Using solar energy to help save money on your utility bills is a great idea but unless you can generate all the electricity you consume you’re still going to have to pay an electricity bill albeit a smaller one.

Common sense should tell you that the cheaper you can purchase you’re electricity the more money you’ll save. In the United Kingdom it’s relatively easier to swap your electricity or gas supplier if you can find someone who’s cheaper.

Why then do so many people not switch utility supplier to get the best possible deal? I believe with some it’s just that they can’t be bothered to pick up the phone and for others it’s because they wrongly believe it’s a complicated procedure.

The reality is it’s very simple to switch supplier as the government has insisted that free competition is best for the consumer and have forced the utilities to make the switch easy and painless.

So if you’ve been sitting on the fence get off it! Pick up the telephone or visit a price comparison site and bag yourself a better deal. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at just how much money you may be leaving on the table.

For more information on how to get Cheaper Utility Bills visit my how to save money Blog.

Getting Cheaper Utility Bills – Switch Suppliers is a post from: At Home Solar Panels

Portable solar power energy can be used virtually anywhere, such as in your RV if you love to camp, or in your boat if you are often out on the lake for extended periods of time. In fact, anything you can think of to use it for, it pretty much has a use for. But did you know it can also be a life saver, and can save you tons of money? Read on to find out more about portable solar power.

What is portable solar power?

Solar power is simply energy generated from sunlight, which is converted into power or as we know it: electricity. But, the good thing about being “portable” is that this form of power can be moved from place to place at the snap of your finger. In fact, some of these systems are so small that they can fit in your pocket; however there are larger modules available which can be moved in a truck or flat bed trailer. However, it all depends on your needs and what you are looking to use the energy for.

Some common uses for the panels.

You may not realize it, but you are probably using it right now, for instance, do you own a pocket calculator? These devices readily use solar energy to function, as do garden lights. But one of the great uses of these panels is for things like charging your cell phone battery, GPS, or any other emergency gadgets you may need, including charging your car battery if it dies. You may even use it to power your RV or 5th wheel whenever you travel, to cut out the noise of a loud generator, and also generators suck up gas and can be very costly.

Kinds of solar panels.

There are various kinds of panels available:

1. Flexible PV panels- These are durable and are often used for campers and hikers alike, as it can literally be rolled up like a sleeping bad and can be set up literally anywhere. You can also step on it, drop it and literally get it wet when crossing any water body, and it will still function!
2. Powerfilm panels- These are PV panels which can charge virtually any kind of battery, from NiCad, to Lithium, to NiMH, and they can even be used to charge batteries while you are camping. They are also often used to charge camcorders and cameras when in remote areas (such as when you are hiking), so long as you have sunlight around.
3. Large Photovoltaic Panels- (PV panels), often a bit more complex, consisting of panels, wiring for an input jack, and a battery. These kinds of panels often include a connection into your lighter plug/spark plug, and a fluorescent light and obviously will provide a more strong source of power to things like your vehicle or larger motor vehicles.

In the end, portable solar power panels can virtually give you power anywhere, and are therefore literally one of the most useful inventions you could have around, especially if you were ever in an emergency and needed power now.

Portable Solar Power – Power When You Need It is a post from: At Home Solar Panels

Examples of solar technology such as solar powered battery chargers, solar cells, solar powered lights and many other similar devices are becoming more an more easily available to the consumer. This is a testament to the great potential of this wonderful technology, and also to the growing environmental awareness among consumers. This can only be a good thing. As our demand for energy increases, and the pressure on fossil fuel reserves increases, the reality the future holds is that we will, as individuals and as a society, be more vulnerable to these shortages unless we do something about it. Here’s a few reasons why using solar technology is a step in the right direction.

Here’s a fact of life for you. Oil, natural gas, and coal, are finite resources. It’s debatable just how much is left but it is a fact that at some point our fossil fuel reserves are going to run out. It’s also likely that before that end point comes there’ll be a decline in production levels, leading to shortages and price rises, and eventually, less capacity to create electricity.

Governments are starting to make plans for when the oil runs out, but a lot of the legislative bodies of the west are hidebound by the disproportionate influence of the existing power companies. This isn’t just the power to employ lobbyists, or the controversial arguments about US presidents on the board of Halliburton. Not everyone agrees that these things are quite the sinister consensus that some would have you believe, so let’s leave those arguments aside.

Consider instead the fact that the infrastructure of most western countries is heavily dependent upon the existing power networks. In a lot of areas, a large number of jobs are tied to the traditional methods of power production. There is also the fact that a lot of people still make a lot of money from fossil fuels. Shell’s profits, in the second Quarter of 2009 stood at $2.3 billion. That was reported as a low figure, the result of a world-wide recession! Similarly, British Petroleum’s profits were $2,562 billion in the same period. That’s a lot of shareholders still doing quite well out of the status quo!

