DIY Solar Can Save You Money!

You Can Install Your Own Solar And Save Yourself Money

This is an informative article from Mother Earth News about one family's initiative to install their own solar panel system. Check out the tips on rebates and the state incentives database.

Have you been thinking about installing solar panels for your home, but been discouraged because the cost is too high? Here in Montana, my family and I saved 40 percent on the cost of a solar electric system by buying a kit and doing the installation ourselves.

One notable feature of our solar power system is that it uses the relatively new micro-inverter technology. With this system, each photovoltaic (PV) panel has its own grid-tied inverter that is mounted right by the panel. This kind of system is easier for do-it-yourselfers to install, and has other advantages, such as less sensitivity to partial shading, power output optimization for each PV panel, and the flexibility to start small and grow the system as time and budget allow.

We decided to go with a grid-tied system, which is much more cost effective than an off-grid system. One advantage is that you don’t have to buy batteries, which are expensive and have to be replaced from time to time. You can also choose to install a smaller, less expensive system that generates just a portion of your electricity. On the downside, grid-tied systems provide no electricity when the power grid is down.

Planning the Solar Electric System

The first step to planning your system is to evaluate rebate options and obtain permits. Your local power utility has rules you must follow when you hook the finished system to the grid, and building codes may also apply. In addition to federal incentives, states (and even some cities) offer rebates to help with the cost of the system. Most utilities will have an information package and a person who specializes in the utility requirements. We found our local utility and code inspectors helpful and friendly. We didn’t pick up a hint of resistance from them regarding the idea of a homeowner-installed PV system. Permit costs and turnaround times were small. Check the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE) for information on rebates in your state.

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/do-it-yourself/solar-panels-for-your-home-zm0z11zphe.aspx#ixzz27qxWyxQ6

Solar Panels That Look Good!

Don't want those unsightly Solar Panels on your home? 

Here's an idea for some Solar style!

New Solar Panels Made With More Common Metals Could Be Cheaper and More Sustainable

ScienceDaily (Aug. 21, 2012) — With enough sunlight falling on home roofs to supply at least half of America's electricity, scientists today described advances toward the less-expensive solar energy technology needed to roof many of those homes with shingles that generate electricity.

Shingles that generate electricity from the sun, and can be installed like traditional roofing, already are a commercial reality. But the advance ― a new world performance record for solar cells made with "earth-abundant" materials ― could make them more affordable and ease the integration of photovoltaics into other parts of buildings, the scientists said.

Their report was part of a symposium on sustainability at the 244^thNational Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, being held in Philadelphia this week. Abstracts of other presentations appear below.

"Sustainability involves developing technology that can be productive over the long-term, using resources in ways that meet today's needs without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their needs," said Harry A. Atwater, Ph.D., one of the speakers. "That's exactly what we are doing with these new solar-energy conversion devices."

Solar Panels are available now that look just like roof tiles. We have enough roof space to power our nation right now!  Everyone, wake up and take control of your own power needs. The "powers that be" need not take your money! 

Check out this article from Science Daily:http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120821093850.htm

Will We Have A Sustainable Energy Future?

Obama and Romney Have Different Views On Energy

This article from Smart Planet illustrates our presidential candidates ideas on Alternative Energy and how each plans to provide sustainable energy for our country's needs.

SMART PLANET

Obama vs. Romney: Who has the best energy plan?

By Chris Nelder | September 5, 2012, 1:48 AM PDT

Future implications

America still does not have an energy plan, and neither Obama nor Romney have cured that potentially fatal flaw. Both have offered general directional strategies and political fodder, not anything you could call an actual plan.

But the directions they would take us in could not be more different, and their implications will echo long into the future.

If my best guess is correct, all fossil fuels will have peaked and gone into terminal decline around 2025-2030. We will have to be well along in the transition from fossil fuels to renewables before that, because after it, building big infrastructure projects will become progressively more difficult and expensive and the rate of deployment will slow considerably. We really have less than 20 years to get most of the job done. Since non-hydro renewables currently produce only about five percent of U.S. electricity, we’ll have to be extremely aggressive about energy transition, starting right now, if we want to avoid the worst outcomes for our economy and our society as a whole.

President Obama’s strategy is clearly the better of the two choices for meeting that challenge. My reading of recent academic research suggests that generating 80 percent of our electricity from renewables by 2035 might be technically and economically possible, if not likely in our political climate. But by 2050, we’ll be grateful for every last kilowatt-hour we can produce from renewablefree fuels. And the “debate” about climate change will be long gone, replaced by a frantic quest for survival and adaptation.

Governor Romney’s energy strategy is painfully regressive and utterly blind to these clear and present dangers. It sounds like an energy policy from 1970, not 2012. Not only are his claims about our current energy situation wrong — for example, citing U.S. oil production at 15 million barrels per day, according to the Washington Post, when the reality is 6.2 million barrels per day — but his expectations for the future of oil are absurd, claiming “we” (meaning North America) will be producing over 23 million barrels per day eight years from now. That’s more than the world’s top two oil producers, Saudi Arabia and Russia, combined.

This is an unfortunate U-turn for Romney, who just two years ago wrote in his book: “But whether the peak is already past or will be reached within a few years, world oil supply will decline at some point, and no one predicts a corresponding decline in demand. If we want America to remain strong and wish to ensure that future generations have secure and prosperous lives, we must consider our current energy policies in the light of how these policies will affect our grandchildren.” I could have given an enthusiastic thumbs-up to that Mitt Romney, but the current Mitt Romney has apparently surrendered to the policy wishes of his fossil-fuel industry donors completely and lost his head.

At least as far as energy policy is concerned, there isn’t really a choice between the two candidates at all. One is leading us toward a semi-realistic future, while the other would leave us in the lurch as fossil fuels decline. And while it’s true that elections are about more than energy issues, if energy becomes the biggest challenge of this century as I expect it will, then maybe that’s all you really need to know.

More at: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/energy-futurist/obama-vs-romney-who-has-the-best-energy-plan/573?tag=nl.e660&s_cid=e660

Check out the comments at the end of this article to see some different views on carbon emissions, climate change, ethanol production and other important issues. Alternative Energy is in danger of losing some government support.