Most of us think of our energy supply as something which isn’t really in our power to take care of ourselves. The common assumption is that this is something which only the professionals have the knowhow and the equipment to do, so you should just let someone more skilled handle things. When it comes to installing a wind generator, however, there’s no need to get professional help. It’s easy to do it yourself and it can be pretty expensive to have someone else do the work.

Now, if this really was a complicated job, then it would be perfectly understandable to hire someone to do it. However, this really is an easy DIY project and there’s no need to go looking for a contractor to take care of this.

Since this whole project is about saving money, you need to make sure that you are doing everything possible to make that happen. While there are books and magazines on the subject matter, a lot of information can be easily found on the Internet. In fact, the web is full off various techniques and pointers that can make the installation job extremely easy.

Before you begin, it’s a good idea to look into how you can get tax breaks and other incentives which will defray the cost of your wind generator. Many cities and states have programs in place which reimburse homeowners for part of the cost involved in installing wind generators and other alternative energy technologies.

This is to help encourage people to go green and to help save the planet. Now, reimburse does mean that you will have to front the money to complete the project but a portion of the amount you spend may be able to come back your way.

This is not to say that your wind generator won’t pay for itself anyway – it will and then some. When you generate more electricity than you use, you can sell the rest to your local utility! You’re not going to get rich this way, but this is just another way that your wind generator will pay for itself quickly. You’ll also get the good feeling of knowing that you’re supplying clean and sustainable energy to your neighbors.

Wind power lets you become self sufficient, at least as far as your electrical supply is concerned. You’ll be doing your part for the environment by getting your energy using a technology which doesn’t use scarce natural resources or pollute the air. You can become more self-sufficient and maybe even take your home off the grid entirely!

Wind power lets you save money, save the environment and doing something great for yourself – reducing your reliance on others to meet your energy needs. This is a great feeling.

Now that going green has become all the buzz, it becomes easier and easier to find examples of how going green can save you a bundle of green. Kermit the Frog was wrong – it IS easy being green. It is not only smart but going green can save you the green in your wallet at the same time. It is a sad but true fact that our planet is facing a period of warming. It is our actions as humans that are believed to be the prime cause. It makes sense to seek out examples of how going green saves you money and act on them.

Just think about the cell phone charger that is always plugged in or your DVD player that is just waiting around for you to play it once a week or once a month. Does your TV just sit on standby all night? These are prime examples of how small actions can save you money – if you unplug them or better yet buy a smart energy strip you are going green with ease. For even if the items are not being used, those blinking lights and clocks mean that they are consuming energy!

You can also easily go green just by switching from bottled water to filtered tap water. On average a typical family spends some $1,400 a year on bottled water. That is not even the worst part. By not recycling over 95% of the plastic bottles end up in the garbage and land fills world wide! It is worthwhile investing less than $100 and you could get a high quality staged water filter to make your tap water perfect. Then just go and purchase stainless steel water bottles, as they over come the need for plastic and last a long time.

Here is yet another example of how easy going green can save you money. They are simple every day things and are everywhere. If you have a lead gas foot and drive as fast as the law allows or faster, you should think more about how much it is costing you. Your cars engines performs most efficiently at around 55 miles an hour. Combine that with gentle driving on properly inflated tires, you will save money and help the planet too.

You could always use a bicycle to travel around town. Or you could simply walk for those short trips. You won’t be pouring hydrocarbons into the atmosphere, warming the planet, you will save money, and you will get some good exercise at the same time. Walking and cycling when you can are excellent examples of how going green saves you money.

Out of the approximately 65 million newspapers that are printed every day just in the US. Unfortunately 70% will not be recycled. Can you imagine this waste of trees? How can you can do your bit to help? In this day of Internet access you can now read whatever news you want to read simply by going online. Even local papers have an online presence these days, so save some money and read from the web pages. Just don’t spill your coffee on the keyboard.

Just look around you every day to see new examples of how going green saves you money? They are every where around you. Just look and you certainly will find them.