The only way that a switch to alternative power sources such as solar power is going to happen is if it is consumer-driven.  Once companies start to see that there is a market for alternative technologies, things will begin to change. Luckily, the signs of this change are beginning to show. More and more solar devices are commercially available, and solar battery chargers are being bought by savvy consumers ahead of the curve, who want to be able to store the energy they generate. As that happens, and the market increases, it will be the economic self-interest of individuals which helps to make the change. Solar power is the future, and we can purchase a stake in that future today!

Solar Powered Chargers – The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread! is a post from: At Home Solar Panels

If you want to have some solar powered generators in your home, either to power your home, or even for other purposes, then there are a few common things you will need, alongside a bit of understanding about electricity and generators in general.  Read on to find out what you will need to build your own solar powered generators.

Solar Cells

Solar cells are simply a silicon wafer with additives that electrically conducts when light hits it. This means that any time it is exposed to sunlight it creates a continuous flow of electrons, or what we call electricity. Most solar cells are extremely affordable, depending on what you require them for. A common example of this would be solar lights which are commonly used in gardens or walkways, and they are extremely inexpensive and are simple solar cells. However you can get single solar cells if you need them for solar panels.

Solar panels

Solar panels are simply a collective of cells which are put together to create more electricity, and are often used for larger purposes, such as heating a home or generating electricity in a home or RV. To construct a solar panel, all you need to do is have a rigid frame and wire the solar cells together. You will also need to have a voltage meter and some relative knowledge of the powering system required to power your home or whatever it is that you are going to power, as well as a soldering gun.

Charging Controller

Any time you create a solar panel, the electricity will be channeled through wires into a charging controller. Charging controllers will regulate the flow of the electricity into the battery banks, where the electricity will be stored. This ensures that once the batteries are charges, the electricity flow into them can be cut off, thus preventing the batteries from overcharging, being damaged, or exploding.

Battery banks and DC inverters

Since the stored electricity goes into the rechargeable batteries, this means that you do not still have access to the electricity from your wall outlets. To get access you have to use a DC inverter, because the electricity is stored in DC power, rather than the standard AC power which is used to power your home. DC inverters convert the DC power within the batteries to your standard 120-volt AC power which is what powers most things in your home.

It is also important to remember that anytime you are working with electricity that it can be dangerous, and if you want to Build A Solar Panel, you should always have it checked over by a professional electrician to make sure you have wired everything properly before you use it to power your home. If you don’t think you will be able to adequately make your own generator, then it is best to get a qualified professional to install a solar powered generator in your home.

Solar Power Generators- What Do I Need To Build One For My Home? is a post from: At Home Solar Panels

Cell Phones have become a part of modern life – when someone doesn’t have one  doesn’t require much power but does need charging over time. A Solar Cell Phone Charger will be able to provide the amount of power needed fairly easily- most mobile phones need a supply of between 4 and 12 volts, which is easily within the range of a modestly-sized solar cell. It’s a fairly convenient use of the technology- a phone can be left plugged in for an hour or two, and be charged by a steady current. This article gives you the run-down on some of the

Mains- powered Mobile phone chargers are often left plugged in and switched on for far too long, as well- some estimates suggest that up to 95% of the power used by a standard mains-compatible charger is wasted, simply because they are never switched off. You just need to touch a mobile phone charger which has been plugged in for a long time to see what I mean- It’ll be warm to the touch, all that wasted electrical current radiated as heat.

If you’re paying for mains electricity, then that’s money wasted right there. If the economic argument isn’t enough to motivate you, what about the environmental angle- it’s not just extra expense for you as a consumer, it’s more fossil fuels burnt in a power station somewhere, and more carbon released into the atmosphere. That’s the killer with a lot of energy consumption issues- so much is unnecessary, and it’s actually both more economic and more convenient to use an alternative like solar power.

A Solar Cell Phone Charger won’t cost you money like that- it’ll generate a slow, steady amount of power from an entirely free source. The only cost you’ll incur is the initial start-up, and a decent charger needn’t set you back more than $29.95 or so. That may sound like a lot, but they’re very hard-wearing and the resultant savings from not having a charger plugged into the mains will recoup your costs quickly. You’ll also be able to  use your solar charger anywhere you have access to sunlight- a must if you’re going to be on the go for a while, for example on camping trips, or even sat on the dashboard of your car on a long journey.

