is simply placing as much glass area on the sunny side of your home in the cold fall and winter months and having enough mass available to store the heat from the sun’s rays.
Mass is simply water, rock, concrete, sand… anything that will absorb the sun’s heat and then release it slowly throughout the night.
Solar water heaters are also a good example of a passive solar concept. Black glass tubes are arranged on the roof or on a wall facing the sun year round inside what looks similar to a solar power panel. The sun heats the water inside the tubes and the water is pumped into a water heater or hot water storage tank for use as needed.
While passive solar design is best suited for planning before you build, solar water heaters and added passive solar mass storage areas can be added to supplement existing homes and businesses heating systems. Just remember that the plumbing to transfer the heated water or air is going to need to be added somewhere on the structure.
My dream home design that I’m planning now uses both active and passive solar to maximize my solar advantage and minimize my need for electricity and heat from the public utility grid. I’ll pay more up front, but my utility bills should be next to nothing for life of the home.
Summery
Plan to use both active and passive solar as much as possible in any new home/business design to get maximum benefits from the sun.
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Coming up: Solar Advantages After You Build, Your Landscaping Can Save you Money
Wes Waddell
Tags: build your own solar house, building solar tips ideas, do it yourself solar, how to cut your utility costs, passive solar designs, photovoltaic
Obstructions – What to Avoid
Shadows Are Your Enemy
With solar, large buildings, trees, shrubs and any kind of tall obstruction can rob you of power and heat from the sun. You need to stand at each corner of your new home and take note of any structure or obstruction that might limit access to the sun’s rays.
Face south from each location and turn your head right to left and note anything that might get in the way. If there are trees or other empty home sites, also take note of how they may interfere in the future as the trees grow and as other homes are built. Your goal is to reduce the effects of the obstructions as much as possible.
Like we said above when planning the direction your new home faces, it doesn’t have to be exact, the goal is to get it as close as you can to maximize the solar energy that you can capture and use. Shadows in the early morning are better than late afternoon to maximize the heat and power when you are most likely home most. You may want to consider mounting solar panels as high as possible on the home and increase upper window glass areas if obstructions are going to be a problem.
On passive solar designs (more on this later), you will also want to keep the solid/liquid mass that stores the solar energy as close to the glass solar focus as possible. Talk to your designer if you have to work out blind spots. There are always new creative workarounds being invented. A good designer will be up on the latest news or know someone else who is.
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Check back for the next Chapter in a few days… Solar Power and Heating Options
Tags: build your own solar house, building solar tips ideas, do it yourself solar, home solar building, how to cut your utility costs, Solar_Home_Plans
Like I said, I’m writing a Special Report on Saving Money by taking advantage of Solar techniques. Here’s the first section of Chapter 1:
Before You Build:
Orientation to the Sun
What difference does it make how I face the front of my home?
Well, in truth, it doesn’t make a lot of difference which direction you face the front of your home. What really matters is in what direction are the majority of your windows facing and where you place your cooling units if you are using them. This matters a great deal for maximum solar effectiveness.
If you can orient your new home so that the largest portion of your windows is facing south (plus or minus 10 degrees in the northern hemisphere), you can reduce your annual heating bill by as much as 40%. The more passive solar energy you can capture from the sun during the winter months, the less energy your other heating systems need to use to keep you warm.
In contrast, the fewer windows you place or expose to the summer sun, the less passive solar heat you have to cool to keep your home comfortable during the hot summer months. Placing your cooling units in a location where it is shaded all day from the hot summer sun will also increase the units effectiveness and thus use less energy as well.
If all things were perfect, you would wish your home to be located on a south facing hillside (in the northern hemisphere) or on the south end of a heavily treed area. Then, you would putt all your windows on the south side of the home. Your cooling unit would be on the eastern side of the home with a wall protecting it’s northern exposure to the summer sun.
Of course, nothing is always perfect; the object of the lesson here is to do the best you can and to take advantage of as much solar options as you possibly can. Even a little makes a large difference in your energy costs and there are other things we’ll discuss later to help you increase your effectiveness in less than ideal situations.
One last planning note: Summer breezes and winter winds can also have a lot to do with the total cost of heating and cooling a home. If you can narrow the exposure to cold winter winds by keeping the smallest side of the home facing them you’ll be helping your energy costs to stay as low as possible. Vents and breezeways that collect the cool summer breezes and direct them into the home will help too.
