Is using solar panels or wind turbines save money?

Question

well, i'm just thinking of using these things in the future if i already have my own house. with the constant rising of prices of everything, can i really save money if i use these type of technologies for basic home purposes and not those huge invested bussiness purposes?

is the maintenance and establishing one ok or will i waste more money than paying electric bills?

i just want to exploit the geographical climates of my home country (sunny and scorching hot philippines) and windy daly city =p

Answer 1

Well at first if you were to buy one of these, of course you'd be paying probably upward to 10-20,000 dollars which is obviously quite a fee. I mean you could buy a new car with that. But of course, after you install it, you would not be paying for energy you use, and over time, money is basically put back in your pocket until you are equal with the amount you paid for the windmill or solar panels. Then from there, you are actually making money for free.

Some things to consider though before going through with this would be, what kind of job do you have right now? Does it bring in a lot of money? If it doesn't then it will obviously take that much longer to get back the money you spent on the energy source.

The other thing to consider would be how much energy do you use currently? If you use alot, you may consider having to cut back. A windmill or solar panel isn't gonna be enough to run huge amounts of energy at a time.

Good question, hope you make a good choice. :)

Answer 2

Yes I think that using solar panels and wind turbines will save money althoughthe initial expense may be a little high.  I think that you could start in stages and see the difference or benefit.  It may be difficult to have air conditioners, fridges, washing machines and other machines on this kind of energy but surely a tv set, computer and games will work well.  Perhaps you could start with lighting a few rooms, computer etc. in the beginning.

You can also have solar water heaters for showers, and solar cooking units.  These will save energy and help the environment.

Answer 3

I have explored the idea of using solar panels and have concluded that within ten years it would pay for itself.  Not really a bad return considering that you never have to pay another electric bill again.  Of course, you would have to decide if you wanted to get completely off the grid or stay on the grid.  By staying on you would actually be giving energy back to the  power company.  I don't think I would want to do that.  So If I do it, I want off.  However, at first you could do it a little at a time.  Start off with 5 or 6 panels and have it run just a few things.  Test the waters so to speak.  If it performs well then keep adding panels as you go.  My brother-in-law is an electrician and he says it is nothing to hook into the circuit breaker and isolate a particular appliance or ac unit or even hot water heater.  So the answer to your questions I believe is "Yes"

Answer 4

Through the knowledge of science, using solar panels and even wind turbines will not pollute the environment but in the other hand the items will cost a fortune. At first, they cost a lot of money but at the end, no money will come out from your pockets since you don't need to pay for bills because the power generated is private.

Answer 5

In order to use solar panel for your home, one need to understand the amount of sunlight the area/zone has. Follow on do a calculation of the amount of electricity needed to run the home appliances. Then calculate the number of solar panel needed with safety factor (sun light does not always shine direct onto your solar panel). With this basic one can only run their home appliances during the day time. To add on for a night use of appliances extra solar panel is require to charge up the rechargable battery pack. With all this it add up to be a big investment amount, where the ROI is about 5~10years. Solar panel can last many years with degrading of efficiency down to 80~85%. But your rechargable batteries will need to be changed out every 2~3years (cost few thousand dollars). Have to wait for better and cheaper solar panel and longer lasting battery. Else check with your local whether is there any fund sponsor.

Answer 6

I think wind turbines is the cheapest in generating electricity, about 5 cents per kWh. You can compare and contrast among solar thermal, geothermal, biomass, and wind turbines power generation cost and efficiency by visiting the following website.

http://www.awea.org/pubs/documents/FAQ20...

Answer 7

Yes it does..