Learn How to Add Renewable Technology To Your Home

Renewable technologies are systems that use energy generated from resources that are naturally replenished such as sunlight, wind or geothermal heat. Renewable technologies turn sunlight into electricity  and increasingly gain more acceptance across the country. As a result, we see more installations of solar electric systems on homes every year. Additionally, because the energy source remains free (the sun, the wind or the energy in the ground), homeowners reduce energy costs by utilizing renewable technologies.

The following offers some general descriptions of the main types of renewable technologies available today.

PV or Photo-voltaic Panels

Photo-voltaic or PV systems convert the sun’s energy into electricity. Homeowners consume this electricity. Conversely, homeowners can also sell excess electricity back to the utility company for the utility grid. Since the energy source derives from the sun, proper orientation and the angle of installation of the solar panels impact the electricity output of the solar panel array. Additionally, shade from nearby trees, buildings and other obstructions also impact the total electric output of the photo- voltaic system.

Solar Hot Water

Solar hot water panels look much like PV panels. Instead of producing electricity solar hot water panels provide hot water from the sun’s energy. As a result, this energy powers the hot water heater needed for things like showers, cooking or cleaning.

Wind Turbines

Wind turbines have been in use for a long time. However, newer turbine technologies made the use of wind turbines more efficient and affordable for homeowners. But, wind turbines require placement high in the air for optimum wind access. Additionally, homeowners face regulatory hurdles obtaining wind turbine permits and approvals from local governments.

Geothermal Heating and Cooling

Geothermal heating and cooling provides renewable technology that leverages the energy stored in the ground, a pond or lake to heat and cool your home. In the winter, geothermal systems transfer heat naturally stored in the ground (or body of water) into the home as space heating. In the summer, the geothermal heating/cooling system moves the heat in your home and transfers it back into the ground which cools your home. This process of moving heat from the house to the ground or the ground to the house can be very efficient.

The potential for installing renewable technologies in homes today is exciting. The opportunity to use free energy from the sun, the wind or the ground has many homeowners very interested in these new renewable systems. Installing these new technologies isn’t easy. It requires detailed knowledge of the renewable systems and experience installing these systems. As a result, we recommend talking with an experience contractor in your area. Qualified contractors help homeowners walk through the design and installation details of a quality renewable system.