Unconventional Forms of Energy Alternatives for Your Home
People have been using solar power for homes for decades, yet there have never been as many ways to take advantage of it as there are now.
As soon as you’re prepared to make the full-size venture in going solar, there are quite a few offerings that could get you the biggest bang for your cash.
Commonly, a homeowner should expect to spend $15,000 to $45,000 to set up solar panels on a home. The larger the home, the more costly.
While you install solar panels on your home, you are not removing your own home off the electrical grid. On gray or overcast days, when your panels aren’t creating optimum electricity, you don’t have to agonize about your lights going dark. Instead, you’re converting your home into a hybrid-powered home: one that uses solar energy and then supplements the excess with traditional electricity.
On days that you’re essentially overproducing solar electricity, your home develop into a mini-power plant, putting electricity back into the grid. That creates a credit on your utility bill. You could ultimately be making money from the power company.
If this new form of energy interests you, here are a few choices for your home:
• Camouflage solar panels for homes:
The problem with installing solar panels on the roof is that they often look unattractive. But Sharp Solar (www.solar.sharpusa.com) modules come in a assortment of rectangular and triangular modules, which means they fit and blend into even multi-faceted roofs. They are designed to be flush with the roof, not jet out of the roof like traditional panels. Installing Sharp solar panels is a two-step process.
First, Sharp does an in-home examination of your current electrical requirements, along with a diagnostics check of your roof’s sun intensity. Sharp also offers a quote that includes federal and state rebates and what your real energy targets are: to be totally powered solar or to only supplement your existing needs.
Sharp furthermore coordinates building permits, inspections and rebate forms and then finally installs everything. If you’re building a new home and you’re not set to install solar panels, you can do the next best thing: pre-wire for solar technology. Having pre-existing wiring installed during construction will eliminate the bother of running wires from the rooftop solar panels to your electrical system in the future.
• The Brilliance solar energy system by GE:
The new Brilliance solar energy system lets homeowners buy the three required components of solar energy all in one purchase. Homeowners have the option of choosing systems ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 watts output.
The lower the watt output, the lower the price — but the lower use of solar energy in the home. It all depends on what your needs and aims are.
• Solar tent:
Even when you’re roughing it in the Great Outdoors, you can use the power of the sun to light up your temporary home, your tent. Eureka’s “Solar Intent” ($239.99, www.eurekatent.com) has built-in LED lights and integrated solar panels to power the energy-efficient LED lights. The whole tent is just 16 pounds and can accommodate six people.
• Solar golf cart:
People repeatedly forget that golf carts are one of the first electric powered modes of transportation ever created. In addition, many golf carts feature a flat roof ideal for the installation of solar panels. As most golfers are spending bright, sunny days hitting the courses, it makes sense to have a cart that recharges itself in the sun throughout the day using solar energy.
CruiseCar ($6,500, www.cruisecarinc.com is a manufacturer of solar-powered golf carts called SunRay. While the cart itself can be recharged traditionally by plugging it in, it can also be recharged entirely by a rooftop solar panel in as little as three days.
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