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ALTERNATIVE ENERGY; THE POWER OF THE FUTURE IS IN YOUR HANDS
Where there is sun, wind or water; there is free electricity!
GETTING STARTED ON YOUR WAY TO ENERGY INDEPENDENCE
There is a wealth of information regarding renewable energy out there. The problem is that
most of us are not electrical engineers. So we have decided to simplify some of this for you.
A Brief History of Our Beginnings
I have lived off of the grid for over a decade. The power company wouldn't work with me
and the price of going on the grid was ridiculous. So I invested what I had in a few panels, a sixty dollar car inverter and a couple of golf cart batteries. The total cost was less than a thousand dollars. The two panels cost $700.00, the batteries $130.00. What I learned was that it was fun and cheap to have some lighting, be able to pump water with a 12 volt pump and watch movies at night without running or listening to a generator!
Now we have two systems that produce over a thousand watts each per hour every hour the sun is shining with several windmills to keep our battery banks up to par and state of the art inverters and charge controllers that are data friendly. So, when Barbour County, West Virginia was without power for up to a week not long ago, we had power for our farm and our shop. We actually loaned out
our gasoline generator to several families so that they could keep there refrigerators and lights running.
Total cost: Trackers, Panels, Windmills, Batteries, Charge Controllers, Grounding, Lightning Protection, concrete and steel about $25,000.00
What are we saving?
We don't lose power!
Our Electric Bill is Non-Existent!
Our Shop hasn't had an Electric Bill for 11 Years!
We don't use oil for Electricity!
We Reduce our Air Pollution by tons!
We are independent!
Now we are saving a lot of money!
We probably won't have an electric bill again!
Okay so you have not told me how it works.
First you have to make electricity. For this you either use wind, solar panels or micro-hydroelectric
systems or a combination of. Most of the time you are producing DC current like your car alternator. Great right? Except how do I run my washing maching, vacuum cleaner, hair dryer etc.?
An INVERTER changes DC current into household AC current so that you can do just that. But, you have to have enough solar, wind and or micro-hydroelectric power to keep up with all of the electric stuff we use.
QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS
There are many options. One way is to stay tied to the grid (electric company) and when the wind is blowing, sun shining, creek running you can send electricity you are not using to the power lines and this reduces your electric bill. So, while you are at work and not using the washing machine, dryer, oven, computer, tv, radio etc, you are sending electricity backwards into the grid. Then when you get home and start using all the coool electric stuff and the kids are playing computer games, you are withdrawing from the grid. It is kind of like an electrical bank account.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE POWER GOES OUT?
If you have a back-up battery bank, you won't lose power. But, it costs more.
Here is a simple explanation: The sun shines on your solar panels, the wind blows powering your wind mill or the creeks are running spinnning a micro-hydroelectric alternator and creates electricity. This electricity goes through a charge controller and charges your battery bank. An inverter turns the direct current into Alternating current which you use for your household appliances. If you have a lot of solar, wind or water, and a big battery bank, you can run a lot of stuff for a short time or a few things for a long time. However, some things use an awful lot of electricity. For example, Electric Ranges, Dryers, Ovens all are electricity guzzlers. They are the SUV's of the grid. However, West Virginia Solar has alternatives to some of these "SUV's".
ADD 3 COMPONENTS AND USE THE EXCESS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE
Add one breaker, one diversion load controller and tie it into your electric water heater and save hundreds each year! Once the battery bank is charged, and you are not utilizing the excess electricity
that your system from West Virginia Solar is producing, you can heat either air or hot water to use up all the extra electricity you are producing!
How DO I Conserve?
1. Replace Incandescent bulbs with flourescent bulbs.
2. Insulate your home
3. Replace drafty doors and windows
4. Put power strips on computers, TV's, Entertainment Systems and turn
the power strip off when not in use
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5. Change Dusk to Dawn Lights to HID lights available from West Virginia Solar.
Average Cost of standard Dusk to Dawn is 15 - 20 dollars a month. Ours cut that in half.
6. Get a hot water heater blanket
If you really want to save, it is tough at first! Flourescent bulbs cost more at first but the average life time of a flourescent bulb is many times the life of an incandescent and you save money on your electric bill immediately.
GET STARTED!
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