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Up next,
What not to do and what to avoid…
Wes Waddell
Tags: build your own solar house, building solar tips ideas, do it yourself solar, how to cut your utility costs, passive_solar_design, save_on_electric_bill
Now that we are back home for a while and back on our land, it’s time to get back to our Passive Solar Home project.
I’ve decided to write a special report on what I learn as we go, it may even turn into a book one day… who knows. As of now, I’ve got it started and have it outlined.
What do you think? Am I missing anything obvious?
Saving Money With Solar – Before and After You Build
Copyright © 2010. All Rights Reserved
Published By: www.BuildingSolarNews.com
Written By: Wes Waddell
All content contained within the “Saving Money With Solar” report is copyright © 2010 www.BuildingSolarNews.com. This Report is FREE and may be given and used so long as no content or links are changed. Additional addendums may be added by others.
All literary work contained within the “Saving Money With Solar” report belongs to and is the sole property of its respective author and is reprinted with my permission. Reproduction, copying, or any other form of use of the pieces contained within the book is STRICTLY LIMITED and full credit must be given if not used in it’s entirety. Use as part of other products, websites or documents is not autorized without express permission from the author.
Note: The owner (person receiving it) of this report is permitted to print ONE copy for his or her own use.
These rules have been established to protect the rights and ownership of the author and to ensure that my work is upheld as my own.
Table of Contents:
Saving Money With Solar – Before and After You Build. 1
Table of Contents: 2
Introduction. 3
Before You Build: 4
Orientation to the Sun. 4
Obstructions – What to Avoid. 4
Solar Power and Heating Options. 4
After You Build: 4
Your landscaping can save you money. 4
Long term benefits of trees and plants. 5
Designing For Solar Advantage. 6
Planning Your Landscape. 9
Selecting Trees And Shrubs. 10
The Least You Need To Know. 11
Introduction
In this Saving Money With Solar Special Report you will find most everything you need to create an effective solar planning solution for your home and property. We want you to take full advantage of all the cost savings solar in all it’s forms has to offer.
Some of the topics we’ll cover include:
Before You Build
Orientation
Obstructions
Solar Options
After You Build
Your landscaping can save you money
Long term benefits of trees and plants
The impact you local climate and micro climate have
Saving money with shading and wind protection
Yard designs to save you money
The right trees and shrubs for your needs.
Whether you’re building a brand new active or passive solar home or retrofitting the one you already have, a little smart solar planning can dramatically cut both your summer and winter energy costs significantly. That means you can save a ton of money on your homes utility bills and reduce your impact on the environment all at the same time.
In addition, intelligent use of solar planning for your homes landscaping can protect your home from harsh winter temperatures and radiation from summer sun. It’s also going to reduce the need to water the lawn and decorative plants. All this while it serves to help control noises and even some of the air pollution.
I know that’s a lot to ask for, but with the help of this solar planning guide to take full advantage of the affects and capabilities of solar… means that you are going to be up to the challenge.
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OK, that’s what I have so far… any thoughts yet? Keep coming back as I’m going to publish each section here for your inputs as I go along.
Wes
Tags: build your own solar house, building solar tips ideas, home solar building, passive_solar_design, photovoltaic, renewable energy
As usual, it’s been way too long since I got you caught up on where we are with our own Passive Solar Home design and building project. Here’s what’s happend since my last update:
The house design: The floor plan is complete and works out to just over 2200 square feet. It’s a little larger than we had hoped for, but we needed some extra office space and a 3rd bedroom for our grandkids visits. That is critical to us!
The Roof Design: We had the roof design completed, but found a new one recently that isn’t as tall as the original yet gives more focased solar where we need it in the back of the house. Because of this, we are redoing the roof and back yard area design.
Misc. Details: We are keeping more of the large trees in the back yard now and placing a few extra on the west side in key locations to protect the home from the late afternoon summer sun. It shouldn’t affect the winter solar impact on the house at all.
Our next step: We now have most of the funds secured to get the well dug and the sewer system engineered. Hoping to break ground early this fall. Wish us luck!
