Selecting the Right Forms of Green Energy: Pros and Cons
So, you’ve decided that you want to make all of your home energy needs as green as possible. However, you’re not sure just how to go about it, and you don’t know which types of energy would make the best decision for your home. Use the information in this article to make an informed decision about your own needs.
Photovoltaic (PV) cells provide a long-term energy solution that turns your home into a giant antenna for the power of the sun, harnessing it and turning it into electricity. They have a long life, meaning that even though they are expensive to install, they will work for so many years that you will be able to recoup the cost of your investment in a couple of ways. First, government entities offer tax credits to encourage the purchase of photovoltaic cells so that people will install them on their homes. Second, having the cells on your house means that you will be contributing electricity to your grid instead of just drawing from it. You may, in some months, even get a check from the electric company, if you contribute more electricity than you use.
Photovoltaic cells only make sense for home installation if you live in a part of the country that gets enough sunlight during warm times of the year to make a meaningful dent in your power consumption. If you live in a colder part of the country, even if there is a lot of sunlight, colder temperatures compromise the efficiency of your photovoltaic cells, so a lot of the solar energy will go to waste. Also, if your installer does not angle the cells correctly, a lot of the solar energy will be wasted as well. The cost is considerable, especially if you do not live in an area that offers significant tax credits, which vary widely from state to state, and even from county to county.
Wind turbines provide a reliable form of energy to the grid, especially in parts of the country that are open and have consistent prevailing winds. You’re taking the power of the wind and turning it into electricity with each spin of the turbine blades, and you’re taking advantage of one of the oldest forms of green power there is, as windmills have been around for centuries. There are some parts of the country where you can get tax credits for putting in wind turbines, particularly if you have open land and are willing to commit significant acreage to a wind farm, to contribute the power back to the electrical grid.
Wind turbines do not make viable solutions for the needs of individual homes, by and large. If you live in an urban or suburban area, it is likely that your zoning requirements do not allow the construction of a turbine that is high enough, or has large enough arms, to make a significant dent in your electric bill. If you live out in the country, the cost of a wind turbine can be as much as an entire solar panel installation, so you would want to make sure that your land is windy enough to make a turbine more logical than a solar panel array.
This information will help you decide between solar and wind power for your home. Another possibility, of course, is buying power from your electric company but choosing the 100 percent wind option, if you’re not ready to rearrange your property.