You may notice advertising banners on this site offering a product to eliminate your electric bill. It’s a product called Earth4Energy. With all of the scams on the Internet, we thought it would be appropriate to give a little information, just in case you haven’t heard of the product before. We actually purchased it several months ago to see if it was what the author claimed it to be. It is, very much so.

With all of the misleading ‘run your car on water’ type offerings on the Internet, we believe  most people are at least a little skeptical of anything offered online, and rightly so.

Solar electric systems are really fairly basic. The sunlight strikes the solar panel, which converts it into a DC current which you can then use directly, and/or store in batteries. If you need an AC current for household devices, you simply run the DC into an inverter which gives you an AC output. This is obviously simplified, but there’s not a whole lot to it. You do, of course, need to learn everything you can before you begin. That’s where Earth4Energy comes in. Also, employ a licensed electrician before you start fooling around with high voltages, in case you intend to go totally off-grid.

Many, probably even most individuals seeking to get started in solar and/or wind renewable power as cheaply as possible, often just build a separate electrical system independent of their electrical panel. It’s a great way to start if you just build a single solar panel and have maybe just a couple of batteries. That’s the beauty of doing things using this method, you can start saving money immediately with a very low initial investment. You can then add to your system as your funds permit, getting to a totally off-grid system if that’s your ultimate goal.

Anyway, if you’re wanting to build you own DIY solar panels, and/or wind turbines, we found Earth4Energy to be an excellent informational product. It is exactly what it says it is, and we were very impressed with what we received. There are excellent videos on constructing DIY solar panels from individual solar cells, and how to build a wind turbine from a  simple, cheap alternator. The product has many very good videos, and very good, easy to understand printed material.

The author, Michael Harvey, is providing a valuable service by enabling many, many people to reap the rewards of renewable power when probably most could not otherwise afford to . The information and videos on building a wind turbine are just as impressive as the solar panel material. The videos are very well produced, and there are also bonuses including a very good ebook on biodiesel. There is also information on finding batteries and solar cells either very cheaply, or even free!!

Once you purchase, you’re emailed a link to access all of the information in the Earth4Energy Members Area. There’s also an option for purchasing a CD for $9.95 that has the information.

Michael is continuously adding to the members area, and there is now an excellent online video library. There are also tax rebate forms to download. Solar electric systems, and other alternative energy home improvements, including wind powered systems, solar water heaters, etc., have excellent tax incentives.

Whether you plan to build your own DIY solar panels, a wind turbine, or even both, we believe the Earth4Energy product is an excellent bargain, and a great way in which to start providing electrical power for your home at a ridiculously low initial investment.

Unless you’re financially able to lay down $30,000-$60,000 for a complete, commercially installed solar electric system, and possibly even more for a sizable wind turbine to provide all of the power for your home, DIY solar panels and wind turbines are definitely the way to go.

As other statistics seem to get worse and worse, Americans actually used less energy overall in 2008, compared to the amount used in 2007. What energy was used also had a greater amount coming from renewable sources. This information comes from a report published by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The report states that the United States used 99.2 quadrillion BTUs, or “quads” of energy in 2008, which was down from the total of 101.5 quads used in 2007.

The transport and industrial sectors of the economy used slightly less energy, but the residential and business sector used slightly more. “Green,” or renewable energy usage grew, with the largest amount coming from hydroelectric power generation. Hydroelectric sources were responsible for 34 percent of the renewable energy generated last year in the Untied States. Even so, the hydroelectric energy generated was only 2.4 quads in 2008.

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The solar water heaters are a very effective means of heating the water you use in your house and they are gentle on our environment too. The solar water heating systems use solar collectors which then transfer the heat from these thermal-type collectors to the fluid to use through this system. By utilizing just a bit of electricity, your system pumps the fluid to the reservoir or tank where the heat is stored for later use.

The systems can efficiently heat the water to be used in many areas of a house, business, or industry. Radiant-floor heating and heating swimming-pool water are the most used ways for the solar hot water heaters.

To heat the water for a residence, two models of systems are sold. The first one is a called a compact system, the second one is the pumped system. Both have to usually have another source for energy, either a heating element that is electrically-powered, or the system could be part of the central heating unit and use gas or fuel oil, this would only be used when the water cools to under 50 degrees centigrade. This way you will always have what hot water you need. A great idea would be to use a wood-burning stove along with your solar water heating system, this would work great for the colder temperature zones, and without having to involve fossil fuels or electricity.

The collectors of your solar energy are mainly attached to either a wall which faces to the sun, a building, or the roof of your home. The collector can be free-standing but this is not the normal way it is used. The passive version of the systems pushes fluid the solar collector and the active version of the systems pumps the fluid along the workings of the system.

The collector can be made of a box that is insulated and topped off with a top that is glass. Then the solar collector has a flat shape and is made of copper piping, which are painted black and then connected to either sheet metal or tubes of metal, which are enclosed in a glass cylinder. At times the parabolic mirror focuses all the energy from the sun on that tube. Many of these systems totally covert the sun’s light into heat and have no dependence upon an outside temperature.

The solar water heater is not just financially friendly, but also environmentally friendly too. In climates that are basically warm your backup source of energy will be utilized minimally and even in the climates that are cool in nature the amount of backup you will use is much less that the regular system for heating water.

So what is safe and clean energy really all about? The following report includes some interesting information about safe and clean energy information. We’ve not yet reached the point to where we need to be in order to save the planet, but it is in the foreseeable future…finally.

Solar is presently unsuitable for baseline power generation. Even forgetting it’s four times or more expensive than traditional power, you have the problems of energy storage. Solar panels, whether photovoltaic or thin-film, are primarily a glass product.

