Cut Your Electric Bills

I wasn’t aware the government anywhere could stop anyone from using
solar power, the entire earth is energized by the sun, one of nature’s many gifts to sustain life on this planet.

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These panels cleverly convert the suns light into electricity. The cells are usually made up of layers of a semiconductor called Silicon. When exposed to light a DC electrical charge is generated. When numerous cells are banked together they can produce large amounts of electricity. These cells can be used to power many electrical devices from calculators to your home appliances. The sunnier the position the more electricity that can be generated.

This often, but not always, means positioning the panels on a south facing roof. If the roof is flat the panels can be mounted on frames that hold the panels at the optimum angle.

When connected to the national grid a property can benefit from reduced electricity bills and can even export electricity to the national grid.
The panels tend to cost somewhere between £5000 to £7500 per kW, depending on the required specification and particular project.

Are Solar PV panels right for my property?

If specified properly, installing Solar PV WILL reduce your electricity bills. For roof mounted panels, having a south facing roof is useful. However, depending on the roof angle, panels can function properly facing South West to South East. They still benefit from 95% of the suns radiation.

The panels can be sized in a number of ways, one method is to match the capacity to the minimum load on the property, so if the property typically uses 1kW, install 1kW of panels. This means that on the sunniest day every bit of electricity being generated is being used. Alternatively, you can install a much larger capacity and sell the excess electricity back to the national grid. The rates the electricity companies will pay for this electricity is becoming more competitive everyday.

Are there any grants?

There are many streams of grant funding depending on your particular project.  For domestic properties any one can get a grant if they use a certified BRE installer.  The grant is up to £2500 (£2000 per kW installed).

For non profit organisation there are grants that may pay for the whole installation.  Commercial businesses should contact there local authority to see if there are any local funding streams.

However, even without a grant a Solar PV system is a good investment.

Will this type of solar panel pay for itself?

In short the answer to this question is YES. The government grants in the UK have reduced the payback massively. A more detailed answer would need to look at exactly how payback is to be measured. The environmental payback is extremely quick, perhaps even 6 months? With regard to financial payback the calculation becomes more complex, let’s assume the following:

- Electricity prices continues to rise as they have over recent years.

- The system adds 50% of it’s installation cost to your homes value.

- You export surplus electricity to the national grid on a typical export tariff.

Given these, not unreasonable, assumptions, a system could payback within 10 years. After 20 years the system would have paid for itself twice over.

Peter Searancke
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/what-are-solar-photovoltaic-panels-744746.html

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The first step that can be taken to prevent home invasion will be security lights. It helps in keeping away people who want to enter illegally and provide comfort for the house owner. Recently developed technologies like alarms, security networking, security cameras and other devices cost more when compared to home security lighting.

One among the outstanding inventions of this era is Motion sensor control using light. According to survey, 60% of people prefer security lights as the effective way to secure houses from invasion. Solar Centurion is good for security and expediency lighting in garages, yards and gates of home and on streets also.

These lights get turned on by a sensor. This sensor is of two types, microwave and infrared. Microwave sensors are widely used compared to infrared. These send radio waves of very high frequency. Sensor has also the ability to sense when anyone is coming under light as the object or the person suspends these radio waves. When this disruption gets sensed, the light is turned on. The infrared sensor is the second type. These will respond to heat and temperature. If an object is in the sensor’s range, the light will be triggered to glow. Other security lighting includes floodlights and low-pressure sodium vapour lights.

Light used is of two kinds’ internal lights and external lights. Home lights come under internal lights. It includes the lights of bathroom, kitchen and bedroom etc. Commonly houses have Passive Infrared (PIR) Restricted Tungsten Halogen floodlights which are present outside the house near gate or the street. Advanced light has automatic system to switch off and on. Some of these PIR units were created to chime and also to turn on light.

Designer series, light-manufacturing companies has motion sensor technology along with decorative light fittings which makes the light attractive and striking. The multiple lens technology provides safety at peak point. Low energy and discounted light bulbs are commonly used in states where crime rate is very high and also income is low. Briefly we can say that security light is a cheaper way of security with the easiest installation.

Some advantages in using outdoor sensor lights are if anyone is away from house and sensor detects any motion in its range, the lights glow and brightens the entire yard in the pointed direction. This will definitely provide a better security sense because it is proved that houses with lights are less attacked by burglars. These lights are manufactured in various designs and such that it suits all budgets.

