Solar Energy For The Home

The battery bank gets the needed voltage to individual inverters. Learn about the battery bank for solar power from a professional in this free energy conservation video. Expert: Roger Bacon Bio: Roger Bacon is the owner of RGB Home Repair and Renovation in Santa Barbara California. He has experience in all phases of home repair and renovations such as plumbing, heating and solar power. Filmmaker: Diana Bacon

Published in The Australian 11 July 2009
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,25747383-5002031,00.html

NOTHING can disturb an urban traveller more than silence.

Real silence. This is my early morning thought on the balcony of a stone cabin perched atop a peak in north Vietnam.

On a nearby mountain, hand-carved rice terraces spill down into the valley and farther away there are chiselled ranges that will change colour and texture as the sun moves across a giant sky. Then I hear the distant chatter of women passing the cabin on their way to breakfast, the first sounds I’ve heard since dinner last night. Television and telephones are forbidden around here. The manager tells me there’s no wild night life either, apart from frogs.

Most people come to Topas Ecolodge in a shuttle bus from nearby Sapa, but I hire a local motorbike taxi for a slow ride through intermittent heavy mist along 23km of a runnelled dirt road that is regularly washed by clear-water run-off from the mountains.

We pass through the Muong Hoa Valley, strewn with mysterious, ancient carved stones; the origin and meaning of their inscribed patterns of couples in sexual embrace, the sun and parallel lines still baffle scientists.

This region is home to about 30 Vietnamese minority groups, some of whom moved here from China during the past 200 years. A carved stone, metres long, is fenced off opposite the small local museum. Somewhere around here a French scientist is taking stone impressions the old-fashioned way, with carbon paper and ink, while assigning locations to each one via GPS.

The road snakes through the Hoang Lien Mountains, now recognised as one of the most biologically rich in Vietnam. There’s a race to preserve what is left: years ago, poor Vietnamese used to kill, stuff and sell birds and animals to tourists in the local markets. That seems to have stopped, but the Indochinese tiger has become a prized stock for pharmacies across the border in China and there are fewer than 2000 left here.

Every now and again a human form takes shape out of the mist and is swallowed again. Then the curtain rises and a series of fairytale valleys is revealed. I glance down on earthen terraces of rice stubble and turbid water. Once or twice we dismount the bike to ford a gushing stream: my taxi driver, Hahn, walks through and I jump across rocks.

I want to ride forever but we run out of road and into the Ecolodge. Brilliantly clothed Red Dzao women are sitting and sewing at the entrance. They look so much more relaxed than the Hmong and Red Dzao women in Sapa, trapped in their created cultural villages.

The lodge features 25 white granite and hardwood cabins clustered on one side of the mountain top, all with solar panels. The surprise centrepiece is a huge, reconstructed Tay (minority) meeting house that now houses the bar, upstairs restaurant and office. On the restaurant’s doorstep is a rice field and down the path is the lodge’s organic garden, which supplies ingredients for contemporary Vietnamese dishes: lime and chilli-splashed salads and spiced seasonal vegetables served with tender beef and chicken on silver platters.

The bar is fire-warmed and there is a menu of local rice wines, crystal clear or tinged pink, which slide delicately down the throat like the best malt whisky.

So much of life in rural Vietnam revolves around rice-growing and to every thing there is a season. In July the Red Dzao harvest the rice around the lodge; months later they will plant young rice shoots again. In just two days, the average stay here, you can slip easily into this seasonal rhythm. Or get active. A group of Danes straggle in from a morning walk to nearby villages: the difference between a walk and trek is that the latter, apart from being longer, comes with a swarm of porters drawn from local villages.

“When we have a rush of visitors, we can always call on our neighbours to help us out at short notice,” says manager Walter Ariesen. “That’s one of the many benefits of having built a strong relationship with people in our community.” That philosophy, and the sublime location, is what makes Topas Ecolodge unique.

