There is a growing trend in today\'s world towards using cleaner, greener, and most importantly, renewable resources. It is no longer a question of if we run out of oil, only when. And people are already feeling the pinch every time they gas up at the pump or get the latest gas bill.
The result of this trend has been more and more home owners looking into alternative energy sources to run their household on. This is both a necessary step in our evolution as a society and a sound economic choice for home owners today. What are some of the methods that can be used to power a home today? Let\'s take a look at a few of the more common choices.
1. Solar Power
Everything on the planet runs on the energy provided by our sun. The oil your car runs on is nothing more than stored solar energy, when you get right down to it. So the move to solar power just makes sense. Solar power can be used in a few different ways. It is possible to run a home directly off of your solar panels, and rely on the power company to provide electricity when the sun is down or on cloudy days. When your solar panels are operating, you feed any energy you are not using at the moment back through your meter into the power grid. This has the effect of actually making your meter run backwards during the day. Hopefully, either you will produce more during the day than you use at night, or at least break even. The second and most common method of using solar power is to simply have your solar panels charge a large bank of batteries that your house then draws power from. Again, any excess energy produced can be fed back and sold to the power company, with electricity from the grid making up any shortfalls. The third way of utilizing solar power is somewhat more complex, and is probably not currently applicable to the average home owner. Using solar power to break down water into hydrogen and oxygen, you can store solar energy in much the same way as oil does, and release it later by combustion or fuel cells. This is really only feasible right for the power companies, but has the advantage of storing up excess solar energy in a form that can be used on cloudy days, ensuring an uninterrupted flow of power.
2. Wind Power
This alternative energy source is best used in conjunction with the solar power methods described above. In stormy weather, for instance, the sun may be hidden, but the wind may be blowing hard, and vice-versa for sunny days. This can help smooth out the available alternative energy levels available, and lead to more power being sold to the power company.
3. Hydroelectric Power
Most people would probably not think of hydroelectric power as a viable source of alternative energy for their home, but if you have access to a source of running water like a creek, you can generate a surprisingly large amount of power with only a small dam. When used either in conjunction with solar and wind, or on its own, hydroelectric power can easily completely replace the power company as the source of power in a home.
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