Although it is much less expensive to initially get hooked into the local electric company’s grid than it is to set up and hook into wind turbines, in the long run one saves money by utilizing the wind for one’s energy needs—while also becoming more independent. Not receiving an electric bill while enjoying the advantages of the modern electrically-driven lifestyle is a wondrous feeling.

Electric bills and fuel bills are rising steadily—but the cost of wind turbine energy is zero, and the cost of installing and hooking up a domestic wind turbine is steadily coming down as demand rises and more commercial success is realized by various companies producing the wind power turbines and researching wind power technologies to make them ever more efficient. In addition, people are moving away from the traditional electric grids and the fossil fuels for personal reasons including desire for greater independence, the desire to live remotely or rurally without having to “go primitive”, political concerns such as fears of terrorist strikes on oil fields or power grids, or concerns about the environment. Again, this motivation to get away from the traditional energy sources is the same one that causes people to seek the power of the wind for their energy, giving more business opportunities to profit from wind turbine production and maintenance, which drives their costs down for the consumers.

In nearly thirty states at the time of this writing, homeowners who remain on the grid but who still choose to use wind generated power (or other alternative forms) are eligible for rebates or tax breaks from the state governments that end up paying for as much as 50% of their total “green” energy systems’ costs. In addition, there are 35 states at the time of this writing where these homeowners are allowed to sell their excess energy back to the power company under what are called “net metering laws”. The rates that they are being paid by the local power companies for this energy are standard retail rates—in other words, the homeowners are actually profiting from their own homemade wind powered energy production.

Some federal lawmakers are pushing to get the federal government to mandate these tax breaks and other wind power incentives in all 50 states. Japan and Germany already have national incentive programs in place. However, “A lot of this is handled regionally by state law. There wouldn’t really be a role for the federal government,” the Energy Department’s Craig Stevens says. And as might be imagined, there are power companies who feel that it’s unfair that they should have to pay retail rates to private individuals. “We should [only have to] pay you the wholesale rate for … your electricity,” according to Bruce Bowen, Pacific Gas & Electric’s director of regulatory policy. However, the companies seem to be more worried about losing short term profits than about the benefits, especially in the long run, of the increased use of wind turbines or wind farms. Head of the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies of California V. John White points out, “It’s quality power that strengthens the grid.”

How to build  a wind generator Click Here!

There has been much debate about what is often called “free” energy,  energy that can supposedly, with the right technology, be drawn straight out of the atmosphere, and in very abundant supply. The debates are about whether the stuff actually exists or not, what it would actually cost were it to be harnessed, and if it does exist is it truly as abundant and efficient as it’s being made out to be by proponents of research and development into this potential alternative energy source. When one hears the phrase free energy generator, one might be hearing about one of several different concepts. This might mean a device for collecting and transmitting energy from some source that orthodox science does not recognize; a device which collects energy at absolutely no cost; or an example of the admired perpetual motion machine. Needless to say, a perpetual motion machine, a type of free energy generator or a machine which drives itself, forever, once turned on, therefore needing no energy input ever again and never running out of energy is contrary to reason. However, it is not so simple to say that a new technology for harnessing the free energy floating in the atmosphere is impossible. New technologies replace old ones all the time with abilities that had just been impossible.

Harnessing the power of the atom for providing huge amounts of energy was impossible until the 1940s. Flying human beings were an impossible thing until the turn of the 20th century and the Wright Brothers’ flight.  The biggest claim of the proponents of free energy is that boundless amounts of energy can be drawn from the Zero Point Field. This is a quantum mechanical state of matter for a defined system which is accomplished when the system is at the lowest possible energy state that it can be in. This is called the ground state of the system. Zero Point Energy (ZPE) is sometimes referred to as residual energy and it was first proposed to be usable as an alternative form of energy way back in 1913 by Otto Stern and Albert Einstein.

It is also referred to as vacuum energy in studies of quantum mechanics, and it is supposed to represent the energy of totally empty space. This energy field within the vacuum has been likened to the foam at the base of a waterfall by one of the principal researchers  and proponents of Hal Puthof.