There really aren’t any arguments against using solar- the main reason that people tend not to use this technology is habit. Mains-powered chargers are the standard provided by the cell-phone manufacturers as they are are simple and convenient, and because they are what has always been provided. That’s where purchase power comes in- you can save money with a solar Cell Phone Charger, and feel good at the same time about the fact that you’re helping to be the change you want to see in the world!

A Solar Cell Phone Charger – Never Stop Talking! is a post from: At Home Solar Panels

In the modern world, almost everything we use on a daily basis needs electricity to function. A solar panel charger helps to keep these devices going when access to mains electricity is limited. This article considers the benefits of using a solar panel charger to avoid those situations when power runs out.

We carry around with us a dizzying array of portable technological wonders. Think about a typical journey to visit a friend. We start by picking up the phone and giving them a call to let them know we’re setting off. Then we get into our car, which can be a hybrid system running off a combination of electrical charge and internal combustion. At the very least, the car has an starter motor which is powered by a lead-acid battery which is necessary to kick the main petrol engine into life.

Now we’ve got going, we switch on a GPS system which communicates with satellites in orbit to tell us our location and help us find where we’re going. We set off, following the GPS’ route. If we’re alone, we might switch on an in-car stereo or an MP3 player to give us some music to listen to as we travel on. If this is a family journey, maybe the children in the back seat are keeping themselves occupied with a portable DVD player or a handheld games console. That’s a lot of gadgetry, even for a short trip to a known destination.

Now, imagine all of this without power. The car won’t start, you won’t be able to phone anyone, and without GPS it’s all too easy to become lost in an unfamiliar location. What’s more, there’s no entertainment- the MP3 player doesn’t work, the games consoles quickly run out, and you’re left high and dry, stranded, powerless and bored!

Now, I may have painted a rather alarmist picture, but I’m sure you can take my point- that if you run out of power in an inconvenient location, then it’s possible to get really stuck. A good example of this is accidentally leaving on the headlights overnight during a camping trip. It’s easy to wake up after an idyllic night, and get ready to come home, only to find that the battery’s dead and the car won’t start.

A solar panel charger is insurance against that kind of situation- as long as you have access to daylight, it can be set up to draw energy from the sun, and to charge up whatever you need- whether it’s setting up a trickle charger to recharge the car battery, getting your phone up and running so that you can call someone, or just powering up the batteries in the GPS. Solar power will go anywhere you go, and means that when you leave the city behind, you don’t have to leave your gadgets!

The Advantages Of Investing In A Solar Panel Charger is a post from: At Home Solar Panels

Solar power battery chargers are now readily available on the market, falling within the price range of most home-owners and consumers. Let’s take a look at the benefits.

First off, it’s worth saying a few words about the state of the energy industry. It’s a widely accepted truth that, at some point, our fossil fuel reserves will begin to run out- we’ll hit what’s called ‘peak oil,’ namely the point in graph of energy production when oil output is at the highest point it can ever go- a combination of having still-abundant oil-fields and optimally efficient technology. This sounds like a good thing, but consider that fact that as our ability to mine fossil fuels increases,  we are using more and more of a finite resource up.

We won’t have those untapped oil-fields and coal seams forever, and once this starts to run out, we’d better be ready with alternatives, otherwise the drop-off in energy production is likely to be steep. You can see that governments have started to take this more and more seriously- you only have to look at, say, recent British proposals for a new generation of Nuclear power stations to see that the world is starting to look to a post-oil future.

Nuclear isn’t the only option to us, however. Whilst we are still dependent on the grid, it’s  possible for consumers to take steps in the right direction- to reduce their energy demands, and to invest in alternate sources of energy.

Solar power, as one of these alternative sources of energy, holds great promise. It’s simple, efficient, and the power source (the sun) is free. Consider also that there’s no pollution associated with solar power, and that solar panels don’t have to be bulky and awkward structures. Solar panels are flat and easy to fit on surfaces which face the sun, and can often make use of existing structures, like the roofs of houses. Once a solar panel’s fitted, you just need a solar power battery to collect the power that the solar panel’s generating. This works like a car battery, using chemical storage methods to capture the electrical charge over time.

Solar power has a number of benefits. We’ve already mentioned the convenience. Another is reliability. No matter where you are, it’s possible to predict the levels of sunlight your solar panel is going be exposed to. This can vary with weather conditions, but this isn’t as changeable as, say, the wind. Even on a cloudy day you still have a certain base level of sunlight.

