Renewable Energy Tips, Projects and DIY Advice

20 October, 2008

Alternative Energy, Why do we address it as Alternative?

The sun is something that has been used for it's energy for much longer than modern day man has walked our planet, cold bloodied animals have used it to warm their blood, plant life uses Photosynthesis to produce energy to grow and humans use it to keep warm.

Why is it then that we see Solar energy as an Alternative Energy Source?

Solar energy is responsible for our global weather, the wind, the rain both rely on the solar energy to drive our weather patterns across the planet.

Currently our technology for creating energy from the sun (Solar Photo Voltaic) is primitive, we are achieving somewhere in the region of 20% efficiency, I believe with better funded research and time we will be able to extract much more power in the form of DC Electricity, maybe nearer to 70% I would imagine this will make Solar PV installations much more common place.

Whilst the Sun shines and the wind blows we should strive to harness our energy needs from these sources, learn to minimise our waste of heat and power and become much more energy efficient.

We can do it, we all just need educating on how to tackle our individual power requirements before we are beyond the point of no return.

Kind regards

Andy Mahoney
Home Brew Power
Off-Grid Power Installer - UK)

http://www.homebrewpower.co.uk/
Mobile: 07504 50 50 89
HomeBrewPower Yahoo Group On Carbon Neutral Power
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homebrewpower/

Labels: Alternative Energy, electrical solar panels, Solar Panels, Solar Power, Solar PV, Solar PV Installer, Solar Voltaic, Solar Water Heating, Solarvoltaics, Sustainable Energy, Wind Turbine

Written at Monday, October 20, 2008 by Andy Mahoney.

1 comments

14 July, 2008

Cutting Back - The Oil Crisis Is Here!

Well, I have been extremely busy lately with Home Brew Power. The business end as apposed to the Website end of things.

It seems that the Oil Crisis is finally impacting on the lives of every day people. The Fuel is going through the roof, both Diesel and Petrol are at record highs, the Oil prices (Fuel Oil) is driving people to look for real alternatives now.

Is there an easy solution to the problem? Answer, NO. You all now need to look at your energy footprint and start to look for ways to reduce it as much as possible without freezing yourselves to death.

Fixes to help:

1. Energy Saving lamps throughout your home, garage and outside lights are now a must do.
2. Leave a room, turn the light off
3. No more appliances on standby, when you have done with the TV, CD, DVD, MP3, Xbox, PS3 etc TURN IT OFF! Unplug it, that way there will be no phantom loads.
4. Have TRV's (Thermostatic Valves) fitted to your radiators, the rooms your not in, turn the heat down in the winter, you would be surprised how much GAS / Heating Oil you can save by doing this!
5. Have your home Cavity Wall Insulated, again a great way to save valuable heat escaping on a cold day / night.
6. Put on an extra layer of clothing on an evening, it's not that hard to do and will save you money!

All I can say is the situation is going to worsen from here on in, oil is finite, it will run out and we need to look for viable solutions to the 'Soon to be upon us' Energy Crisis. For now I suggest we all look at the waste energy and do something to reduce it ASAP.

I am seeing more and more people asking me about the possibilities of CO-GEN / Micro CHP systems for homes, it is something I see will fast become common, people and families will become self sufficient and off-grid, away from the hungry power companies and greedy suppliers. Solar PV, Solar Thermal, Geo Thermal, Ground Source Heat Pumps, Micro CHP, Wind Turbines will all become common sites within our cities and streets over the next decade.