Are you always grimacing on how high your electricity bills come up? Do you want to be a bit more eco-friendly. Aren't you a bit curious about Solar Homes?
Coal, oil, and natural gas are all forms of energy we use today. Cars, homes, and schools rely on these energy sources. We use these forms of energy to generate electricity, a secondary form of energy. These types of energy are called fossil fuels because they are formed in the ground over millions of years. These fossil fuels are common in the present world, but will they last forever? The most familiar forms of energy that we use today belong in a category of energy called nonrenewable energy. This type of energy cannot be replenished in a short period of time, unlike renewable energy. Renewable energy covers solar, geothermal, wind, biomass, and hydro power. These types of energy could be replaced easily once it is used. United States of America is a large and developed country that consumes an extensive amount of energy from all over the world. Although much energy is used, most of the energy comes from nonrenewable resources. Why use resources meant for our future generations when there are renewable resources available all over the world? This may be because of its cost. The price is extremely high to install systems to produce electricity for our home or office, but how much money does it really need?
Fuel for the Future?
What will the Earth look like in a hundred years? The answer all depends on a never ending problem our human race is facing: global issues. This area of study includes our heating planet, poverty, and resource consumption. One portion of global issues, resource consumption, includes the great use of coal, oil, and natural gas. A solution to reducing resource usage is to use solar energy, a renewable resource. Even though solar energy is free, solar panels and collectors cost a large amount of money. What parts and costs are involved in installing solar in one's home, and what are the benefits and disadvantages of using solar energy?
To begin, the solar system, including all the parts that make a solar house, is made up of a few main parts. Solar energy converters include two types of systems, direct grid-tie systems and battery-based systems. Both of these systems include photovoltaic modules and an inverter; however, batteries in the battery-based system are what sets these systems apart. Photovoltaic modules (PV modules) are solar panels that turn sunlight into electricity. These PV modules are sold according to how many watts they deliver under a controlled test. PV modules are about 50% cheaper than it was ten years ago because of improved technology, better installers, and the reduce in cost of solar. They help lower the cost of the solar system, making it more affordable for families. Inverters are also a crucial part of the solar system. Its role is to convert direct current (DC) into alternative current (AC). Direct current is the power that comes directly from the sun; alternative energy is the energy that powers all our household appliances today. The job of the inverter is to change DC to AC so we could use the solar energy in our homes. Other items that complete the solar system are the electric panel, utility meter, batteries, and the utility grid. Electrical panels deliver ready-to-use AC power to electrical appliances. To calculate how much electricity one's system is sending out and taking from a utility grid, a utility meter is used. If one is planning to install a direct grid-tie system, the meter indicates how much electricity one is sending to the grid and how much one is using when their panels do not generate enough electricity. When electricity runs from the system to the grid, the meter runs backwards. At night, when the PV panels are not generating electricity, the meter runs forward when electricity is being drawn in the house. At the end of the month, ten to twenty dollars is paid to the utility company to read the meter. The leftover electricity is called credits, and in some states, these credits could be used instead of obtaining power to use from the utility grid at night. Another segment of the system, batteries, makes the difference between direct grid-tie systems and battery-based systems. Batteries provide power to use when electricity is needed, and the utility grids cannot supply it. Some conditions include black-outs and when one's house is not connected to the utility grid. During black-outs, the utility grid won't work, thus disconnecting the system, but if one has a battery in their system, the energy source would switch to the stored energy in the battery.
Furthermore, the size of the house does not determine its solar module cost. The main factors to determining the cost to install solar homes are the location of the house, the amount of sunlight available in the area, how much electricity one uses, and if tax incentives and rebates are available. If one’s house is more than half a mile away from a utility grid, it would be cheaper to install a solar independent house than to spend $20,000 or more connecting one’s house to the utility grid. This also only pays for the line. One still needs to pay for the electricity their household consumes each month. As one could see, a solar system may be the cheapest option for homeowners that live in a remote area. In total, solar systems may cost from five thousand dollars to a whopping sixty thousand dollars depending on the area one's home is in and its energy usage. The cost for one solar cell may be ranging from four dollars to twelve dollars depending on the installer. PV modules usually cost $200 to $600 each, and a house may need as many as forty modules. This means if one's house is 1,500 square feet and one wants to spend two watts per square foot; it would take 3,000 watts, or three kilowatts. PV modules usually produce fifty to two hundred watts each at peak power, so it would require about thirty modules to supply this house. Batteries cost around $10,000, and an inverter's price is usually about $3,000 to $4,000. Charge controllers and disconnects, pieces included in the system, cost around $600 and the installation costs $5,000 or more. After adding these costs together, it totals about $25,000 and beyond. This may seem costly, but in some states, federal incentives are given to install the systems. In California, these rebates could total about half of the system's cost making it much more reasonable to install a solar system in one's home.