Checklist
Topas Ecolodge, near Sapa, north Vietnam. Phone +84…; www.topasecolodge.com. Tariff: Depends on the season and package inclusions. In December, for example, double or twin is $US115 ($145), including all food and transport.
Getting there: Topas Ecolodge will transfer guests by bus from Sapa.
Checking in: International guests, mostly Germans, Australians, Danes, French, Canadians, Japanese and Taiwanese.
Wheelchair access: All cabins are accessible from a footpath, but there’s a lot of uphill. Suggest an advance request for wheelchair assistance.
Bedtime reading: The Light of the Capital, three short Vietnamese classics from the 1930s (Oxford), translated by Australians Greg and Monique Lockhart.
Stepping out: Breathtaking treks, biking, kayaking, walks to nearby minority villages. Climb Vietnam’s highest peak, Fansipan (3143m).
Brickbats: A torch and umbrella should be standard additions for each room, given the distance from the restaurant. Menu could do with more variety.
Bouquets: Staff are friendly and relaxed and the lodge has a community feel. Vietnamese-grown Arabica coffee is brewed here and served with the Western breakfast. In 2004, the lodge joined Australia’s GreenGlobe21, a worldwide benchmarking and certification program facilitating sustainable tourism.

Are you interested in learning how to build Solar Home Energy Panels ? A solar energy panel is capable of collecting the sun’s energy and then converting it into direct current electric power. It works when the sunlight’s protons knock negatively charged neutrons away from 2 oppositely placed slices of silicon. The 2 pieces of silicon that are placed close to one another will then create an electric field that can be channelled into the home for domestic use.

1. Blueprints DIY Solar Energy At Home

There are step by step guides downloadable from the Internet that show clearly how to assemble your own solar panels at home. I personally downloaded one of those and managed to find a list of really cheap materials that can be bought at any nearby home improvement and solar power goods store.

2. Is It Really Worth the Money to Build Solar Home Energy Panels ?

By buying the parts needed to assemble the panels and building it DIY, I managed to complete the entire project for less than $200. This is much cheaper that what I would have had paid for a retail version costing more than $3,000+. If you have no idea how to build a renewable energy system but are really interested to do it, I would highly recommend you to download an online instructional guide or listen to other experienced users’ professional advice.

3. How Do Homemade Solar Home Energy Panels Work?

Solar panels are able to generate direct current electricity when the wires, which are connected inside the system, catch the neutrons. These panels can be put in areas exposed to the sun such as the roof of your garage, house and even in the gardens. An inverter would also need to be connected that is used to change the generated direct current into an alternating current which can then be used to run home appliances.

Are you interested in learning how to build Solar Home Energy Panels ? A solar energy panel is capable of collecting the sun’s energy and then converting it into direct current electric power. It works when the sunlight’s protons knock negatively charged neutrons away from 2 oppositely placed slices of silicon. The 2 pieces of silicon that are placed close to one another will then create an electric field that can be channelled into the home for domestic use.

1. Blueprints DIY Solar Energy At Home

There are step by step guides downloadable from the Internet that show clearly how to assemble your own solar panels at home. I personally downloaded one of those and managed to find a list of really cheap materials that can be bought at any nearby home improvement and solar power goods store.

2. Is It Really Worth the Money to Build Solar Home Energy Panels ?

By buying the parts needed to assemble the panels and building it DIY, I managed to complete the entire project for less than $200. This is much cheaper that what I would have had paid for a retail version costing more than $3,000+. If you have no idea how to build a renewable energy system but are really interested to do it, I would highly recommend you to download an online instructional guide or listen to other experienced users’ professional advice.

3. How Do Homemade Solar Home Energy Panels Work?

Solar panels are able to generate direct current electricity when the wires, which are connected inside the system, catch the neutrons. These panels can be put in areas exposed to the sun such as the roof of your garage, house and even in the gardens. An inverter would also need to be connected that is used to change the generated direct current into an alternating current which can then be used to run home appliances.

When you think about living off the grid or solar power with connection to the grid, you have already made a basic decision to save planetary energy by using renewable energy resources. Off the grid means not being connected to a utility company that delivers electricity over a wide area which means you are self sufficient. But you could also use solar power and have a connection to a utility company.