Wes Waddell
Tags: alternative energy rebate, build your own solar house, building solar tips ideas, building_solar_house, concrete homes, how to cut your utility costs, passive_solar_design, photovoltaic
Found this blog post about a modern concrete home design. The home is beautiful, if not a little large for a lot of families, but it had a lot of great ideas that could be employed in not only my own home design, but in many passive solar home designs.
Here’s the link so you can check it out your self:
http://www.besthousedesign.com/2010/05/17/modern-concrete-homes-design-acero-architect/
Wes Waddell
Tags: active solar panels, build your own solar house, concrete homes, do it yourself solar, how to cut your utility costs, passive solar designs
Hi Building Solar News reader…
I know, it’s been a while again since our last post. I’ve actually been reading a lot and learning more so I can better inform you about what it really means to build with both passive and active solar power systems.
To help hold you over, one of my good Twitter friends put together some great material with examples of how solar energy can affect your pocket book. Here’s what the folks at Real Goods Solar had to say…
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What Solar Can Do for Your Pocketbook
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Lock in your electricity rates for 30 years – PG&E and other utility company’s rates have been steadily increasing by about 6.7% a year, with a 30% jump in the last three years alone.
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The pre-tax IRR over 25 years in most cases averages around 10-15% — far better and far safer than the stock market, bond market, money markets, and long-term CDs.
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Increase your home’s value by $20 for every $1 reduction in annual utility bills, according to the National Appraisal Institute. And, your property tax won’t increase even one cent.
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Since you only pay us the After-Rebate Price, without having to wait for your state rebate to process, you experience the savings right away!
The average homeowner will spend more than $100,000 on electric bills over 25 years. Why rent when you can own? Following is an overview of the costs associated with purchasing a solar system….
Get the whole article on their BLOG at:
http://www.realgoodssolar.com/solar/ecs/main/Economics.html
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Kathy and I are currently looking at adding solar panels to our 38 foot Rexhall Aerbus motor home. We’ll let you know what we find out and how that goes…
Until then, keep your eyes on the sun.
Wes
Tags: active, energy, grant, passive, power, rebate, solar, sun
Renewable Energy Grants and Credits thrugh the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Renewable Credits Program
Unless you’re totally new to the idea of renewable geothermal, solar and wind energy in the last few months, you should already be aware of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The ARRA, which provides billions designed to restart the sagging economy is your best friend when it comes to renewable geothermal, solar and wind power energy credits.
Under Section 1603 of the Act, Congress has authorized the issuance of direct grants instead of tax credits for renewable energy projects placed into service or begun in 2009 or 2010. The only draw back is that the grants are for businesses only! BIG FAILURE on congress’ part in my book. With that, the Department of Energy just issued guidance on how the program is supposed to work.
For those who might be interested in developing renewable solar, wind or geothermal energy for “commercial” projects, these grants will help to defray some of the initial costs of aquiring, shipping and installing these renewable energy technologies.
This program is set up to provide “up to” $3 billion for specific types of renewable energy type projects. Grants for 30 percent of the total costs (including installation parts and labor) are available for a variety of renewable energy projects. Eligible “Large” renewable energy projects include large wind turbines, biomass, landfill gas, hydropower, and solar panel (photovoltaic) facilities. Grants of ten percent are also available for small scale wind, geothermal, and combined heat and power projects.
While the Department of Energy is not yet accepting any applications as of this writing… payments for the grants will be made within 60 days of receipt of the approved application or after the date the project is placed into service, whichever is later.
We were able to find a sample application for those of our readers that are interested in getting a head start in the applicant process and to use in review. This way you can begin collecting the required renewable energy information necessary in oder for you to obtain the energy grants.
Note: The grant recipients when approved cannot also accept tax credits for the same project.
In this way, the Obama Administration and the Department of Energy hope to stimulate the development of renewable energy projects and the economy by providing cash directly, instead of requiring developers to wait for tax credits that may never be used.
You have to get started now though as the window of opportunity for these Renewable Energy grants is limited. Projects must be placed in service in 2009 or 2010 and applications cannot be submitted after October 1, 2011.
All of which is subject to change at government will… so what else is new!
More updates to follow,
Wes Waddell
Tags: credit, generator, grant, photovoltaic, PV Solar, renewable energy, solar, wind
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