The article below was submitted to us by a 1 Million Women community member. Want to see your story on 1 Million Women ? Send us a story by following this link .
One thing we can all agree upon is that we want to decrease the amount of money we spend on energy bills, but thankfully solar power can offer you exactly that without way too much hassle involved in the process. Residential solar systems, especially the photovoltaic type are less efficient than the commercial counterparts however. If you want to do a good bit of useful and practical home renovation that includes a green energy solution, then read ahead for more information.
Commercial systems have plenty of advantages over their residential counterparts, mostly that they are developed in well-lit locations and they take advantage of technologies that simply don't work on a smaller scale, such as larger and more efficient storage cells and other tech.
This brings us full circle and back to why most people love the idea of having solar panels on their roofs. There are usually two main reasons for this: independence from the local power grid and also the desire to help keep the environment clean of dirty energy sources. Installing solar power in your home is actually a pretty attainable goal, which may eventually change the way we use solar power plants across the world.
Thankfully, there is good news in that there is a form of residential solar power that happens to be more efficient than photovoltaic technology:
Solar Water Heating Systems or SWHS
. They are a cheaper alternative than the more traditional
and they focus on the heat of the sun to produce hot water instead of direct collection. PV systems usually take about a decade to carry their own weight in terms of purchase costs, but solar water heaters are much faster when it comes to paying themselves.
Once subsidies are figured into the price, you would be able to pay off the price of a SWHS system in a few short years, compared to the usual decade or more for a PV system. SWHS systems are also more efficient than a normal PV system in terms of electrical energy equivalent. You can even install a solar water heater and still have some room for additional PV panels, assuming you have the right conditions for such a setup.
Since the costs of natural gas are slowly, but steadily climbing up as time goes by and due to the political instability of some areas where its being harvested, using a system like a solar water heater is a great way of staying safe. If its pure solar power for supplemental reasons that you're looking for, then you will find what you need as well. You should still do an energy audit if you want to find out more about whether you should stick to such a system and what you can gain from it overall, regardless of which solution you're going for.
The article below was submitted to us by a 1 Million Women community member. Want to see your story on 1 Million Women ? Send us a story by following this link .
Whats going on with the Renewable Energy Target and who really benefits from the changes? Click here!
Did you like this post? Then JOIN 1 MILLION WOMEN!
Join us in taking practical action on dangerous climate change through the way that we live, the choices we make and the way we spend our money.
