Household Fixes

Going green and already building your own solar panels? Good for you! You might be tempted now to build your own solar cells as well.

But you need to consider carefully whether you *really* need to do it. It’s nice to say, “I built my own solar cells!” but it’s quite time-consuming and these days they can be purchased very cheaply off of eBay.

The time involvement necessary to create one single solar cell is extensive, and it pays to remember that just one solar panel can have in the neighborhood of hundreds, if not of thousands of cells, depending on the size. So, think hard ” do you really want to commit the time and effort when it might be cheaper and most probably easier, to purchase them ready-made?

But if I haven’t convinced you to just buy your own solar cells, here’s what you’ll need to make your own:

1) Copper sheet – half a square foot should do. 2) Two clip leads. 3) Micro-ammeter measuring between 10 and 50 microamperes. 4) Either an electric stove, or some type of heating plate to put on your gas stove. 5) A large jar or plastic bottle. 6) A few tablespoons of salt. 7) A bucket of water. Sandpaper. 9) To cut the copper, you’ll need metal shears.

First, clean the copper sheet with the sandpaper and wash both it and your hands before proceeding. Then, cut the sheet using the metal shears to the approximate size of your heating plate or stove.

Once you have your copper piece, put it on your heating plate and turn the heat to “high.” It should take 30 minutes to produce a blackened sheet, and then another 20 minutes for it to cool so you can handle it.

You’ll see black and red spots all over, after the oxide disappears.

Then, cut another copper sheet that’s approximately the same size as your first one and make sure that they can both fit into your plastic bottle or jar without touching.

Now, connect the positive terminal of your micro-ammeter to your “uncooked” copper, and connect the negative terminal to the copper piece that you heated up.

Combine the salt and heated tap water and pour it into the bottle to fill it just below the top of the sheets ” that should leave about a quarter of an inch of copper sticking out at the top.

Finally, test your new solar cell to see if it produces current in the sunlight. You should be able to see at least 10-50 microamperes of current if you did it properly.

Since copper is so inefficient compared to silicon, you’d need 80,000 square meters of these cells to power a single 100-watt light bulb. So I’d highly recommend eBay for buying cheap, manufactured silicon solar cells.

Tags: alternative energy, diy solar cells, energy, environment, Home, Home Improvement, home repair, residential solar power, solar cells, solar power
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The fact is, we all need electricity to power our lives. We need the level of civilization that can be provided by electricity. However, most people think that the price they pay is just too much for the amount of electricity they get to consume.Home energy consumption is one of the main problems of people today.

Alternative home energy has been on the roll ever since people have made designs efficient enough to make them feasible.In the true spirit of humanity, people did what they always do whenever theres something that does not completely satisfy them about life: they innovated.

People may think that alternative energy is just a recent development, but in fact, alternative home energy has been around even before electricity was discovered. Consider these types of alternative home energy:

These generators produce and store electricity to be used in running small home appliances. However, windmills have been around for a long time.Wind energy: Nowadays, windmills are used in homes to run small generators.

If you take a look at the word windmill you will realize that this type of alternative home energy device was used for a purpose other than producing electricity. Yes, the windmill was indeed, used to mill grain.

As you may well know, grinding grain my hand is very hard work. So in order to make life more convenient and the production of flour more efficient, windmills were used to turn the large grinders. Seeing as how this was so effective, it was inevitable that the windmill evolve into the 21st century in order to be used as a power source.

In a sense, harnessing the power of the sun to produce electricity is. But this alternative home energy has already been in use for a long, long time.Solar energy: Many people think of this type of alternative home energy as something thats technologically advanced.

Yes, we have been using solar power to dry our clothes for God knows how long. Think about that spin dryer or hair dryer you have and think about how much electricity it uses to do a task that the sun has been able to do for years, albeit at a slower pace.Think about this word for a second: clothesline. Aha, you get it now, don’t you?

