Like if we designate 10,000 square miles and pack it with Wind Turbines and/or Solar Panels or even if we place them in pockets all through-out American wouldn't that solve our Energy crisis? We already use the technology so why not just do it on a MASS SCALE. We have the technology, land and man power.

I have a small remote cabin with good sun access and a fairly steady breeze that I visit about once a month. I want to install solar panels and a small wind turbine, but all the books I have read seem pretty complicated. I would like step by step instructions on how to install this system with recommendations on panels, charge controllers, inverters, and batteries. Also feel free to recommend low voltage appliances and lighting. Please feel free to dumb it down for me. I will be doing the instal myself as the cabin is only just now framed in with not interior walls. Thanks!

I really want to know people's opinion in relationship to the leadership role the US plays with renewable energy, even though in my opinion currently they are not playing a leadership role as the biggest consumer are in Europe and bigger producer of solar panels is China, not too sure about the biggest producer of wind turbines.

Hi Everyone, I am working on a business plan which I need to submit to an investment board in Pakistan and a some other countries by December 2011. After speaking to numerous people and reading many journals I would like to know what would be the equipment specification and cost for:
1) Wind turbine for 20 small houses (only lighting, perhaps 2 bulbs and heating the gas stove) would be required.
2) Solar panels for the same need.

I understand batteries and additional equipment will be required if someone can answer these question for me I would be greatly appreciative. The first market I would like to target is rural Pakistan and the resources for both the solar and wind initiatives are as follows:

The average daily insolation amounts to approximately 5–7 kWh/m2/day. Especially
the southwestern province of Balochistan and Northeastern part of Sindh . There the sun shines between 6 to 8 h daily or approximately more than 2300–2700 h per annum. The average daily insolation of 5–7 kWh/ m2/day means daily sun energy of 18–25 MJ/m2/day is available as
input natural resource of energy to be exploited for photovoltaic power generation or solar thermal applications.

Wind speed from 5 m/s to 7 m/s persists in coastal regions of Sind and Balochistan provinces
and in a number of North-West Frontier valleys

Given this data could someone be kind enough to tell me the kind of equipment required to power a small village on 20 or so households for just lighting and heating the stove. My business plan intends to alleviate the poverty of these villagers who have been living in Darkness for centuries and to improve their environment.
Any information will be greatly appreciated.

I stumbled across this site that shows you how to make your own windmill and solar panels... earth4energy.i8.com
Do you think it's a good investment? If it works I'm a welder and I could pop a whole bunch of windmills up easy but thats only if this works.. What do you think?

I almost bought a wind turbine. I want to be able to harness natural resources and I'm worried about our polluting of the planet.

But.... I'm glad I didn't invest in a turbine.

When I pressed the vendor if he could stand by his claims for the power generation, he went all furtive and withdrew his original offer.

He said I'd get my money back and even be able to sell electricity BACK to the utility companies. Sounds brilliant.

But he couldn't give me a single example of anyone that does this.

In the past, I've bought a couple of solar panels, and neither of them worked.

I do use a wind up radio though.

Can anyone help me? I want a real example of power generation. What's the average power generated by a wind turbine? (I want the real figures, not the idealistic figures)

I looked a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's river cottage web site, which publishes daily figures for power generation, and the figures don't look too impressive.

I want to build a machine that translates my physical exertions into useful energy. For example. If I could row for an hour, I might be able to turn a drum and get my laundry done.

Or cycle on a stationary bike and use that energy to turn a turbine or grind up all the packaging from my dustbin.

Where do I start looking for equipment?

Thanks

With the success of renewable energy technologies such as wind turbines and solar panels I was just wondering, can renewable energy systems be incorporated to metal structures?

Kinda like how solar panels harvest energy and use it when there is no sunlight.

Would Solar panels be cheaper?

Would Electricity prices be higher?

Would a free market standard be proposed or would the corporations like British Petroleum and Chevron get to build huge solar plants in the desert on subsidized US land?

Do companies that produce solar panels, hydra power equipment, etc...get tax breaks or incentives from the government? If so, how much?

When you are looking at solar panels or wind turbines and they say how much power they can produce, 2400 watts or 5,000 watts or whatever, what unit of time is that figuring? Is that per hour of ideal conditions? Per day? To me if it says 2.5 kWh, that sounds like 2500 watts an hour, but I'm no expert.

I'm not going to use solar panels.

What kind of equipment do I need to sell the energy back to make a profit?

If you can't make all of your solar panels in your country, how is that energy independence? If you have to pay China for solar panels, then the sunlight is not yours.

What is the true cost of of solar and wind power per kilowatt hour, not counting subsidies? What energy source will be used when there are cloudy days and no wind, and at night?

Will you in the future be crying about BP and Exxon as "big lithium"?

Such as in Massachusetts where I live, we couldnt get wint turbines because it would ruin Kennedy's view of the ocean. And we only got solar panels on the highways when Romney was governor.

Could someone please tell me what are the best places to have solar panels, hydropower plants, and geothermal power plants. This is for a school project so i need CORRECT sources. Yeah, obviously i know it needs to be sunny to have solar panels but i need a source that says that so please answer quickly as i am currently in the middle of class! THANK YOU!

When you are looking at solar panels or wind turbines and they say how much power they can produce, 2400 watts or 5,000 watts or whatever, what unit of time is that figuring? Is that per hour of ideal conditions? Per day? To me if it says 2.5 kWh, that sounds like 2500 watts an hour, but I'm no expert.

is it feasible to charge the battery with wind turbine instead of solar panels. would i get enough power from the wind to charge the battery? or the DC motor driving the car would consume all of the battery charge before it will get charged from the wind turbine??

what about the wind powered cars?!! www.windturbineracer.com
the cars move with only wind energy.why can't we convert this energy into electricity to drive the motor?!!

I'm not looking forward to paying my electricity bill, especially because I almost always have my computer on doing something intensive. I know it's possible, but how difficult is it to get some solar panels or a small wind turbine and somehow use it to generate electricity?

I want to be the guy who helps construct and develop windmills or solar panels. What classes in college would I need to take and what should I major in? Thanks.

I was sitting in APes today and we just began studying alternative fuel sources. We were going through some of the pros and cons of each and when we came to wind power the only real drawback was that it takes alot of land. I wass wondering if they could combine solar power and wind power in the same area. For example, we usually put wind farms in arid areas where nothing is around. Now wouldnt that be a perfect place for solar panelss since there is nothing blocking the sunlight in the arid areas. Could they put solar panels on the wind turbines or combine a solar power tower to the wind turbines. FYI, the power tower is when you have a bunch of mirrors reflect to a high tower. Any thoughts?

Just looking for some general tips on living greener, things such as solar panels, etc, that won't cost a lot to implement? Of course, solar panels cost a fortune, but it's an example. Thanks!

I'm reserching how the EU is managing climate change and was wondering how they are encouraging the use of renewable energy sources, if there are any incentives throughout the EU to encourage people to install things such as solar panels?

Any help will be appreciated.

the most profitable field when it comes to renewable energy is solar power. It seems as if the biggest “controversy” regarding solar power is the amount of space required for the solar panels to capture the solar energy which is converted to electricity.

One of my friends was dismissing alternative energy sources, like solar panels on houses, because he said they were not "cost effective". Hmm...