The Free Energy Options guide is said to be step-by-step, simple plans to make your own home solar and wind power. We disagree – we were never able to complete our solar power system, and customer support was non-existent.

Likes:

1: Good Refund Policy:

Since we could not actually finish making our solar panels, and customer service was non-existent, we gladly made use of the money-back guarantee. Thankfully Click-bank handles transactions, so we got our money back in no time at all.

Why Shouldn’t Buy It:

1: Not “housewife” friendly:

If you are one of those people that is not technically inclined, then Free Energy Options is not the guide for you. Vital details were left out in the solar power instructions, making it very difficult to build a working system. Although the home wind turbine plans were very detailed, they assume they the reader has experience in electronics and other diy projects.

2: No customer support

We needed to get help from customer support while building the solar power plans. But 5 emails later, we still have not heard a word from them. Maybe the author, Alan Hopkins, decided to go on vacation, and forget about serving his customers.

Conclusion

Alan claims his Free Energy Options guide is step-by-step and perfect for beginners, but it’s not. We were so unimpressed we asked for a refund. To be honest, we are surprised Alan even shows his face on the product.

If you are a diy fanatic, that likes a serious challenge, then by all means get the Free Energy Options guide. But why not consider getting plans that actually work and cost the same price, such as Earth4Energy, Efficient Planet or Homemade Energy?

Nearly twelve years ago, my parents bought and took over the family business, a forty room hotel in our hometown. They made quite a few changes to the hotel, one of which was adding an environmental policy to their business practices and philosophies. One tool they started using were “green cards”, or what my mom calls her contribution to Green PR.

These cards describe the hotel’s environmentally friendly practices, including doing their part to reduce water waste, as well as the large amounts of detergent dumped into the water system by hotels. Customers who are staying more than one night can place this card on the unmade bed in the morning, to alert the housekeeping crew not to wash the sheets and towels. They also describe how every day in hotels, thousands of gallons of detergent and millions of gallons of water are used to wash towels and sheets that have only been used once. These cards allow customers to do something good for the environment, and has resources at the bottom for other ways to help the planet while traveling.

Items like green cards fall into the category of Green PR, which is a term used to describe something that is used to spark changes in environmental policy. The definition wikipedia gives is: “…a sub-field of public relations that communicates an organization’s…environmentally friendly practices to the public.” Green cards are one of several tools used in this category of public relations. Other tools include placing news articles, winning awards, and communicating with environmental groups.

My parents didn’t stop at using green cards either. When they wanted to further communicate their environmentally safe practices, they wrote about them in the various advertising articles they submit to tourism advertising magazines. They also took their Green PR to the local lodging association, which they are members of, with the goal of helping other businesses change their environmental policies, or in some cases, develop them. They presented the other lodging owners with the green cards and their philosophy of protecting the environment, and helping customers do the same. My parents are just one example of how a company is using this type of PR to inspire change in environmental policy in their type of business.

Thousands of other companies have done the same thing, moving the entire field of companies the provide products and services, toward greater environmental responsibility.

The sun is the most abundant and the cheapest source of energy, yet we do not exploit its potential. In these times of depleting resources and increasing prices, the solar energy proves to be the most beneficial and the most economical power solution.

What are the uses of solar energy?

Solar power has multiple uses, especially in the current times of energy crisis. Solar energy finds its use in the following areas:

Cooking: The solar energy can be used in cooking with the help of a cooking utensil called the solar cooker. This cooker uses just one fuel ” the suns light. A typical solar cooker can cook food for five people. A solar cooker does not limit itself to boiling food; it can bake and roast as well. You just need to have a little patience while cooking with a solar cooker.

Generating electricity: With solar energy, you can run all your electrical appliances. The solar generators store electricity in cells that you can use at night.

Heating systems: With solar energy heating systems, you can keep your house warm without worrying about electricity bills.

What is a solar generator?