Puthof also explains, the term ‘zero-point’ simply means that if the universe were cooled down to absolute zero where all thermal agitation effects would be frozen out, this energy would still remain. What is not as well known, however, even among practicing physicists, are all the implications that derive from this known aspect of quantum physics. However, there are a group of physicists at several research labs and universities who are examining the details, and ask such questions as whether it might be possible to ‘mine’ this reservoir of energy for use as an alternative energy source, or whether this background energy field might be responsible for inertia and gravity.

These questions are of interest because it is known that this energy can be manipulated, and therefore there is the possibility that the control of this energy, and possibly inertia and gravity, might yield to engineering solutions. Some progress has been made in a subcategory of this field (cavity quantum electrodynamics) with regard to controlling the emission rates of excited atoms and molecules, of interest in laser research and elsewhere.

Get more  information on how to build a zero point free energy generator and eliminate your power bill by 20-50%. Click Here!

How much sunlight do you really need?

See why Solar Energy even works during cloudy days.

If you would like to learn more on how to slash your electric bill and start saving money using homemade solar panels, click here to get  free information on our favorite solar panel instruction site.

Thankfully, one of the provisions in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 a.k.a. “the Bailout Bill” is the extension and improvement of the Federal Solar Energy Investment Tax Credit, which now offers a full 30% off solar systems put into service after 2009! It’s important to get started as soon as possible to take advantage of this offer, installations are already being scheduled! In addition to the 30% this bill now also offers the following benefits:

• 8-year extension of investment tax credits (ITC) for residential and applications
• No limit – Removal of the $2,000 cap on residential applications.
• Repeal of the limitation on utilities from claiming ITC
• Allow ability for credits to be used to offset alternative minimum tax

Using solar energy can save you money and reduce your direct impact on the environment. Federal, State and Local incentives are available to help you achieve your goal of energy independence and to reduce your carbon footprint.

Solar Electric (PV)

• Up to $20,000 FL State
• 30% Federal Tax Credit
• Reduce bills 20-90%
• Run meter backwards!*

Power-Save Grid Tied Solar Systems do not use batteries. The panels work by producing DC power during sunlight hours and converting it to AC power through an inverter. The inverter then feeds the load required by the home, before pushing the remaining AC power through a “net meter” out to the grid.

Net meters are provided by your utility company when you install the system. The net meter is a bi-directional electric meter that spins forward as usual when you are using more power in your home than you are producing with your panels (at night, for instance), and spins BACKWARD when you are producing more electricity than you are using in your home. This is how you generate credits with your utility.

If you would like to learn more on how to slash your electric bill and start saving money using homemade solar panels, click here to get  free information on our favorite solar panel instruction site.

By Shannon Colavecchio, Times Staff Writer

Published Monday, September 7, 2009

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TALLAHASSEE — The tiny garnet and gold Cracker-style house tucked amid the red brick Gothic-style buildings at Florida State University doesn’t look all that extraordinary. But the research happening inside aims to revolutionize the way families cook their food, heat their water and build their homes.

Nearly every aspect of the home — from the porch made of old plastic bottles to the hydrogen-powered stove — is “green,” making this the most environmentally friendly structure in all of Florida, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.

“We think you could build an energy-efficient house for only about 10 percent over the cost of a common house and see a lot of benefits and long-term savings,” said project manager Justin Kramer, a graduate of the FAMU-FSU engineering college. “We’re using this house to prove it.”

Conservation rules

Solar rooftop panels provide all the electricity and hot water for the 1,064-square-foot house. The stove is fueled by hydrogen stored in a tank that holds 30 days worth of extra power.

Even the toilet would please Mother Earth: It flushes light or heavy, depending on the need.

“We like to call it the ‘application-specific’ flush system,” quipped Kramer, 26, now a research engineer with FSU’s Energy & Sustainability Center.

Kramer conceded that with a price tag of $575,000, the home (financed with donations and grants) is more than most families would ever afford.

But by tricking out one little house with efficient technologies and environmentally friendly devices, Kramer and other FSU researchers are tracking the impact on air quality, humidity, temperature and energy consumption.

