Wind Energy is probably the most infinite source available because there will never be a lack of wind, and too much wind activity is a good thing when it comes to using it to generate power for your home – a great situation indeed! Lets take a look at what a wind turbine is built from, and more importantly, how wind turbines generate electricity.

Wind

Modern day wind turbines generate electricity for three primary purposes: to power homes, business properties and to provide energy for sale back to the utility companies. Most wind turbines found today generate power ratings between 250 watts all the way up to 5 megawatts. Wind plants, also known as wind farms, generate a capacity which ranges from a few to hundreds of megawatts – which is a lot of power.

The greater majority of wind “power plants” are modular in nature, which essentially means they are designed with smaller modules (turbines) and at a moments notice can increase or decrease the overall output capacity – simply by adding more or less modules.

Energy

Here’s how a wind turbine generates it’s energy: The wind’s energy causes the turbine blades to spin around a rotor. The energy produced by the turbine’s generator is transformed within standard of the National Power System and delivered to the appropriate distribution units. Wind is moving air, and air contains mass therefor when in motion there is kinetic energy. That energy is converted into various forms of mechanical and electrical power. Common turbine subsystems include the following parts and components:

• A rotor or blades
• An enclosure which contains the drive train
• A gear box
• A generator
• A tower
• Ground and interconnection equipment
• Controls and electrical cables

Turbine

Turbines are monitored on a continual basis using a SCADA or Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system. The turbines and generators are constantly monitored for conditions that may affect operation – in which case the data is immediately sent back through the system to a central monitoring station for indexing, analytical process and documentation. This process helps the utility companies and appropriate government offices collect data just like they would for a nuclear power plant, to recognize trends and work towards improving the overall efficiency of the wind farms.

It would be safe to assume that more and more people everyday are considering installing some sort of solar energy system to save money, and more importantly to become self sufficient. There are still those individuals who cannot grasp the idea of going off the grid and becoming independent of the power companies, whether it be out of fear or plain ignorance – but the fact of the matter is that utilizing free energy from sources like the sun is not all that complicated, and information, products and services relating to renewable energy are more available today than they’ve ever been.

Building your own solar panel set up would not only provide you with the experience needed for future off grid projects, but it could also be an interesting and fun thing to get the kids involved in. If you know how to use a few common power tools than you should have no problem building your own solar panels to power your home.

Solar Power Basics

Lets make it clear that using solar power to generate electricity is not the same as using solar energy to produce heat, and there are two primary principles which separate the two – solar thermal, and photovoltaic. Solar thermal principles relate to the application of solar energy to produce hot fluids and air, while photovoltaic principles are applied strictly when producing electricity.

A solar panel, or PV panel as they are widely known, is made of silicon – a natural element that is electrically charged when exposed to sunlight. The positioning of solar panels are dictated by the latitude and geographic location of where they are designated to be installed. The angle of the PV panels are set within 15 degrees plus or minus the site latitude depending on obvious factors such as weather and seasonal effects. The total amount of solar energy in a given time period is measured in Peak Sun Hours, or m². Here’s a Global Map of Solar Power for checking your Peak Sun Hours based on location provided by Solar4Power.com.

Building Solar Panels From Scratch

Building your cells from scratch is extremely cost-effective, yet labor intensive. To start things off, you need to buy raw copper sheeting which is readily available at your local home hardware store – try asking for copper flashing. This sheeting needs to be heated, so make sure you ask for a suitable heating source while you’re there. The copper itself needs to be heated for approximately 30 minutes depending on your heating source, or long enough for the chemical reaction to occur which causes copper oxide to form on the sheet’s surface.

After the copper has cooled down it needs to be combined with an equal sized non-oxidized sheet with a salt water solution, then placed within a shatterproof glass panel. After this phase is completed, you will need to add the necessary wiring and mounting fixtures – the end result giving you a low-voltage solar panel. To generate enough electricity to power common household items you will need several of these low-voltage panels. Before you start researching more and head over to Home Depot to start buying materials be sure to consult your local building codes to ensure you are permitted to build your own, without the need for a licenced installer.

DIY Solar Panel Kits

It’s amazing how many high quality products and services are available on the market that provide you with the tools and skills to make the Off Grid transition. Take a minute to stop by our Resources page where you can find some more information on the top renewable energy products. Most “do it yourself” solar panel kits are readily available in your city and on the Internet, and come with the solar cells, hardware, mounting fixtures and ample guides to get you started – many of them with multiple DVD’s and documentation.

Once again, before you start be sure to consult your local building codes to determine whether you need a permit and, or an installer to begin your solar panel adventures!