A solar generator is a device that converts solar energy into electrical energy. The suns light energy is converted into electrical energy by solar cells also known photovoltaic cells. The return on investment of a solar generator is very fast, thus making electricity available at very low costs. The solar generator also does away with our dependence on the government for electricity. In the current times of fast-depleting fuel resources, it is only wise that we look towards implementing alternate energy solutions.

A solar generator also helps store power in cells for later use. Thus, you can illuminate your house even when the sky is cloudy. The solar generator definitely proves to be a silver lining.

What are the advantages of using a solar generator? Pollution-free: Using a solar generator paves way to a greener environment. It does not pollute the environment in any way. Moreover, it does not make use of any of the scarce fuels.

Cost-effective: The solar generator makes use of a free energy, thus helping save money. In the long run, the electricity produced by the solar generator turns out to be available for free.

Power storage: The solar generator helps store power for the rainy days, literally. It thus ensures that you have uninterrupted power supply to your home around the clock, everyday.

Low-maintenance: The solar generator is very easy to maintain, helping you save time, effort, and money.

You have probably heard it all already, that renewable energy is the way to go. If more and more people simply took a little time out of their day to learn something new each day about green energy, the planet may find that it is given a little bit of a break. When the issue is ignored, energy plants will continue to make energy through unhealthy means that not only destroy our planet in the long run, but also poison our bodies in the process.

It’s imperative that our generation make the change and start to use renewable green energy sources and ingrain the importance of using these clean energy sources on the younger generation. One of these technologies with great potential is wind power. However, before we discuss how much energy you can produce with a wind turbine, let’s examine how wind power works.

Many fear that wind power cannot produce enough energy without a steady strong wind. This is a misunderstanding of how wind power operates. Even the slightest breeze can produce electrical power. Wind power works by taking the kinetic energy of the wind moving the turbines of a wind generator to produce electrical power which can be used to power homes and businesses.

A wind generator will work best when installed on the roof of the building, as this allows it to catch more wind energy. However, it may be a good idea to have a backup supply of electrical power, so you may not want to call your local utility to disconnect just yet.

This is so that if there ever is a time that you are not able to capture enough wind energy, you can still get the power you need to light up your house or to keep the heat running if you rely on electric for your heating needs. What about the times that there is a lot of wind being produced around your home? If there are winds that exceed seven miles per hour, which can happen a lot, you are able to sell the extra energy that is produced back to the utility company.

This of course helps to lead people to the understanding that wind power can truly generate enough energy for you to make use of in your home. The power company will always be there to serve as a backup and you would probably have enough left over to sell back to the electric company.

Your wind generators are an investment in your energy independence which will pay for themselves and then some. Being able to sell your unneeded electrical power to your utility company is just one more way that this investment pays off. How much electricity can you produce with your wind generator? It all depends on the size of your generator and how windy of a region you happen to live in.

A 10-kw wind generator can bring in about 10,000 kWh each year when placed in a location that produces about twelve mile per hour winds on average. This is enough energy to power one standard sized household. A 5-MW wind turbine can produce 15 million kWh or more each year. This is enough to send enough power to 1,4000 homes.

a homemade solar power system may save you hundreds or thousands of dollars on your electric bill each year but may not take completely off the grid. It is possible if you’re solar power system produces extra electricity you could sell that surplus back to the power company. You may have other reasons to build your own system and use alternative energy such as alleviating global warming.

Solar energy unlike other forms of energy produces zero emissions and leaves less of a carbon footprint on global warming. If you had a complete set of instructions, guide or manual you could build your own solar power system for a fraction of the costs of a kit or complete installation. There are many companies online that sell kits and panels and you can sometimes realize a large savings by finding him in auctions. Purchasing solar panels is just the beginning of building a system will produce energy from the sun. With basic electrical knowledge and proper instructions you will be able to create your own complete system and tie into your home system.

