How You Can Benefit From Wind And Solar Power

October 30, 2008 by Guest  
Filed under Renewable Energy

Every time the price of power goes up (which seems to be every month at the moment), ever more people start to think about whether they should be using renewable energy to supplement their regular power supplier.

The kind of renewable energy you decide to use will likely be decided by whereabouts you live. If you live in a fairly sunny part of the world, you’ll likely decide to use solar energy.

If you live in chillier climes, it’s more likely that you’ll turn to wind power instead.

Both solar and wind power have their plus and minus points.

Pretty obviously, solar power only works in daylight, even if it doesn’t need full sunlight nowadays. If you’re in a hot area, the sun will be shining at the time you most need your power for air conditioning and other such items. If you’re further north then the benefits of solar power may be less, although we still use power in the summer months, when output will be higher, or providing extra light in your garden for those evenings where it isn’t too chilly to stay outside.

Wind power needs some kind of wind but there is almost certainly a safe range of windspeeds that it operates in - if the wind falls below a certain speed, they won’t operate, if it blows too fast the turbine may struggle to keep up. You also need to remember that even in the most windy place, there are times of dead calm, so you’ll need a battery or regular power connection for such times. This problem also means that unless you have your own storage, you shouldn’t totally go off grid power if you rely on wind.

Your next choice is whether to have your renewable energy system professionally installed or to give the DIY option a try. There are lots of easy to follow renewable energy plans available which will talk you through this step by step, there’s also a big advantage that DIY renewable energy will typically cost hundreds of dollars less than shop bought equivalents.

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