Their findings could help families cut back on their energy bills and reduce their footprint on the environment. “The idea is to test these products for consumers so they know the best thing to do for energy savings in their own house,” Kramer said.

The house, for example, has 30 solar panels. That’s enough to completely power the house, and then some. Kramer said families could buy just a few solar panels, at a few hundred bucks apiece, to reduce their electricity costs by 10 percent.

The dual-flush toilet might not be what every family wants or needs, but they can use low-flow faucets like the ones in the FSU house to conserve water.

The home’s most distinct feature is its use of hydrogen for electricity and cooking power. Kramer focused on the system used in the house for his master’s thesis.

By taking excess power collected each day through the solar panels and using that electricity to split water molecules, researchers get hydrogen and oxygen. The oxygen gets vented out into the atmosphere, and the hydrogen is stored in a tank under the house. On days with little sunlight, the house operates on hydrogen power instead of solar.

That hydrogen also fires up the stove, a gas Viking model that was retrofitted specifically for the FSU project.

Kramer and other researchers from the energy center worked with FSU mechanical engineers, local architects and engineers, and sustainable product companies from throughout the Southeast to make the house happen.

It’s the kind of research collaboration state officials have been encouraging universities to do.

“Universities can really push the envelope in researching these technologies,” said Jeremy Susac, director of Florida’s Energy Office. “And it will give future Floridians a much more sustainable society.”

The house is an earth-friendly Big Brother, notes Kramer.

Sensors carefully monitor the temperature, humidity and air quality in each room and are hooked up to a detailed and up-to-the-minute database. Fever graphs illustrate as people come and go. During the few minutes that an air-conditioning contractor arrived, the database logs a rise in humidity. He had left the front door open.

“We wanted to track all the important data in the house,” Kramer said. “So we went as Big Brother as we could without actually putting cameras in here.”

No detail spared

Even the architecture of the home, and the materials used to build it, is aimed at conserving energy and preventing waste.

The 22-foot ceilings allow heat to rise, and windows near the ceiling let out the hot air.

Interior and exterior “light shelves” intersecting the windows let in plenty of indirect light while keeping out the intense heat of the sun out.

The cedar wood trim and doorways are refashioned from a demolished campus building, and the wooden truss that holds the living room ceiling fan came from an old barn in Bainbridge, Ga.

The walls are made of a sort of ice cream sandwich of Styrofoam surrounded by wood, which helps moderate temperatures inside the house.

“It’s basically like a giant igloo cooler,” Kramer said.

Someday, Kramer hopes, Floridians will be living in their own hydrogen-fueled, solar-powered coolers.

Shannon Colavecchio can be reached at scolavecchio@sptimes.com or (850) 224-7263. Times/Herald Staff Writer Marc Caputo contributed to this report.

© 2009 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

August 27, 2009
New York Times
By KATE GALBRAITH

When Greg Hare looked into putting solar panels on his ranch-style home in Magnolia, Tex., last year, he decided he could not afford it. “I had no idea solar was so expensive,” he recalled.

But the cost of solar panels has plunged lately, changing the economics for many homeowners. Mr. Hare ended up paying $77,000 for a large solar setup that he figures might have cost him $100,000 a year ago.

“I just thought, ‘Wow, this is an opportunity to do the most for the least,’ ” Mr. Hare said.

For solar shoppers these days, the price is right. Panel prices have fallen about 40 percent since the middle of last year, driven down partly by an increase in the supply of a crucial ingredient for panels, according to analysts at the investment bank Piper Jaffray.

The price drops — coupled with recently expanded federal incentives — could shrink the time it takes solar panels to pay for themselves to 16 years, from 22 years, in places with high electricity costs, according to Glenn Harris, chief executive of SunCentric, a solar consulting group. That calculation does not include state rebates, which can sometimes improve the economics considerably.

American consumers have the rest of the world to thank for the big solar price break.

Until recently, panel makers had been constrained by limited production of polysilicon, which goes into most types of panels. But more factories making the material have opened, as have more plants churning out the panels themselves — especially in China.

