Product Insight: How Home Renewable Energy Works
Has your last electric bill made you curious about solar or wind energy? As utility prices continue to increase and climate change becomes worse, you’re not alone in considering a power upgrade. There are endless benefits to using renewable energy sources and many different types to fit your property and lifestyle.
Differences Between Energy Sources
Conventional electricity is non-renewable energy that comes from fossil fuel, petroleum, water stream, or natural gases. These spin turbines at power plants and create electric energy. The process of generating traditional electricity emits pollutants into the air and water.
Solar energy is heat and light from the sun that is converted into electrical or thermal energy. It’s a clean, renewable power alternative and helps to reduce many types of pollution. Depending on your electric use, switching to renewable energy is an efficient way to lower your monthly power bills.
Wind energy is natural power from the wind that can be used to generate mechanical power or electricity. Wind energy is a popular renewable power source that has very little impact on the environment.
How Solar Panels Work
Solar panels are the main technology that harness the sun’s power and turn it into electricity – called photovoltaics (PV). When the sun shines onto a solar panel, photons from the sunlight are absorbed by the panel’s cells and converted into a direct current.
From large rooftop solar panels, the current is sent to an inverter. This is a device that converts the direct current (DC) generated by your solar panels into alternating current (AC) that powers your home. It’s usually installed in the garage or an exterior wall of the house. The current from your inverter flows to the main electrical panel and then into to your home.
From compact portable solar panels, the current can be sent to charge a specific appliance or device, including generators and exterior lighting. These types of solar panels are installed wherever the powered device is, like the corner of a deck, roof of a shed, or flat area of lawn.
How Wind Turbines Work
Wind energy is generated by wind turbines, which harness the wind’s natural power and use it to produce electricity. When the wind blows, the turbine’s blades are pushed around a rotor. The rotor is attached to a generator that creates electricity and feeds it to a grid.
A residential wind turbine is basically the same as a larger scale wind turbine, just smaller and only for one property. A home wind turbine uses the aerodynamic force from the rotor blades and turns natural wind power into electricity. This electricity can be fed to your house for powering air conditioning and heating systems, lights, water heaters, and appliances like washers, dryers, and dishwashers.
Benefits of Renewable Energy
Using solar and wind energy instead of conventional electric energy reduces the amount pollutants (like carbon) that are emitted into the air and water. Lowering our atmosphere’s carbon leads to less pollution, cleaner water and air, and healthier communities.
On top of the environmental benefits, many homeowners add renewable energy sources to save money on electric bills. It’s a great way to reduce your environmental footprint and budget, but the amount your monthly bill will decrease varies, depending on property size, electric use, and type of solar upgrades. Adding renewable energy sources can be a large upfront investment but pay off in the long run.
Add a Customized Renewable Energy System
Country Home Products is proud to offer a full assortment of solar panels, solar-powered lights and generators, and wind turbines. Help the environment and your electric bill by upgrading to solar energy!