The British Feed In Tariff

August 23, 2010 Leave a Comment

The last few years have seen energy prices soar to higher levels than ever before, and they are expected to rise further still over the next decade. Alongside this, people are more aware then ever before of the harmful effects of using nuclear power to power their homes and offices.

Using solar PV panels to generate your own power for your home or office can be a viable alternative to using nuclear power, and can help to reduce your CO2 emissions. It can also significantly reduce your bills, and raise the resale value of your home by 1%.

Solar power also has far reaching financial benefits. To get solar power installed in your home or office requires only the purchase and set up fees, and will require very little maintenance once up. But the benefits are huge, including a massive reduction in energy bills, by giving you the means to produce your own power from the suns light and radiation.

Since April 2010 there is even more financial benefit to using solar power. The UK Feed-In Tariff (or FIT) is available across England, Wales and Ireland, and is essentially a cash back system. The tariff means that any home or business generating its own energy through solar power, will be paid for this energy even if they use it all themselves. You will also be paid above the average rate of utility companies since solar power is more expensive to generate than nuclear power.

If you sell your unused energy back to the national grid you will receive 44.3p for every unit, and for the energy you use yourself you can expect to receive 41.3p. Investing in solar power is very worthwhile. It can allow you to reduce your running costs, reduce your CO2 emissions, and make money, regardless of whether you use all of your energy or not.

Find out more about the UK feed in tariff rates

Filed Under Solar Energy Tagged With Environment, Finance, financial incentive, government, government incentives, green, green technology, Politics, Solar Energy, solar panels, technology

Deep Cycle Batteries Offer Environmentally Friendly, Efficient Power

January 14, 2010 Leave a Comment

Thanks to increasing interest in reducing carbon footprint and lessening dependence on fossil fuels, the reliable, cost-efficient deep cycle battery is being utilized in more and more environmentally friendly applications. If you’ve heard of these batteries before, you probably are familiar with their use in storing energy generated by solar panels. These highly versatile power sources are cleaner than regular batteries, and they also last longer and require less maintenance. Examining how batteries work can reveal how deep cycle batteries are enhancing today’s green tech and alternative energy movement.

Batteries do not create energy; they store it. The real difference between a deep cycle and a starter battery is its purpose. A starter battery provides a huge surge of energy to start a car engine. These batteries are then recharged using the automobile’s alternator. They work well for cars, but not for equipment that requires a constant power supply for longer periods of time. A deep cycle battery is designed to give a long-term charge. It also releases power consistently to prevent it from being drained too quickly. It is designed to use up to 80% of its stored energy, providing a longer period of usage. This gives the deep cycle battery much greater versatility for environmentally safe applications.

As mentioned before, one popular use of deep cycle batteries is as power storage for solar panels. During a sunny day, solar panels provide electricity to houses and businesses. Excess power is typically diverted to batteries. After the sun goes down, the batteries pick up the slack and keep the power source consistent. This eliminates the limitations of solar power, and is also applicable in other green power technologies, like wind power.

Another advantage of using deep cycle batteries is their durability. The fact that they distribute power slowly over time makes them efficient and versatile. They can be used to power small residences or recreational vehicles the same way traditional power methods work. They last for years, making them a good investment over other types of power. Also, thanks to dropping battery technology prices, high efficiency models that require almost no maintenance are becoming more and more affordable.

Thanks to all these factors, this type of power source is replacing gasoline-powered generators at ever increasing rates. And since they work so well with solar panels, they afford two bonuses – they make using a renewable resource more convenient by storing power while making many forms of fossil fuel power less desirable.

Reducing consumption of fossil fuels that power everything from the lights in your home to the lights in your car what the green movement is all about, and it can save you money, too. The entire world is focused on ways to reduce the use of carbon based fuels. Deep cycle batteries are seeing increasing use in planes, cars, trains and homes. Versatility, economy and environmental friendliness of deep-cycle batteries all contribute to why they will be a big part of green technology going forward.

If you’re looking for socially aware, green solutions for powering your world, check out Impact Battery. They offer a wide selection of deep cycle batteries as well as many other battery types. In addition, a portion of the proceeds from your purchase is set aside for charity. Powered by SEO 2.0 Solutions

Filed Under Alternative Energy Tagged With Alternative Energy, deep cycle batteries, green technology, solar batteries

Understanding The Solar Shed

November 11, 2009 Leave a Comment

So how is a solar shed different to a regular shed? The answer is to be found in the way that a power meeting differs from just any old meeting – the presence or absence of power, and in the case of our shed, specifically solar power.

An obvious problem with garden sheds though is that other little word “garden”. A shed that sits, as the name suggests, in the garden is not easy to supply electricity to. The solution has in the past always involved laying out a power supply cable from the main house to the shed.

This then entails digging up vast tracts of garden for a trench in which to safely bury and protect said cable from the next oaf with a shovel. And even if you get that far it’s all a terrible fire risk anyway – sheds being wooden buildings and all.

Then there’s question of what exactly are you planning on doing in your shed that actually needs 220 volts (or a more wimpy 110v for US residents)? Of course, the number of different answers you might get to this question is proportional to the number of people you might ask.

You might want to over-winter tender plants, use it as a potting shed, or a simple workshop. Some folk just like to have a place they can go and read the newspaper or a book in peace, sheltered from the elements. More ambitious types might aim to setup a reasonably well equipped office or study complete with computers and basic heating.

However, there are certain elements you will need almost regardless of your specific plans for your shed. Chief amongst these has to be lighting – if you can’t see what you’re doing then you may as well call the whole thing off. Next comes any tools, appliances or other electrically powered devices. Finally you might want to give some thought to cooling/heating if it can get either very hot or cold where you are.

That’s where you’re going to need some power. But luckily all sheds share a useful characteristic, which is a large amount of otherwise wasted surface area (namely the roof) which is ideal as a platform for a solar panel or several.

The modern solar panel is an amazingly effective device that each day will tirelessly convert even the weakest sunlight (and even on an overcast day) into oodles of free electricity. Your job is simply to collect this and store it until you need to make use of it. Thankfully Count Alessandro Volta, an eminent Italian scientist, foresaw this need just a shade over 200 years ago when he developed the voltaic pile (i.e. the battery).

One of the many cute aspects of solar panels is that they invariably output 12 volts (thanks again Count Volta) DC which is coincidentally (or not) exactly what all “low-voltage” power packs, lighting and other appliances use as input. So when you’re using any of this kit during the day it’s automatically kept topped up on trickle charge, and the surplus can be diverted to a larger deep-cycle battery for use when the sun goes down.

Of course this pattern of collecting, storing and using solar generated electricity repeats more or less endlessly without ever costing anything to maintain or harming the environment. So whether you harbour ambitions to kit out a home office, pen a best seller, or simply have a den to lounge about in peace and comfort, a solar shed could be just the thing.

If you found this short article interesting then you’ll certainly want to check out this more in-depth article about solar sheds.

Filed Under Environment, Solar Energy Tagged With Environment, family, free power, garden, garden shed, green technology, home, low energy, shed, solar lighting, solar panels, solar power, solar shed