If you are late, and it has become night the motion lights are a blessing .Funnily, it acts as a pest control mechanism, which keeps away raccoons, skunks, rabbits etc because these pest doesn’t like bright light. These also help in saving cost, as they turn on when required only. Studies show that Energy saving varies from ten to sixteen percent of entire lighting power use which is mainly due to the EMS or energy management system technology.

With all these, this sensor security lights is a gain to home security.

Abhishek Agarwal
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-security-articles/home-security-light-the-first-of-a-kind-protecting-you-753916.html

If so how many pannels would you need, and what would the equipment cost?

Yes. How many panels depends on your wattage needs.
How much it costs depends on a lot of things.
Log onto your local ele supplier to get specific

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There is no question that solar panels are a terrific way to cut energy costs, reduce your carbon emissions and make you more self-sufficient. There can be no argument about that.

These magical devices harness the energy of the sun and convert it to another type of energy. Generally the power that results can be used to heat your home, for example, or to power anything from your electric shaver to your computer.

As a result, solar panels are now becoming extremely popular in urban areas, where alternative energy advocates and lawmakers are creating incentives for this friendly and quiet alternative energy source.

The state of Colorado, for example, has been offering huge rebates on the up-front cost to acquire and install a residential solar power system.

Solar panels have other advantages. They normally are maintenance free, for one thing, and many manufacturers will guarantee electrical output for as long as 20 years.

Plus, after the panels are installed, any excess energy from the system – that is, energy left over after all of your needs have been met – can be diverted for use on the grid, where it is bought back by the electrical power company.

Which means there may be times when you are actually making income from your panels.

You’ll have to be patient, however.

With rebates factored into the initial cost, it generally will take from 17 to 24 years to get back the initial expense, at which time you will essentially be generating power from the sun at no cost.

And there are other factors – maybe I should say “little known” factors – about solar panels that may make them less than desirable for some folks.

One such factor is that solar panels actually may initially contribute to greenhouse emissions.

How so?

Well, it takes power to manufacture a solar panel. And the energy that requires very often is fossil-based and front-end loaded. So there is a time during which a solar panel actually adds to carbon emissions rather than detracting from them.

Until such time as a solar panel has produced energy equivalent to the energy used to manufacture it (its fossil-emission payback period) it in effect contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. This fossil-emission payback period is generally considered to be five to 10 years.

And although manufacturers will focus on the magic behind this environmentally friendly power source and why it’s sensible to buy your solar panels now, you should be aware that having your own home energy system installed can be quite an expensive proposition – ranging into the thousands of dollars.

But there is a better way. Cheaper by far. Just as efficient. And ultimately far more satisfying.

Dave Tishendorf
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/solar-panels-there-is-a-better-way-744960.html

on a basic step by step way can someone list the parts i would need by name and possibly list what ‘plugs’ into what (think knee bone connected to the thigh bone). I would like something in my garden that I can power household items into like the kettle, tv, tools, pc’s etc to reduce my bills. I’m happy for links explaining as I’ve tried to ‘google’ it but not found what I’m looking for…

many thanks..

An electric kettle is a high power unit, so needs a big solar panel and a stack of batteries. These are going to cost a bundle of cash. A great deal depends where you are located – you need a good position where you can mount the panel facing south.
You will need solar panels, connected to a charge controller, connected to a deep discharge or leisure battery, connected to an iinverter. The further North you are, the llarger the panel you will need. For greater electrical loads, you will need larger batteries and inverters. In the UK, I guess that a solar panel, plus battery plus and inverter to run the equipment you describe will cost over £2000.

on a basic step by step way can someone list the parts i would need by name and possibly list what ‘plugs’ into what (think knee bone connected to the thigh bone). I would like something in my garden that I can power household items into like the kettle, tv, tools, pc’s etc to reduce my bills. I’m happy for links explaining as I’ve tried to ‘google’ it but not found what I’m looking for…

many thanks..

An electric kettle is a high power unit, so needs a big solar panel and a stack of batteries. These are going to cost a bundle of cash. A great deal depends where you are located – you need a good position where you can mount the panel facing south.
You will need solar panels, connected to a charge controller, connected to a deep discharge or leisure battery, connected to an iinverter. The further North you are, the llarger the panel you will need. For greater electrical loads, you will need larger batteries and inverters. In the UK, I guess that a solar panel, plus battery plus and inverter to run the equipment you describe will cost over £2000.