Renewable Energy Systems Explained
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by: ZacharyWard | Total views: 24 | Word Count: 627
What we will be focusing on in this article are the renewable energy systems that are suitable for home installations. We'll look at the sorts of advantages that you can get from them, both in terms of the environment and in terms of your finances.
Why Is Renewable Energy Important?
When it comes to the reasons that renewable energy systems are important, there are two main ones. On a personal levels they can help you to reduce your energy bills. And on a larger scale, each installation is helping to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels which is good for the environment.
In terms of the environmental benefits, these come about due to the fact that the more that renewable energy is used, the less has to be generated from fossil fuels. That's important because the more fossil fuels we are burning, the more carbon dioxide we are releasing in to the atmosphere. And that, of course, is what is leading to global warming.
If you want to calculate how much you are saving financially then that can be done in a similar way. Every unit of energy you produce, and get for free, that is energy that you're not having to pay for. However it's not really free because you had to pay for the installation to begin with so you have to measure it against that as well.
Unfortunately, the situation is that in many cases the savings alone do not justify the installation costs. However that is a problem which the UK government is looking to rectify with the feed in tariff, and soon with the introduction of the renewable heat incentive. With these schemes you get paid for every unit of energy produced, so in effect this is increasing the savings that you make.
Renewable Energy Systems: Your Options
There are four kinds of renewable energy systems that are most appropriate for individual installations. Which one is going to be best will depend on your personal circumstances. They are air source and ground source heat pumps, and solar panels - both PV (electricity producing) and solar thermal for hot water systems.
Of these, only one of them will provide electricity for your home, the PV solar panels. If for some reason you cannot use those, or you don't want to, then getting a mini wind turbine might also be an option. Although they are not as versatile as solar energy panels.
Solar hot water systems, using solar thermal panels, are also usually the best way to go if you want to generate heat in a renewable way for your home. They will integrate well with just about any current hot water system, and the installation is relatively simple. Heat pumps are also a good option though.
If you are going to use heat pumps for your central heating then it's best if you have underfloor heating. That's because they produce a relatively low level of heat. That's fine if you have underfloor heating though because the whole room will be warmed evenly so you don't need as much heat as if you are going to use a radiator.
If you can afford it, then when it comes to the best sort of heat pump, that is usually going to be the ground source variety. That's because the temperature underground is pretty constant, so you'll get a consistent level of heat from them. You will need a fair amount of space though, so perhaps a large garden. That's so trenches can be dug to have the pipes installed.
If what you want is the cheapest of the heat pumps though, then that would be the air source variety. They also work well, and will work even in very cold weather, however not quite so well as when it is hot. So they're not quite as consistent.
About the Author
To discover more regarding solar energy, author Aaron Clark has written lots more about the subject at renewable energy systems. Find out more about how the system functions, for example the amount of money you'll be able to save, and obtain a free quote for an installation.
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