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Solar Electric Power Generation

Go Green and Save Green with Residential Solar Electric Power

How much do you spend on your energy bill each month? Imagine taking that bill and throwing it in the trash. You can do essentially that if you empower your own home instead of drawing your energy from natural gas, oil, coal, or the power grid. How to generate your own electricity? It's very simple – all you need to do is install a solar electric power generation system on your property, and you can easily generate enough electricity for all of your energy needs. It doesn't matter what your energy needs are. You can eliminate dependence on the power companies, but many home owners decide to stick with their companies due to upfront costs.

Example of Upgrading of Solar Electric Power Generation System

Solar electric power generation has one drawback that many people can't cope with, and that's the upfront cost associated with one such system. Consider an energy bill of $200 a month, which is quite reasonable for a mid-sized home. The upfront cost of a solar electric power generation system capable of providing enough power for that home would likely run around $20,000. It is much easier to pay $200 a month than save up enough money to pay $20,000 at once, but a simple use of math will exemplify the logic behind spending that $20,000 at once. In 100 months (just over 8 years), your solar electric power generation system will have paid for itself. After that, you'll continue to save $200 a month or whatever the going rate at that time will be (which is likely to be higher).

An alternative to electric generation is the use of solar thermal electric power. A thermal power system will use the heat energy of sunlight for all of your heating and cooling needs. Sunlight can be used to heat your home and empower your water heater without using a single watt of electricity. Unlike photovoltaic panels, thermal power panels draw heat directly from the sunlight as opposed to first converting it into electricity for your home. Essentially, thermal power is more efficient, and not as much energy is lost in the conversion process.

If you can afford a $20,000 solar electric power generation system, you will be able to save tens of thousands of dollars in the years to come as your completely eliminate your energy bill. During days that you don't use all the energy that you generate, you can sell excess electricity to the power company for a small profit. Helping the environment is a novel goal for many folks, but it's the economics that should garner this type of alternative energy mainstream attention and support.

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