Renewable Energy Systems

Traditional, fossil fuels like oil, coal and natural gas are a limited resource. With time, it will become harder to find and remove these resources out of the ground and this cost will be passed onto the consumers. This trend will continue if more resources continue to be used. And there are potentially more telling costs that come with using fossil fuels. These fuels are though to be a leading contributor to our current environmental problems like global warming and may leave an uncertain world for future generations. So what other alternatives exist to using these traditional forms of energy generation. This article will cover a few of the alternative energy sources that are being touted as practical solutions both commercially and for the individual homeowner.

The first alternative energy source to be covered is solar energy. Many people are quite familiar with solar power and it is not uncommon to see many a neighbors house with a solar panel on the roof. To this extent, mankind has always known about the Sun’s energy and used it is one way or another since the first civilizations where established, however it is only fairly recently that it has advanced to the stage that we are at now.

At this point in time, the Sun’s heat and light energy is utilized to make energy for consumption.

Heat energy provided by the sun is used for many things like heating water, heating a room or cooking food. The heat from the Sun can be felt on the skin so it was not such a leap of imagination to apply it’s power to other applications. In fact, It was a focal point of many of these early civilizations existence and may explain why many saw the Sun as a diety.

Harnessing energy from sunlight is still a relatively new discovery by comparison. The technology developed to do this is called the photovoltaic (PV) cell. The concept was first demonstrated in Victorian times but it was only first produced on a commercial basis in the 1970’s.

The principle behind this is that photons in sunlight give the individual atoms in the PV cell enough energy to displace a spare electron. Many cells and more sunlight cause more electrons to flow. This is how direct current (DC) electricity works. Direct current can be used as is, stored in batteries for later use or converted to alternating current for use in homes.

Wind power is another source of renewable energy that is becoming popular. I think this is because it is fairly well understood by most people as a concept. It may also be because plenty of wind turbines are popping up all over the countryside.

A wind turbine is a modern day windmill, it uses the power of the wind to turn blades. The kinetic energy is utilized by the generator to create electricity. Countries such as Germany, Denmark and the United States are increasing the number of wind turbines every year. They represent a clean and cheap way to create energy.

Wind turbines or windmills can even be built in residential homes at a reasonable cost. It is quite simple to build a windmill or turbine from scratch or a pre-built variety can be purchased. Before this is done, it is important to ascertain the amount of wind you get and have a clear unobstructed place for the turbine to go. You may also want to notify your neighbors that you are erecting a turbine as it could be an issue with some people.

Other familiar renewable energy systems exploit the kinetic energy in water to create usable energy, like electricity. This is hydro-power and a dam is an obvious example of this process in action. Geothermal energy can also be used to some extent. The idea behind this is to use the heat found in the earth core to heat water, much like a hot spring or spa, to use as it is or as an input to a generator.