“A ton of production, mostly Chinese, has come online,” said Chris Whitman, the president of U.S. Solar Finance, which helps arrange bank financing for solar projects.

At the same time, once-roaring global demand for solar panels has slowed, particularly in Europe, the largest solar market, where photovoltaic installations are forecast to fall by 26 percent this year compared with 2008, according to Emerging Energy Research, a consulting firm. Much of that drop can be attributed to a sharp slowdown in Spain. Faced with high unemployment and an economic crisis, Spain slashed its generous subsidy for the panels last year because it was costing too much.

Many experts expect panel prices to fall further, though not by another 40 percent.

Manufacturers are already reeling from the price slump. For example, Evergreen Solar, which is based in Massachusetts, recently reported a second-quarter loss that was more than double its loss from a year earlier.

But some manufacturers say that cheaper panels could be a good thing in the long term, spurring enthusiasm among customers and expanding the market.

“It’s important that these costs and prices do come down,” said Mike Ahearn, the chief executive of First Solar, a panel maker based in Tempe, Ariz.

First Solar recently announced a deal to build two large solar arrays in Southern California to supply that region’s dominant utility. But across the United States, the installation of large solar systems — the type found on commercial or government buildings — has been hurt by financing problems, and is on track to be about the same this year as in 2008, according to Emerging Energy Research.

The smaller residential sector continues to grow: In California, by far the largest market in the country, residential installations in July were up by more than 50 percent compared with a year earlier. With prices dropping, that momentum looks poised to continue.

John Berger, chief executive of Standard Renewable Energy, the company in Houston that put panels on Mr. Hare’s home, said that his second-quarter sales rose by more than 225 percent from the first quarter.

“Was that as a product of declining panel prices? Almost certainly yes,” Mr. Berger said.

Expanded federal incentives have also helped spur the market. Until this year, homeowners could get a 30 percent tax credit for solar electric installations, but it was capped at $2,000. That cap was lifted on Jan. 1.

Mr. Hare in Texas cited the larger tax credit, which sliced about $23,000 from his $77,000 bill, as a major factor in his decision to go solar, in addition to the falling panel prices. Sensing a good deal, he even got a larger system than he had originally planned — going from 42 panels to 64. The electric bill on his 7,000-square-foot house and garage has typically run $600 to $700 a month, but he expects a reduction of 40 to 80 percent.

Mr. Berger predicts that with panel prices falling and the generous federal credit in place, utilities will start lowering rebates they offer to homeowners who put panels on their roofs.

One that has already done so is the Salt River Project, the main utility in Phoenix, which cut its homeowners’ rebate by 10 percent in June. Lori Singleton, the utility’s sustainability manager, said the utility had recently spent more than it budgeted for solar power, a result of a surge in demand as more solar installers moved into Arizona and government incentives kicked in.

California has been steadily bringing down its rebates. An impending 29 percent cut in rebates offered within the service area of Pacific Gas and Electric, the dominant utility in Northern California, means that “with the module price drop over the last few months, it is pretty much a wash,” Bill Stewart, president of SolarCraft, an installer in Novato, Calif., said in an e-mail message.

Even if falling rebates cancel out some of the solar panel price slump, more innovative financing strategies are also helping to make solar affordable for homeowners. This year about a dozen states — following moves by California and Colorado last year — have enacted laws enabling solar panels to be paid off gradually, through increased property taxes, after a municipality first shoulders the upfront costs.

Some installers have adopted similar approaches. Danita Hardy, a homeowner in Phoenix, had been put off by the prospect of spending $20,000 for solar panels — until she spotted a news item about a company called SunRun that takes on the upfront expense and recovers its costs gradually, in a lease deal, essentially through the savings in a homeowner’s electric bill.

“I thought well, heck, this might be doable,” said Ms. Hardy, who wound up having to lay out only $800 to get 15 solar panels for her home.

If you would like to learn more on how to slash your electric bill and start saving money using homemade solar panels, click here to get  free information on our favorite solar panel instruction site.