Are you looking to reduce your carbon footprint and save some bucks on your electric bill?  Your alternatives are to reduce your energy consumption, or install solar panels or wind turbines to produce low cost electricity. Everyone should reduce their energy consumption before considering solar panels and wind turbines.  By lowering your energy consumption, it will reduce the cost and size of solar panel and wind turbine systems. There are tax credits, rebates and low interest loans available for all of these options.  Check with your local, state and federal government for details.   

This is the least expensive and easiest of the 3 methods. This can be done by improving the efficiency of your lighting, heating, cooling, appliances, and your hot water usage.  The goals are to reduce pollution, and utility cost, and improve your home’s comfort, value, and quality of life.  The simple things are to replace your incandescent light blubs with the new fluorescent light blubs. These blubs use 75% less electricity and last 10 times longer than the incandescent blubs. You can use caulk and weather stripping to seal heat and air leaks around windows and doors. These are the cheap and easy things you can do to lower your utility bills.  When you replace your appliances, buy EPA Energy Star models.

Wind Turbine systems cost less than the cost of a comparable solar panel system.  Another advantage of Wind Turbines is they will generate power 24 hours a day as long as the wind blows. The downside of  a Wind Turbine is that   you must live in an area that has sustainable average winds of at least 7-10mph to start spinning the turbine.    Once the blades are spinning less wind speed will sustain the blades in motion in most cases.  You must have the Wind Turbine on a tower high enough to not have winds blocked by buildings and trees. Most manufacturers recommend having at least 1 acre of land per tower.  For these reasons Wind Turbines are not practical for use in a densely populated area or on a small subdivision lot. 

Solar panel systems are the most expensive of the options.  They are also the most versatile option. Advantages are they sit there quietly generating electricity with little or no maintenance and they are adaptable to almost any location with sunlight.  For these reasons Solar Panels are the most popular option.  The biggest drawback is they can be expensive.  A system to replace your entire electrical needs can run into the tens of thousands of dollars. I see it as why not start small and add panels as you can afford them. There are stories being posted that the price of Solar Panels could be dropping in the near future.  Solar Panels are being manufactured in China with a lower labor cost.  Several companies have announced new manufacturing technologies to allow faster and cheaper production of the Solar Panels.  There is also a new cheaper solar film being made but it lacks the efficiency rating of the silicon panels. Things should get interesting in the world of Solar Panels.

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