SolarByTheWatt.com

One of the most frequently asked questions to consultants and specialists in the solar energy industry is how efficient is the investment in a solar power installation – small or large.

We want to look at a very simple model of economic efficiency where are interested in the annual return on investment. A project involving a solar photovoltaic installation requires certain amount of capital to be built and will expect certain amount of annual revenue. The simple indicator of efficiency that we want to study is this annual return in invested capital.

You probably know the sun generates more than 10,000 times the amount of energy the entire world consumes annually. Yet, this “free” energy has remained greatly untapped. Conversely, the environment is being degraded by our current energy choices. The positives for using solar panels are obvious, but what few know is how it also helps our environment.

First lets look at what we are using currently to meet our energy needs, coal and nuclear energy, and how ecologically damaging they are.

Is solar energy capable of providing so much power that to offset the need for use of fossil fuels?

We want to look at the needs of energy of the United States and the world and compare with the practical size installations of solar power stations needed to replace that.

The question of completely replacing all fossil fuel or all other sources of electricity and other energy is much more complex than just looking at the numbers. Probably replacing the other sources in just electricity production is simpler but still in addition to simply adding capacity, changes of large scale are needed in the national grid configuration.

Are you thinking of installing solar power for homes? If so then here’s an inventory of all the parts you’ll need so as you can get a sense of the scale and general cost of the job.

Begin by establishing exactly how much of your home’s total energy usage you want to be run on solar power. Do you want solar power merely to heat the water and the water-heating system? Do you want to go completely off-grid and power the whole house by solar power? Either way, you’ll need to know how much energy your home is consuming per month on average.

No matter what you are planning on doing, there is probably a solar system available to help you generate power. On increasingly popular choice is RV solar panels, which can help you run these large vehicles off the power of the sun. If you are interested in helping to save money as well as help the environment, you should research your options for what kind of RV solar panels are available.

By TJ Greene. In this day and age with the ever-increasing cost of everything from gas to groceries, we’re all searching for for ways to cut back on the outflow of money.

One of the areas with the biggest jumps in costs is home energy. Who looks forward to that monthy electric bill? Not me, not you or anyone else because that bill gets bigger every single month. And it’s not going to get any better.