Solar power is the energy of the future. Learn how to get the cheapest solar home energy systems . A few of the several advantages of solar energy are first and foremost its free, easy to harness and is capable to provide more energy than what is needed by most homes.

You may be aware that a commercially sold solar panel has its worth in thousands of dollars. But, did you know you can go solar for a fraction of that cost?

Why Go Solar?

Solar panels are made up of small PV cells, also known as photovoltaic cells. The PV cells capture sun light and store it in a battery. The energy stored in the battery is then transformed into usable electricity using an inverter. Solar power is a renewable resource of energy and free to harness once you have installed solar panels.

Installing ready made solar panels can be pretty expensive and can cost you anywhere from $10,000 – $18,000 to solar power you entire home. You can solar power your whole house for a fraction of this amount if you learn how to build

solar home energy systems

on your own. Building these systems from scratch is cheap and easy; all the required raw materials can be easily bought from the local electrical or hardware store. This also cuts down on any further impact on the environment as the solar panels do not go through any manufacturing processes.

Going Solar Is Easy!

Various kits are available to download from different vendors that will teach you to build solar home energy systems. The downloaded kits include steps for calculating the actual electricity that you need from solar panels based upon your electricity bills. Once you have that information you can start building your own solar panels, typically you can easily build a 100 watt solar panel in a day very easily. Now, that’s not something very substantial, but when you can easily redo the whole process over and over again, you can completely go off-grid with a few days of work and perhaps sell back the extra power back to the utility company. Now, how is that for a change? You’ll get a check from the utility provider!

Save Heaps!

Once you install

solar home energy systems , they will pay for themselves many times over the course of their life. Generally, solar panels have an average lifetime for 25-30 years requiring no to little maintenance. So, you do the math here and calculate how much you are set to save!

Solar power is the energy of the future. Learn how to get the cheapest solar home energy systems . A few of the several advantages of solar energy are first and foremost its free, easy to harness and is capable to provide more energy than what is needed by most homes.

You may be aware that a commercially sold solar panel has its worth in thousands of dollars. But, did you know you can go solar for a fraction of that cost?

Why Go Solar?

Solar panels are made up of small PV cells, also known as photovoltaic cells. The PV cells capture sun light and store it in a battery. The energy stored in the battery is then transformed into usable electricity using an inverter. Solar power is a renewable resource of energy and free to harness once you have installed solar panels.

Installing ready made solar panels can be pretty expensive and can cost you anywhere from $10,000 – $18,000 to solar power you entire home. You can solar power your whole house for a fraction of this amount if you learn how to build

solar home energy systems

on your own. Building these systems from scratch is cheap and easy; all the required raw materials can be easily bought from the local electrical or hardware store. This also cuts down on any further impact on the environment as the solar panels do not go through any manufacturing processes.

Going Solar Is Easy!

Various kits are available to download from different vendors that will teach you to build solar home energy systems. The downloaded kits include steps for calculating the actual electricity that you need from solar panels based upon your electricity bills. Once you have that information you can start building your own solar panels, typically you can easily build a 100 watt solar panel in a day very easily. Now, that’s not something very substantial, but when you can easily redo the whole process over and over again, you can completely go off-grid with a few days of work and perhaps sell back the extra power back to the utility company. Now, how is that for a change? You’ll get a check from the utility provider!

Save Heaps!

Once you install

solar home energy systems , they will pay for themselves many times over the course of their life. Generally, solar panels have an average lifetime for 25-30 years requiring no to little maintenance. So, you do the math here and calculate how much you are set to save!

