Beginner's Guide to Utilizing Solar and Wind Generated Electricity

Electricity consumption varies greatly from household to household. And believe it or not, the number of kwh you use does not depend upon the square footage of your home. (A common misconception.) While it is difficult to say what an average household uses, for our example, we'll use a figure of about 900 kWh per month. In most North American locations, you can count on an average of about 4 peak sun hours per day over the year (different from the number of hours the sun is up during the day). Operating this average home completely independent of the electric utility grid will require about 75 solar panels (~150 Watts each) plus batteries, inverters, fuses, wire etc... A complete solar energy system for this much energy consumption will cost between $70,000 and $90,000. If you want to have a system that's grid intertied and does not use a battery bank, then you can expect the cost to be reduced by about a third... but don't be discouraged.

If you use as much electricity as the average home in the example above (or even more) the first step is to reduce your electricity consumption. This does not mean "freezing in the dark". It means taking advantage of new, efficient technologies and being smart about how and when you use power. Here's a list of some of the most cost effective ways to reduce your electrical use:

• Replace your incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights. Compact fluorescent lights with the EnergyStar(tm) approval use a third to a quarter of the power of incandescent lights for the same amount of light. Incandescent lights produce and waste more electricity on producing heat instead of light!
• Replace your old refrigerator, freezer, water heater, washing machine (or any other major appliance over 5 years old). There have been a lot of energy efficiency improvements on major appliances in the last few years.
• If your home uses electric heat, (air): Use solar air heating systems in conjunction with your electric heating system to greatly reduce the amount of electricity consumed by your heating systems. Depending on your location and the cost of your electricity, these systems can pay for themselves as quickly as 3-6 years - few investments have that rate of return.
• For users of electric water heating: Use solar water heating systems in conjunction with your existing hot water tank to greatly reduce your electricity consumption. Just like the solar air heating systems they pay for themselves in 3 to 6 years - making them smart investments.
• Solar attic fans are low cost, easy to install ways of reducing the amount of air conditioning you use. Also, if you live in a dry climate that gets very hot in the summer time, you can use an evaporative cooler (sometimes known as a swamp cooler) instead of an air conditioner. These appliances use a small fraction of the electricity that an air conditioning unit consumes.
• Also, consider replacing large electric appliances like water heaters, dryers, and stoves for propane or natural gas models. Of course using propane/natural gas will still cost you but since propane is more efficient for heating, you will pay less and be able to use a smaller solar system.