Compost is not hard to make at all, though it does require a delicate balance in order to produce more compost in a shorter amount of time. It is said that making a balanced compost heap requires nothing more than equal amounts of “greens” and “browns” by volume. Providing your compost heap with the right amount of organic matter and inorganic additives will ensure that your end product is satisfactory. Here are some items found in a common compost heap:

Compostable Materials

• Biodegradable waste
• Coffee grounds
• Cocoa shells
• Green waste (grass, flower and hedge trimmings)
• Humanure (human waste)
• Leaf mold (shrub and tree leaves)
• Manure
• Spent mushroom compost (see here for info)
• Tree bark (stems and roots of woody plants)
• Egg shells
• Brown waste (dry paper, leaves and wood products)
• Fruit
• Vegetables

Inorganic Additives

• Loam (soil made of sand, silt and clay)
• Grit
• Urea (waste product retracted from urine)
• Vermiculite (natural clay-like mineral)
• Perlite (amorphous volcanic glass)

There are two primary types of compost heaps and we will be discussing the steps required below:

The Cool Heap Method

1. If you are able, start off your heap with a layer of compostable materials roughly 30 cm in height i.e. cardboard, nail trimmings, weeds from the garden and grass cuttings from the lawn. Items like crushed cereal boxes encourage air spaces within the heap, as well as placing some twigs and stems from woody plants on the bottom of the heap to promote air circulation – believe it or not, a healthy compost heap needs to breathe right!
2. Continue to add waste as necessary and remember, you want to have an equal balance of green and brown products – so if your waste is primarily kitchen waste (food, fruits, vegetable trimmings) be sure to throw in an equal amount of toilet roll centers and other paper/cardboard household products to keep your heap nice and balanced.
3. When your bin becomes full you have two options – you can either stop adding waste and let it mature, or you can take the composted amounts at the bottom to use for your gardening, mix up the rest and let it sit. If your heap seems dry then add some water, if it seems too moist, add some dry ingredients to absorb the moisture. Remember, it’s all about balance.

The Hot Heap Method

1. Get together a sufficient amount of material to fill your compost heap in one shot. Whether it be slightly rotted material from your cool heap, make sure you have an equal mixture of soft and tough waste to start things off.
2. Chop and separate tough items with shears.
3. Be sure to mix everything together as much as possible prior to putting it in your designated container – watering while you go to moisten dry items such as paper and cardboard.
4. Within a couple of days your heap should be hot to the touch. When it begins to cool down after a week or so – turn it by removing the material from the container and mixing it up. Add water if dry, and dry material if too wet. Put everything back in the bin.
5. There’s a good chance that your heap will heat up again as the aerobic microbes react to the new supply of air you mixed in. Repeat the previous step as often as you like – once a day, once a week.. the more you mix it, the quicker your compost heap will be ready and the better your end result will be. Once your heap stops heating up leave your heap undisturbed to finish composting.

When the ingredients you have put in your container have turned into a dark brown, earthy smelling material, the composting process is complete. It is then best left for a month or two to ‘mature’ before it is used. Don’t worry if your compost is not fine and crumbly. Even if it is lumpy, sticky or stringy, with bits of twig and eggshell still obvious, it is quite usable. It can be sieved before using if you prefer. Any large bits can be added back into your new compost heap.

Resource: GardenOrganic.org.uk

Electricity will eventually become wireless

According to experts in the energy industry don’t be surprised if the future of electricity holds no wires – not even in your home. In 2007 a team at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) conducted a long awaited, and much anticipated experiment with wireless electricity – and they were victorious! With the continuing success in the studying and development of wireless electricity, this concept no longer appears to be far-fetched and don’t be surprised if the future holds a world full of homes and appliances that are “wireless” in nature – charging themselves off the air perhaps?

Consumers will be in control

It is said that the future of electricity will see a marketplace that is controlled by the consumers, rather than the utility companies – having complete control over how and when the electricity reaches your home. It’s become standard that when you leave your house for the day, or even for a vacation, electrical power is still fed to your home. Well it seems we are leaning towards a future where consumers will be able to “shut-off” their home when desired – disconnecting it from the grid and allowing that power to be fed back into the supply lines. Experts have not stated as to when this system will take effect, whether it be 10 years or 50, but regardless one can hope that a future with consumer controlled electricity distribution is a better future indeed.

Clean electrical energy with no outages

Are you aware that the unused portions of electricity production emit massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the air and atmosphere? Well it’s true. Having a future with green and clean electricity is very likely. By utilizing renewable energy sources we will not only create a more sustainable method of power, but help save the environment at the same time. Currently, a huge chunk of our electricity is produced by consuming fuels that are walking down the path of extinction – it’s time to eliminate fuel consumption and promote a future where electricity is green with minimal impact to this beautiful planet of ours.

It’s becoming more common to hear of power outages, especially if you live in a region that receives a moderate amount of precipitation – in the form of rain and snow storms. Wouldn’t it be nice to look forward to a future where power outages are obsolete? Well this seems to be where technological advancements are taking us. As long as our communities continue to grow on a global level, so does our dependency on a reliable supply of constant power. Alternative energy solutions will enable us to live in a world free of power interruptions – and benefit from an infinite source of clean energy.