As the efficiency of solar panels and prices drop each year it will make producing energy from the sun more feasible. If you have considered other forms of renewable energy may help reduce your dependence on the grid or your local power company. Prices dropping on solar power supplies you will likely see complex systems on homes in residential neighborhoods.

Depending on the area of the country you live in you should always consider a backup source of power. Batteries are a great storage solution for excess energy during peak production to use for a rainy or cloudy day. You could even consider combining wind energy to further reduce dependence on the grid. It is now not unusual to see a PV system combined with the wind turbine as a reasonable solution to save money and reduce reliance on the grid.

Solar panels being passive devices produce electrical energy and solar energy comes in contact the surface of the panel. the power created is direct current typical of what you’d find in a typical battery and must be converted to the same type of power used in your home and this is called alternating into alternating current. This is done by a device called a inverter. The inverter turns direct current into alternating current. Any excess electricity that can’t be stored in batteries can be sold back to the grid usually in the form of credits but always check with your local utility.

If you want to make your own homemade solar power consider purchasing set of instructions and join the growing ranks are saving hundreds and thousands of dollars yearly on their electric bill. In many areas of the country utilities are starting to build large arrays capable of generating megawatts of electricity that is capable of powering a small town or city. If you want to reduce your dependence on the grid save yourself lots of money join the growing trend and build your own homemade solar power system.

Earth Day was established on April 22nd 1970 by Senator Gaylord Nelson. Its initial purpose was to provide a platform for all the different environmentalist groups to unite under a single day to thrust forward their message of conservation and environmental preservation. The movement was successful with over 20 million people participating world wide by marches and rallies in the name of Earth Day.

The main theme of the day is to remind citizens of the earth for the need for conservation. It provided a platform for environmentalists to call on nations, global policy makers and even private citizens for the need to conserve our precious environment.

The main strives were in the fronts of renewable resource usage and also the use of natural products. Just by following the guidelines on the usage of renewable resource and natural products environmental conservation would have taken a very large move forward. A large part of the natural product movement was on proper use of natural organic fertilizers as opposed to the wide use of synthetic chemical fertilizers.

Over the years since the introduction of synthetic fertilizers, their true costs are slowly being felt by long term users of these damaging products. The huge initial crop yields are not long lasting. Over time yields fade and soil fertility drops dramatically as soil is damaged and even sometimes killed due to the chemical leaching and burning they do. As a result soil is subjected to the risk of desertification and soon nothing can crow on the land resulting ultimately and farmer bankruptcy and destroyed land.

Synthetic chemical fertilizers are not only known to destroy soils but are also shown to have devastating affects on water systems surrounding farms. The problem is that chemical fertilizers are highly soluble and thus can leach off soil and follow water into local water systems. The boom in nutrients that chemical fertilizers provide means that weeds and algae will grow uncontrollably and basically suffocate the water system. Eventually all the fish will die causing severe damage to the local ecosystem.

The best alternative is to focus on the use of natural and organic fertilizers. As the products used to manufacture natural organic fertilizers are natural and clean, there is almost no risk of upsetting the local eco-system with their use. The earth really has no place for synthetic chemical fertilizers and its devastating side-affects.

Organic fertilizers use natural raw products such as fish, seaweed or even common waste to make fertilizers. Whatever is taken from the earth in terms of raw input is returned directly to the earth as the final product. There is very little waste and no imbalances in the natural ecology that occur when these fertilizers are applied. Plants and soils will greatly benefit from these fertilizers as they nourish the soil and provide vital nutrients that synthetic fertilizers have no hope in providing.

Although we are used to the idea of large corporations and industrial farms changing their practices to favor environmentally friendly practices, action from individual private citizens can also be very helpful. We can start by changing out law fertilizing habits by buying only naturally organic products and keep from overusing products in favor of conservation.

What damage was done in the past can only be learned from and repaired as best we can. We instead need to look forward and change our over-consumptive ways to improve our environment. Let our children enjoy with 100th year anniversary of Earth Day by saying that their parents were successful.