residential solar panels

residential solar panels

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When people think about renewable energy, they often think of solar panels and wind mills, and hydroelectric power plants. However, most people fall short of taking more action to really utilize these energy sources. Wind and solar power are virtually limitless in their potential, and as a population, we can make a monumental impact on fighting global warming.

That is the largest benefit of any that I can list here, but preaching the merits of preserving the environment is beating a dead horse at this point. Yes, everyone cares about the environment; yes, we are taking some great strides in turning our carbon emissions around. You may think that just one household doing this is just a drop in the bucket, and you'd be right. However, think about this: the average household produces about 12 tons of carbon emissions just from their household operations every year. One household reducing their electric need by 60% (the low end average of the reduction in energy use by using solar panels) would cut their household carbon emissions by over 7 tons!! There are well over 115 million households in the United States. What if just half of them began to utilize solar power? Just asking. Getting people to jump on board with solar power has so many more benefits than just saving the environment, though.

One of those other benefits is the financial impact that solar energy can have. Installing a number of solar panels on your home can drastically reduce, or completely eliminate, your need to purchase electricity from the local power company. Sounds lucrative, doesn't it? Well, even beyond lining your wallet with a little extra cash every month, utilizing solar power has an economic impact far beyond individual profit. If we purchase less electricity from the power company, then the electric company does not need to burn as much fuel. Burning less fuel, on top of emitting less carbon, means that the power company needs to purchase less fuel. Since purchasing fossil fuels often means going overseas and purchasing it, it means we need to import less. People often talk about ceasing our dependence on foreign oil... Yet, how many people do you know that drive hybrid or electric cars or have an array of solar panels attached to their house? Importing less fuel means that the demand for fuel would drop... Hence, the price would also go down.

Okay, so we've covered the environmental and financial benefits of creating your own electricity. What else is there? Well, have you ever thought about the practical applications of being able to generate your own electricity? Almost everything we do involves dependence on electricity. You could not be reading this article without it, your food would not stay fresh without it, and you wouldn't be able to charge your cell phone without it. Food production and distribution, our communications network, our hospitals and even our sources of entertainment all have an essential need for electricity. What would happen if, suddenly, the electric power plant shut down?

Going back down to the household viewpoint, wouldn't it be nice to know that when disaster strikes, your house would still be operational? Many people suffered extensively after hurricane Katrina because they had no access to electricity. No air conditioning, no communication, and food had to be either canned goods or dry, and countless other things needed electricity to operate. If even some of those houses had the capability to produce electricity, it would have helped in the neighborhoods immensely.

It is a matter of preparedness, actually. The phrase "energy independence" can mean a lot of things. On the national scale, it could mean no longer depending on foreign countries to supply the fuel we need. On the household scale, it could mean being prepared; prepared to meet the challenges ahead of us in the forms of high energy costs, failures in the power supply and natural disasters.

If you still need to think on it, feel free. However, if you are ready to get going with your own solar panel power supply, then please visit my site http://www.squidoo.com/Build_A_Solar_Panel_at_Home . It has a lot of good info on making your own solar panels, as well as some good links to further information on what you need.

How To Set Up DIY Solar Power