The efficiency by which we are now able to convert solar power into electricity is of such a degree that it is very possible to power a whole house! Now, isnt that amazing?This alternative home energy is harnessed nowadays for a variety of tasks. Some use it to heat their homes, others use solar power to heat water, and other people use solar cells to power small appliances and save a little on that electricity bill.

Hydropower: With this technique, the power of running water is used to turn turbines which in turn run generators which produce energy. This is an update on an old idea. Waterwheels and windmills have been used for many years to harness the power of the wind and water in order to grind grain into flower.

Fourth, biogas can also be used to power devices around the home. Biogas is produced from the decay of various organic materials. It is much cheaper than liquified petroleum gas, and thus can be used to heat your home effectively for less than you currently pay for heating. There are quite a few methods to generate alternative home energy, as we are finding out.

You have also been informed as to how we have used these energy sources in the past and how they are being used today.What you need to do is explore these options and discover which type is the best for you to use.

While many of the alternative home energy setup seem to complex or too expensive for most people to consider using them right now, the technology and engineering behind them continue to advance. Alternative energy will get more efficient in years to come.

By using alternative home energy, you accomplish two things: you save on your expenses and you help create a better world. You see, alternative home energy sources do not produce any harmful effects to the environment.

The energy that you will get from the sun will cost you almost nothing. While many people are concerned by the initial expense involved in this system, you will eventually save much more money than it will cost to establish.

Tags: alternative energy, e, energy, environment, environmental, h, home;improvement, i, n, r, Reference Education, solar power, t, technology, w, wind energy
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Have you ever wondered what exactly is up with clean energy? This informative report can give you an insight into everything you’ve ever wanted to know about clean energy.

Electricity to heat and cool our homes is created through the burning of decreasing fossil fuels such as coal. Along with producing massive amounts of pollution, this source will eventually run out. Electric car manufacturers are racing to bring their products to market, and engineers are making fast strides in obtaining a 60 to 100 mile range on a charge. Within the next two years, consumers should have an exciting array of choices for electric and plug-in cars. Electricity use of appliances such as home electronics increased 57% between 1990 and 2003. Previous solutions included creating more energy by building additional power plants and/or adopting alternate fuel sources, some of which are less than environmentally friendly, such as coal.

Green energy’s end-products include PV modules and PV systems in different sizes and power outputs. It sells PV modules under its own brand name, Yingli, to PV system integrators and distributors located in various markets around the world, including Germany, Spain, China, Italy and the United States. Green Energy does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.

Renewables are more expensive. But the question is, more expensive than what? Renewable energy, “has been shown to generate three to five times more jobs per dollar, or yuan, invested, than comparable investments in fossil fuels”. Similarly, recycling creates 10 times as much employment as dumping rubbish in landfills, while the International Labour Organisation reports that worldwide move to energy-efficient buildings could create “tens of millions of new jobs”.

How can you put a limit on learning more? The next section may contain that one little bit of wisdom that changes everything.

Policymakers, environmentalists say, know that coal remains one of the most polluting sources of energy. Environmental specialists will be in demand. Some are taking an active role in positioning themselves for these opportunities.

Coal is here to stay. I wish it wasn’t so, however the world gets 50% of its electricity from burring coal. Coal is the dirtiest fuel polluter. It dumps mercury, arsenic and other dangerous chemicals into streams and this is why the dirtiest trick that governments play on their citizens is the pretence they are working on “clean coal.” It’s true.

Wind, water, geothermal and many other alternative energy sources are good and clean and green. But all of them lack one thing or another and don’t seem commercially viable. Wind energy is a renewable energy source with great potential. Although there are great benefits, environmentally friendly, ‘free’ and clean energy source there are also negative points as well. Wind is the leading edge of a clean energy industrial sector that, according to various studies, produced 500,000 new green-collar jobs in the U.S.

Those who only know one or two facts about clean energy can be confused by misleading information. The best way to help those who are misled is to gently correct them with the truths you’re learning here.

Tags: alternative energy, clean energy, climate change, electricity, energy, fuel, gobal warming, green enery, pollution, renewable energy, safe energy, solar energy, solar power, tidal energy, wind energy
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