Solar panel update video with the cheapest solar panel system ever. See how you can use solar power at your house NOW. see part 1

The best thing about solar power is that it has an unlimited potential. Learn how to build a

solar home energy system , easily and save $1000’s on utility bills forever. You just need to know how to make your own renewable energy source and today I am going to tell you exactly how to build your own solar energy system for electricity. If you want to learn how to build solar home energy system, you’ll need to learn some basics on how exactly do solar panels work. This way, the entire procedure will be much easier to handle. The process starts with solar modules. They are the main components exposed directly to sunlight. Their main function is to convert the sun’s energy into usable electrical power for your home appliances. To get them correctly installed, solar modules are to be mounted on a steel frame and positioned on your roof top. Power produced by the solar modules is converted from Direct Current (DC) to Alternating Current (AC) through a inverter. Usually, Alternating Current (AC) is the usable electrical power that we need to power the home appliances. Next, the electrical power transfers from the inverter to the electrical service panel. The electrical service panel is used for distributing the electrical power to different parts of your house for use. The unused electrical power produced by the solar panels will then be brought into the grid all the way through the utility electric meter. As a result, the meter will be made to spin backwards and this establishes a credit with the utility company in offsetting future usage. This method is known as Net Metering and is completely approved by State Level Electricity Policy. Learning how to build cheap

solar home energy system

isn’t really a difficult task. You don’t require many skills beyond being able to handle wiring & basic tools with care and safety measures. The components needed for building solar panels include:- 1.    Solar Cells 2.    Sheet Plywood 3.    Copper Wire 4.    General Tools (Drills, screwdrivers, woodwork glue etc) 5.    Clear PVC Sheeting All these components can be easily picked up by you from the local hardware store. Photovoltaic cell is the only component that you might have to search online and it can be found easily on eBay.

Quality instructions that are easy to follow are vital to find when trying to build your own solar energy system. This will make the building process less stressful and make you happier that you made the choice to do it yourself. Online is just one of the places you are able to find some of these manuals. We have reviewed the best guides available to help you to learn how to build your own solar power system for electricity. Go ahead and check them out NOW…… learn how to build solar home energy system

and STOP paying for electricity…FOREVER!

Youth from the University of Nottingham and other 19 universities from different countries from all over the world are participating in the International Solar Decathlon Europe competition to be held in Madrid, Spain, in June 2010.

The team – called “The Nottingham HOUSE” – is sponsored by Saint-Gobain, together, they have been building a Code Level 6* (zero carbon house) that is also a Passive House (requires almost no form of active heating) – an industry first for the UK. The house has been constructed entirely from materials supplied or approved by Saint-Gobain’s UK companies, which have joined forces to provide products and technical expertise; working with the students to optimise energy efficiency and create a home that is both eco-friendly and affordable.

A key objective for the students was to ensure that the Nottingham H.O.U.S.E will comply with the UK’s code for sustainable homes (carbon neutral for new build by 2016). The final design is versatile enough to work as a semi-detached house, terraced or even stacked as apartments – a highly marketable starter home – a major requirement in the UK.

This landmark achievement proves that it is possible to build a highly energy efficient, sustainable home that is comfortable, aesthetically pleasing, affordable and repeatable.

The competition

The Solar Decathlon is an International competition for universities to design and build Europe’s most attractive, effective and energy efficient house. Each will be judged on 10 separate environmental areas, from solar systems and sustainability to market viability and architectural merit – giving the competition its title, Solar Decathlon.

There are no short-cuts: each team must build and test a full scale house before transporting it to Madrid to be reassembled for the final. The students will also have to live in the house to demonstrate its effectiveness and energy efficiency (SolarDecathlon).

Ecobuild is the world’s biggest event for sustainable design, construction and the built environment.

Many companies will be present at the event to demonstrate their capacity in providing a wide range of innovative solutions that can help improve the energy-efficiency and sustainability of buildings. They will highlight the range of solutions available to enhance the energy efficiency of buildings in four key areas; new build and existing, residential, commercial and public sector.

Each company will also demonstrate how their products are designed to enhance quality of life by contributing to more comfortable living and working space as well as enhancing the aesthetics of the built environment.

*To learn more about the Code, check the publication bellow.

Further reading: Architect’s Journal Sustainable Products

Publications: Greener homes for the future (download file)

Photos by Katie Tokarski