How DO You Begin Converting To Solar Power?
When you finally decide to take the plunge and convert to solar power by either purchasing a do-it-yourself-kit, having solar panels installed or building them yourself, you have figure out how much power the appliances that you use will tax the system.
For example if you wish to use a solar powered generator to run your hot water, you really don’t have to put that much effort into figuring out that a couple of panels will do the trick. But if you want to run a window-type air conditioner or a 24-hour freezer, you would have to consider the possibility of adding more power.
Power-hungry appliances are not conducive to solar power. It can be accomplished, but it is best to rely on the power grid for your larger appliances. Then you can selectively pick the appliances that you want to use with solar power. This can be for only one room. For example in your bedroom you may have a couple of lamps, a television, and a fan. By looking at the amount of energy it takes for running those appliances and the amount of energy that can be produced by a certain number of solar panels, you can make a logical decision to purchase or make those panels for that use. The rest of the house could run off the grid. As you invest in solar panels, you can slowly convert more rooms to full solar energy.
One good thing about solar panels is that if your house does have an electrical failure due to a storm or high winds, you can go into your solar powered room. You would still be able to watch your television and have lights, without depending on the power grid since it does not supply the power needed for those comforts. Even if your power outage happens at night, the power collected and the solar batteries can run your appliances in the bedroom for several hours or more.
If you want to start converting your house over to solar energy, it is wise to start small unless you have a very big budget. The cost you initially put into a solar powered project will take a long time to turn around and become profitable. Since the Earth’s climate is changing, eventually the cost of power could override the cost of the initial set up of solar panels. The long term possibility has to be entered into the equation.
For the first project in converting your home over to solar power, you may want to look at just specific appliances instead of an entire room. Of course, when the power goes out your entertainment is virtually gone. You may want to just use your solar powered energy for your television, cable box, VCR or DVD, or other entertainment equipment. If nothing else, it would be useful in killing the time until the power grid comes back on.
If you are unsure about solar energy and solar power, start small. You can buy a solar panel for your portable devices. Even though this is not saving a great deal of money, it helps the planet when you’re not using the power grid to recharge batteries. You can even buy solar powered panels to power your Game Boy or handheld computer. A computer’s battery only lasts two to three hours on the average. If you’re away from a power supply, you could be sitting there with a dead box OR you could be doing your work, surfing the internet, or dealing with your daily computer tasks.
Until next time,
Let the sunshine in!
Lauren
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Great Positive and encouraging Post on Solar Energy!
During the summertime in Arizona, Air Conditioning system is the most power hungry that costs way too much. Do you know of any Solar energized air conditioner that can be installed without costing too much? This would be a great deal of energy and money savings for all Arizonians and other states that get the 115 degree heat during summertime.
This is a subject that I will have to get my head around as I am in the process of fitting out a property and would like to incorporate solar panels.
Thanks for the tips on converting to solar power. I’m going to definitely look into starting small and going from there.
I think for most people the only option, due to costs, would be to start small. Thanks for another great article…
Living in Queensland, Australia we have a very long hot summer and it is very tempting to have the air conditioning going 24/7. Besides the environmental impact, the electricity bill would be astronomical – so the idea of converting to solar power for our major source of energy would make summer living so much more affordable and enjoyable.
Hi All!
Thank you for visiting my site. Yes, I think that if someone thinks that they have to get it ALL done right away, it can be a daunting and even very expensive task… That is if they are hiring someone to install them, or buying them pre-made.
I personally cannot do that, and I am doing what I can little by little step by step.
For those of you who start making energy and solar modifications, I would love to hear what you do and how you are doing!
Lauren
Hello, can you please post some more information on this topic? I would like to read more.
Solar Power is so cool. it is clean and renewable energy. when the cost of solar panels goes down, i think every home should be owning a mini solar power station.