I too would enjoy not having to give my hard earned $$ to the $$ hungry power company. However, I do realize the odds of that happening are slim to none. Can I reduce the amount of grid power I consume? You bet I can! Today my goal is to reduce my carbon footprint over disconnecting my grid connected house.
I'm sure most of us have heard of 'grid-tie inverters'. On average in my area if the sun isn't shining the wind is blowing. At 9:45 AM the sun isn't shining but there is a good breeze thus a smaller 400W homeowner sized turbine would help decrease that bill. Later today the sun is supposed to show thus a few hundred watts of solar panels would fit the bill. Plus the power is consumed where its made.
I can put up a solar collector to decrease the amount of electricity it takes to heat my water. A different style collector to heat the air in here to decrease the amount I give to my propane supplier. And they can be 'completely' powered by the sun.
I can give many thousands of $$ to others to construct and put all this up for me. OR I can putter along doing my research on safely making my own air and water collectors and install them at a fraction of the cost. Commercially made solar panels are safer and last longer than anything I can make.
If I want to weld I can get a dinosaur fired (gasoline/diesel) generator/welder. Yes I am still burning fossil fuel but I also have back up power should the grid go down for a while.
A quality solar panel can and will produce power for over 25 years. Some panels made in the 60s are still in use some 50 years later. A quality turbine can and will produce for 10 and more years. Just like everything else I own they need maintenance from time to time. Solar panels/ collectors need washing using water I saved when it rained. Turbines can use same grease I use in my tractor's wheel bearings.
I do not have a stream on this property thus that is not an option for me, however I have heard of Pelton wheels still in operation some 100 years later. How about designing and building something that makes enough power to power itself with enough left over to run the lights in my shop? Maybe create a way to store heat from the summer sun to heat in the winter? Completely powered by the sun. Think about it. I have!
Did all of the above ideas take non green ways to make the base elements? Of course they did! How many barrels of oil or tons of coal will I use to power my TV, or this computer, over the course of the next 25 and more years if today I do nothing? My guess is more than it took to make the panels. And reducing my carbon footprint is to the benefit of my great grandkids when/if I ever have any.
How to dispose of in a safe and green way at the end of their life? I would put in the recycling bin as they are finding more and more ways to recycle stuff.
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Today's Featured Article - Choosin, Mounting and Using a Bush Hog Type Mower - by Francis Robinson. Looking around at my new neighbors, most of whom are city raised and have recently acquired their first mini-farms of five to fifteen acres and also from reading questions ask at various discussion sites on the web it is frighteningly apparent that a great many guys (and a few gals) are learning by trial and error and mostly error how to use a very dangerous piece of farm equipment. It is also very apparent that these folks are getting a lot of very poor and often very dangerous advice fro
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