Everything will be electric

If you’ve spent any time in Japan you will know that our future holds a world full of electrical gadgets, and the conversion of common items into electrical articles. Electric shoes? What about combs or glasses? I know it may seem like a shot in the dark, but when you really think about it everything eventually incorporates the use of electrical power. Take a look at the toothbrush for example, for so many decades with was non-powered and then some one thought it would be efficient to add power and create vibrations – increasing the overall effectiveness of it’s original design. Get my drift?

How does a Hydram work?

The impulse valve, also known as the waste valve since the water is not pumped on exit, will become open due to gravity or a small spring in some hydram designs. When the impulse valve is opened, water will begin to flow from the water source down the drive pipe and pass through a strainer. As the water flow accelerates, the hydraulic pressure beneath the impulse valve and the static pressure within the body of the hydram will become increasingly greater. This will eventually cause the necessary force to begin closing the impulse valve. When the aperture in the valve begins to decrease the pressure in the body increases, causing the impulse valve to slam shut. At this point, the moving water in the drive pipe is unable to exit through the impulse valve so it’s motion must decrease – this event will continue to promote an increase in pressure resulting in the delivery valve opening into the air chamber.

Depending on a phenomenon known as water hammer (a pressure surge or wave resulting when a fluid in motion is forced to stop or change direction suddenly) more than 50% of the driving flow energy is transferred to the delivery flow, making the overall efficiency quite impressive.

Once the moment occurs where the pressure exceeds past the delivery head, the water flow will begin to force its way up the delivery pipe. Simultaneously the air contained within the air chamber is compressed to a pressure which exceeds the amount of delivery pressure. The water within the drive pipe eventually comes to a stop and the static pressure in the body of the hydram drops near to the pressure of the supply head – causing the delivery valve to close once the air chamber pressure surpasses the hydram casing pressure.

Though the delivery valve is closed, water will continue to be delivered until the compressed air within the air chamber has expanded and the pressure becomes equal with that of the delivery head. There is also a component called a check valve which is required to prevent the return delivery of water. When the delivery valve is eventually closed, the decreased pressure in the hydram casing will enable the impulse valve to shut under it’s own accord – at which the cycle will start over again. Most standard hydraulic ram pump systems will operate between 30-100 cycles per minute.

In regards to components, the air chamber is by far one of the most vital. Apart from improving the overall efficiency by enabling delivery to proceed after the delivery valve has closed, it is also essential to lessen the shocks that would otherwise occur due to the incompressible nature of water.

The hydram cycle is timed and determined by the impulse valve characteristics. There is normally a pre-tensioned or weighted spring with an variable stop that will allow the maximum opening size to be altered at a moments notice. The amount of water delivered from a given drive flow is greatly influenced by the setting of this valve – and this is where one would dictate the hydram’s level of efficiency. If the valve remains open for too long or doesn’t remain open for a long enough period, the efficiency will be greatly reduced resulting in less water being delivered.

There is usually an adjustable bolt which is set at a pre-determined amount in order to limit the valve opening, encouraging peak performance of the hydram. Any seasoned hydram installer will be able to adjust the impulse valves settings for optimum performance output.

From milling grains, sawing wood and pumping water – we’ve been using traditional waterwheels to provide the necessary mechanical power to complete such tasks. Eventually improvements were made towards the efficiency of early models which led to the invention of the hydroelectric turbine in the 1800’s.

Hydroelectric power is driven by the natural cycle of water, which is broken down as follows:

• Solar energy causes plants to transpire, and water to evaporate from lakes and oceans
• The water vapor condenses into the clouds which produces precipitation
• Mountains receive a great portion of this precipitation
• This spawns the occurrence of downward flow into the rivers and streams
• The water is then driven from the streams to the oceans
• The moving water contains kinetic energy, which results in hydro power

To understand a micro-hydro system, we first need to look at larger scale hydroelectric power generation set up such as the Hoover Dam. A large system such as this diverts the water through turbines, which cause generators to spin and produce massive amounts of electricity. Due to the scale of such a project, there are obvious requirements for tremendous amounts of land in order to compensate for factors like flood control. Back in January 2007, The Energy Information Association (EIA) stated that 16% of the world’s electricity is supplied by large scale hydroelectric plants – this percentage has likely increased since then.

Micro-hydro can be defined, under general circumstances, as electricity generation with a capacity up to 100kW. Many of the systems which fall under this capacity are referred to as run-of-river, which don’t require an impoundment and diverts a fraction of the stream’s water through a pipe downhill passing through a small turbine.

Type of Hydro-electric systems

AC/DC Systems – The mass majority of micro-hydro systems use batteries to store the electrical energy. The water passes through a turbine, which drives the generator and charges the battery tank, and just like a solar powered system, the energy is then passed through an inverter which converts the DC power into Alternating Current – in order for the system to power common household items.

High/Low Lead Systems – A micro-hydro system and its potential energy output is determined by a combination of two factors: head and flow. Power can be generated from either a high head/low flow, low head/high flow, or any given amount in between. As it stands, high head is generally considered to be 10 feet or more, with specially designed systems required for heads smaller than the standard threshold of 10 feet – which is needed when there are large amounts of water required.