An Introduction to DIY Renewable Energy

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If you are tired of high energy costs, then now is the best time to harness the free power of the sun or wind to provide some or all of your energy needs. The Earth needs a break from greenhouses gases, and you could probably use a break in the form of reduced energy costs and renewable energy tax credits. If you are considering an alternative energy solution such as solar panels and/or wind turbines, you will be making a wise investment in the future of your world, and our world.

Here, we will discuss the 3 most popular renewable energy sources which are used on a smaller scale, such as in the typical family home.

Solar Power

The most common alternative energy source, solar energy is a very powerful and a totally free way of generating electric power to a home.  With a few simple solar panels, the power from the Sun is easily harnessed to provide at least a portion of the power requirements for the average household. A solar power system can be used in just about any area, but it is especially efficient in areas that receive a lot of sunlight each the day.

How is electricity produced using solar panels?

Solar cells, also known as photovoltaic cells, are made of silicon that absorb light from the sun. Ba­sically, when light strikes the cell, a certain portion of it is absorbed within the semiconductor material. The sunlight that hits the photovoltaic cell is made of photons, or particles of light energy. When the photons hit the cell, some are reflected or go right through, but others are absorbed to provide energy. The cell is specially treated so that free electrons occur on the surface. When the photons are absorbed, they hit electrons in the silicon and move them out of place. When enough of the electrons are knocked out of place and move to the surface, it creates a negatively charged surface and a positively charged underside. This condition creates a voltage potential, similar to a battery.

The cell is then connected to an external load so the electricity can be used. Electricity produced from a solar energy system can supply at least part of the daily power requirements for the average household. Larger arrays of solar panels in areas with strong and abundant sunlight can produce enough electricity to run an entire home without having to rely on the electric grid.

Advantages of Solar Panels.

1) Clean. No pollution.  2) $$$. Saves Money.  3) $$$. Tax Breaks.  4) Nearly Maintenance Free. (Periodic cleaning required) 5) Consistent and reliable source of power.

Disadvantages of Solar Panels.

1) Upfront cost (can be costly, unless you decide you build your own.  2) Not 24 hours. Only produces power in sunlight. 3) Susceptible to damage from high winds, hail, fallen limbs.

Where to find them.

Of course you can find solar panels all over the web. Solar panels may be purchased as stand alone units, or you can pick up one of the Solar DIY Kits from a reputable source which generally include everything you need for a small starter system. This type of kit is ideal for learning the basics of setting up a simple solar system.

Or, if you are on a tight budget, you can look at purchasing one of the Solar/Wind DIY Guides.  These guides (in ebook format) are an excellent resource for learning how a solar panel works, and how everything comes together to take sunlight and turn it into usable electricity. A couple of the better DIY guides in our opinion are GreenDIYEnergy and Earth4Energy. Both are step by step fully illustrated guides (with video), that will show you how to construct a working solar panel from materials that you acquire yourself.  We recently completed a comprehensive review on both of these products which you can read HERE.

If you would like to learn more about solar energy before you invest any money, then please take a look at our free solar energy guide to learn more about some of the benefits and practical applications of solar power.

Wind Energy

When one hears the term “alternative energy”, the first thing that comes to anyone’s mind is solar energy.  While this is considered the primary alternative source of energy for the small end user, the energy from the wind is another excellent source of free power that an average American household can tap into.

Just like solar energy, wind power is a natural resource that can be tapped into to provide an alternative source of energy to households and business establishments.  Through the construction of a wind turbine, the wind propels the blade to rotate.  This rotation creates the mechanical energy, which is then converted into electrical energy to power homes and commercial establishments. The technology and the concept behind the use of wind turbines is not something new.  In fact, the technology behind the tapping in wind power as a source of energy has long been used over the centuries.  A perfect example of this use are the infamous windmills in Holland that have been used to power the flour mills throughout the country.

Kinds of Wind Turbines

There are two general kinds of wind turbines commonly used today.  The first kind of wind turbine is the horizontal axis wind turbine.