Clean energy technologies are committed to offering revolutionary, green alternatives to conventional energy sources. This approach to energy is no longer synonymous with pollution, as is the energy production methods which have been a mainstay for so many years. It’s time for some changes.

Solar panels on roofs are good, but covering entire deserts with them is another matter. When needed power levels approach industrial scale, solar is no longer such an attractive option…yet. There are solar options already designed however, that are addressing that problem specifically. Flat, rectangular solar panels are no longer the only designs we’re seeing. Balloon-shaped solar collectors, buit specifically for large scale use are currently being designed.

Solar power is waiting for more efficient fuel cells also. And coal gasification is an unproven technology. One convenient feature is, solar power’s peak period of production, happily coincides with the peak period of demand. So solar can aid with the heavy day load, while gas handles the evening. Of course as the energy storage problems are solved, that will no longer be an issue.

Wind turbines are producing large amounts of power, very large — many megawatts and growing. The scale that they can generate power in, at least in certain regions, is at prices that are consistent with or better than the cheapest fossil fuels, like coal for instance. Wind turbines like those at La Muela provide even more clean energy, allowing Spain to cover almost a third of electricity needs from renewable sources last month, as of this writing.

Now you can understand why there’s a growing interest in safe and clean energy. As we start to focus our attention on using safe and clean methods of energy production, solar and wind technologies are being developed to meet our needs. We’ve finally seen that the future without an immediate concentrated effort on doing everything we can to take advantage of the excellent power sources that are the sun and wind, looks dark indeed.

In 2005, electricity produced from power plants totaled 17,320 terawatt-hours (TWh). In 2030, we are expected to require about 33,254 terawatt-hours, nearly double the amount of 2005. We need massive amounts of solar power…and we need it quickly.

Even though the amount of solar energy that strikes the surface of the Earth in one hour, is enough to power the entire Earth for one year, we still need a way to efficiently utilize what we can capture.

A company called Cool Earth has developed an amazing technology that they hope will soon be producing solar energy at prices competitive with the fossil fuel plants of today. Of course the main advantage is the fact that the energy from these plants will be clean, solar power.

The patented technology that has been developed is called concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) technology, and the time and cost to develop very large scale plants using this technology have been greatly reduced.

Most of the solar products today use a flat format, or boxes-with-lenses and require large amounts of heavy, expensive materials. Cool Earth’s CPV design however, is actually a balloon-shaped, inflatable design that uses very inexpensive, or even free materials. Not only is the construction costs greatly reduced, but the time to deploy a working power plant is also greatly reduced. Read the rest of this entry

One of the most frequent questions I hear at Green Products is, “How do we pay for the new green technology?” It may not be as hard as you think! Let’s break it down into some of the incentives offered to you.

First, how is the seller/manufacturer of green products affected during a downturn? Businesses that produce alternative energy/green products are facing the same (if not more) pressure than the average consumer. This means that most alternative energy businesses will be more willing than ever to negotiate price, and may have discounts or incentives in place.

Second, what effect has the American Recovery and Re-investment Act of 2009 had on renewable energy? One area of focus covered by the new law is renewable energy and the development of new technologies and green products. It improves the 2008 tax credit already in place and removes “cost caps”.

It works this way: After you install the system, the IRS will allow you to deduct 30% of the total cost of product and installation costs from your next tax bill with no stated limit. This also means you can install multiple units or a combination of energy products. For example, a solar array and a windmill to supply energy to your home or business.

Third – what about your energy cost savings? Spending money on green products during this time may make more sense than you think. With businesses willing to negotiate, tax credits and a reduction in your energy costs, you are putting money in the bank over the long haul. If you plan well, your investment could pay for itself in months, not years.

At last count, 30+ states offer tax incentives, rebates and cash-back programs. The cash back programs require the utilities to reimburse you when you generate more electricity than you use.

With this in mind everybody wins; you win by saving money and reducing our dependence on foreign oil; the businesses win by producing and selling green products and the economy wins by helping to keep people employed.

Michael

It warms our faces and grows our food; solar energy is our life blood and gives us everything that we need to survive. Using its potency however, has escaped the Earth’s population, or at least until relatively recently. Commanding the sun’s full potency may be a long way into the future, but until applied science shows us the true possibilities of our sun’s power we can use what we have as a matter of necessity, economic supplement and personal responsibility.

Perhaps you are fairly happy with the status quo of today. Maybe you feel all is fine and you don’t feel the need to change a system that’s worked for over a century. If you do, consider a few of these benefits to solar power and you may just recognize its potential in a somewhat more responsible, yet selfish light.

But I don’t care about the environment? Maybe everything in the world is all right as far as you are concerned. The very last thing that you care about are trees, fresh air and pure water. Heck, the drinking water shows up every time you turn on the spigot, the heat comes on when it’s cold, the light switch brings you a bright light. What is there to worry about? Consider that this is just the problem. If you don’t care for the state of affairs, the tap may not bring you pure water, the furnace may not go on and the car certainly won’t start. If the Earth is kept clean and left to do what it was supposed to do, everything would continue to work fine. But get in its way and everything you thought was all right won’t be for very long.

Financial savings – One of the greatest things about caring for the suns ability to do its job is that it can greatly save you money in the long run. Once photovoltaic solar panels are purchased and installed, they cost very little, if anything to operate and maintain. The government will even help to pay for the upfront costs of installing the system through tax incentives. Additionally, power companies in most regions are required to pay you for energy that you have generated and not used. Yes, you read correctly, the power company will pay you! Watching your electric meter run backwards is quite a satisfying feeling.

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