Grid Free Power

Hi everyone,  Thanks for all the great comments on my blog and newsletter.  Your encouragement makes me want to research and write even more.

I’m into DIY solar for several reasons, obviously to save money, but also for the environment.  Several people have written to me about their environmental interests too, especially about global warming and greenhouse gasses.  I thought I’d do some research and write about how installing solar panels help these.

Using solar energy produces environmental benefits right away, since you are reducing or eliminating your draw on the electrical grid (grid free power!). Electricity is most often produced by burning fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas. When these fuels are burned, many pollutants are put into the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen oxide (NOx) these create acid rain, smog and because of our use of them are increasing these all the time. The carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels is what makes up the bulk of greenhouse gasses. These gasses contribute to global warming, climate change and the science community agrees that we must lower the amount of these gasses in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million. (see 350.org)

Our burning of fossil fuels puts more than 6 billion tons of carbon into the air each year! Solar energy, provides electricity while also eliminating the pollution that would have been created to generate that power.   This prevents damage to the environment and public health, while also saving you money.  It’s a win-win-win situation!

Solar power is clean energy. When you generate electricity from the sun, you are putting no (none!) pollutants into the atmosphere.  Even when you figure in what pollution is created when the cells are manufactured, generating power using photovoltaic cells produces less than 15 percent of the carbon dioxide from a coal-fired power plant. Making them yourself from recovered parts (as I give instructions for in my newsletter)

If only 1 million homes converted to solar energy, that would reduce CO2 emissions by 4.3 million tons per year.  That’s like taking 850,000 cars of the road.

As you know I’m really interested in making my own solar panels and have had great success with the DIY Solar Power Instructions that I recommended in an earlier blog.  I was amazed, and maybe you will be too, how cheap and easy they are to make.  And fun!