This kind of wind turbine is the most common type of turbine used to tap into the power of the wind.  These turbines are used to generate electricity that will power up homes and business establishments.  This kind of wind turbine is designed in such a way that the main rotor shaft and the generator are situated on the top of the tower.  Horizontal wind turbines need to face the same direction that the wind is blowing in order to be effective.

The second kind of wind turbine is the vertical axis wind turbine.  This wind turbine is designed to have the main rotor shaft positioned vertically on the axis, hence the name.

Unlike horizontal axis wind turbines, vertical axis wind turbines do not require constantly facing the direction where the wind is blowing in order to generate energy.  The generator that is used to convert the mechanical energy into electrical energy is situated on the ground, instead on the top of the turbine, allowing it to be maintained more easily.  The downside to using vertical axis wind turbines is that since it requires a lot of torque to generate electricity, the amount of electrical output is lower than horizontal axis wind turbines.

Advantages of Wind Energy.

1) Clean. No pollution. 2) $$$. Saves Money. 3) $$$. Tax Breaks. 4) Consistent and reliable source of power.

Disadvantages of Wind Energy.

1) Upfront cost (unless you decide you build your own. 2) Not 24 hours. Only produces power when the wind is blowing. 3) Susceptible to damage from high winds, hail, lightning. 4) Noise. Whirring noise from spinning blades may be bothersome.

Where to find them

Just like solar panels, you can buy wind turbines in kit form. On this site we have links to a few good Wind Turbine DIY Kits.

And like solar panels, if you are on a tight budget you can actually build your own wind turbine from scratch. Again, Earth4Energy and GreenDIYEnergy stand out as the better DIY guides that we have seen for this purpose.

Geothermal Energy

It seems like there is a lot of confusion on how a geothermal system works for the home. When most people think of “geothermal energy” they think of energy being derived from drilling down into hot rock deep within the earth and harnessing that energy to create steam. That is one form of geothermal energy but what we are going to discuss here is a geothermal heating and cooling system for your home.

Almost everywhere, in the upper 10 feet of the Earth’s crust the temperature remains a relatively constant temperature of between 50 and 60 degrees f. A geothermal heat pump system basically consists of a system of closed loop pipes pipes buried in the shallow ground near a dwelling.  It is important to understand that this type of ground source heating and cooling draws it’s energy from the shallow ground, (not deep underground) in spite of the name “geothermal”.  The geothermal energy from the center of Earth is available only in places where volcanic activity occurs closer to the surface.

Actually, geothermal is not the best name for this unit. A better name is ground-coupled heat pump or water-to-air heat pump. A heat pump doesn’t create heat, it just moves heat from one location to another using a compressor. Much in the same way that a window air conditioning unit blows cool air inside and ejects the hot air outside.

There are two basic ways to install a geothermal unit. If digging a trench is difficult or if space is limited, holes can be drilled into the ground vertically to install a small diameter polyethylene pipe.

If space is not an issue and if digging a horizontal trench is feasible, then the pipe is installed in a horizontal trench. As it circulates 50-60 degree water in the winter, the geothermal unit, (using a compressor to remove heat from the water), provides heated air into the house. As the water goes back into the ground through the closed loop, it immediately starts absorbing the heat stored in the earth.

In the summertime, the process is simply reversed, the water returns to the earth and immediately starts cooling off.

So a geothermal heat pump essentially uses the Earth as either a heat source, when operating in heating mode, or as a heat sink, when operating in the cooling mode.

In summary, a geothermal system will provide you with good heating in the winter and excellent cooling properties in the summer, and by using much less energy than a conventional heating and cooling system. So an investment now will pay huge dividends down the road in the form of reduced heating and cooling bills.

Advantages of Geothermal Energy.

1) Clean. No pollution. 2) $$$. Saves Money. 3) $$$. Tax Breaks. 4)  Nearly Maintenance Free. 5) Reliable.

Disadvantages of Geothermal Energy.

1) Can be Expensive. Unless you decide to do some, or all of the work yourself.

Where to find them.

If you are interested in saving $$$ by doing a lot of the ground work yourself, our partner site Ingrams Water and Air has several complete Geothermal DIY kits available.  There is also a DIY Geothermal Guide available but we haven’t seen it and cannot recommend it.

Get more information on geothermal heating and cooling systems.