Mindzle

The rising cost of energy is making more people think about off grid living every day. Unplugging from the electric grid and producing all of your own power is now entirely possible. By utilizing wind turbines or solar panels, many homeowners are generating their own power, assuming their system is sized correctly. You can take at least your first step towards off grid living by producing some of your own power.

We will discuss solar power first. Solar panels are a great option for supplying power to many homes and can work in all parts of the world, even in remote areas or places with a harsh environment. The only requirement is lots of sunlight and some hardware. For the do-it-yourselfer, the best guide to building a diy solar panel is GreenDIYEnergy.  You can build a solar power system that is as large or small as required and it can even be portable if your living arrangements are mobile. Solar panels are tough, require very little maintenance and can last up to 20 years if properly cared for.

Any solar power system will include a number of solar panels that are connected together. In the northern hemisphere, solar panels should be pointed directly south for maximum power output. Some solar power systems use panels that rotate so they always point directly at the sun, though with more recent solar panels this is less important than it was with older panels. With more recent solar panels, stationary panels work quite well as long as they are pointed directly south and at the correct vertical angle.  For an article about how to build your own solar panel, visit Build Solar Panel.

Direct Current (DC) electricity is produced by solar cells and can be used to charge batteries to power any DC appliance. Electricity can be provided at night or when the sun isn’t shining by charging batteries during the day.

If you want to provide electricity to Alternating Current (AC) appliances like you typically have around your home, you will need a power inverter. The power inverter will take power from both solar panels and batteries and convert it into AC electricity.

A wind turbine can also be used to generate the power that will enable you to begin living off grid. You can mount a modern wind turbine on a pole or tower, or perhaps even on the roof of your home. These modern wind turbines are fairly small and quite efficient. One advantage of a wind turbine over solar panels is they can generate power all day and all night as well. As long as the wind is blowing, a wind turbine can produce electricity.  For information about making a diy wind generator, check out Earth4Energy Review.

You can install both a wind turbine and solar panels together. You can use the same power inverter and batteries with both solar and wind and this setup can give you the best of both worlds. If it is sunny and calm, the solar panels will provide most of the power and if it overcast and windy or at night the wind turbine will take over.

Using either or both of these systems can provide enough electricity to enable you to pull the plug and start living off grid. They will let you take your first step towards completely pulling the plug.

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