It’s also independent- if you’re operating a solar battery, it doesn’t have to be attached to the grid. That can also insulate you from issues like power outages, and can be an ideal solution if you’re  looking to use solar in combination with other power sources. There are some set-ups which can be used to actually sell power back to the grid, generating money for their users! This may be the future of our energy network- solar panels in every home, serving our energy needs in a dispersed way- a true energy grid which would be less dependent on power stations, and single sources. That may be a long way off, but solar power is very much accessible to you now if you’re willing to try it.

Using A Solar Power Battery Is A Viable Energy Solution is a post from: At Home Solar Panels

The solar mobile charger is an increasingly popular tool, which has helped many people out of tight spots. It uses the power of the sun itself, converting photons that strike the photosensitive cells on its array into electrical current. This can then be used to charge a mobile phone. There are a variety of different versions, each designed to work for their particular make of phone, plugging in as a normal charger would. There are even some which can vary the voltage of their output, making them versatile and adaptable to any make and model.

This is especially useful if you’re on a trip, or away from home for a long time. Consider for a moment just how useful a mobile phone can be. Apart from the obvious advantages of communication wherever you go (or at least wherever you can get signal) modern phones can do a LOT more than that.

Most modern phones are equipped with GPS, for instance. If you’re in the countryside, or somewhere unfamiliar away from home, having GPS can mean the difference between finding your way to home or to shelter quickly and confidently, and being lost for a long time indeed. There are even people who have managed to communicate with mountain rescue teams through their phones, and to provide life-saving information on their location, because they had a working phone with them.

Now, for most people, you aren’t likely to be caught in a blizzard on the side of a mountain any time soon, but running out of charge on your phone when you’re out somewhere you can plug it in is at least an inconvenience to anyone. It’s easily done, too- I’m sure everyone’s forgotten to plug their charger in at some point!

The solar mobile charger can go where you go, and will quickly and cheaply recharge your phone for you. It does need direct sunlight to work, so it won’t be any good if your phone suddenly cuts out during that 3am phone call, but it’s a convenient way to know that if you run out of power, there is a way to get your phone back up and running. It can take quite a long time to recharge a phone to full, but a lot of the time you’ll only want to get it up and running to an emergency level. The other consideration with this, of course, is that the energy you’re using is free!

Electricity efficiency is a massive issue for mobile phones- you may not be aware, for example, that the mobile phone industry is regarded as one of the most inefficient users of energy. Mobile phone chargers which are always plugged into the mains are a massive drain on the grid, and are often using energy unnecessarily. Even whilst there is no phone attached, a standard mains charger will be drawing about 0.1-0.5 watts. That may not sound like much, but over time this can add up. A solar mains charger stops that.

The Benefits Of A Solar Mobile Charger is a post from: At Home Solar Panels

Consider how dependent we are upon the car. Our society, the way our towns are built, and the way we live our lives, are all shaped to some extent by the availability of easily available private transport. Where once we all lived close to each other, now the average adult will go increasingly long distances back and forth to their place of work, to buy food and other consumer goods, and to see the people who matter in their lives. We depend upon the car.

It’s not just petrol that makes the car go, either- when you put the key into your car’s ignition in the morning, it’s an electrical charge from the battery which gets the starter motor, and the rest of the car’s ignition system going. Everyone’s left their headlights on at some point, and come back to find that terrible moment when you turn the key and the engine refuses to spark into life. When that happens, you’re trapped until someone comes along who does have a working battery, and jump-leads to give you a boost. With a solar car battery charger, you can help to safeguard yourself against this, and save money into the bargain!

It’s easy for a car battery to run out of power, especially on a modern vehicle. Modern cars, even if you’re not considering the electric car or the hybrid car, have a lot more electronic systems, all of which need to be powered by the battery. This includes systems like the headlights, the car stereo, instrument panels, and a whole load more- even things like the more advanced road-sensing systems that are available in top-end vehicles.

The worst example of this is in-car air-conditioning, which just eats power. Some of these systems can be inadvertently left on whilst the engine is off,  thus running down the battery’s power- we’ve already mentioned headlights in this article, and there are others. There’s also things like on-board security systems which need to be left on. These electrical systems can run down the battery, and they also have an impact on the fuel efficiency of the vehicle- all that power has to come from somewhere, and the car’s internal engine is the usual source of all the energy that powers it.

There does now exist a technology that can be used whilst the motor is switched off to charge the battery. This is the solar car battery charger. Its principles are simple- it consists of a set of light-sensitive solar cells, which can be positioned to catch the sun’s light (often the front windshield is a good idea), combined with a set of rechargeable batteries which catch the current generated by the photons hitting the solar cell, and then an adaptor which can be attached to your battery (most of the products on the market now plug directly into a car’s cigarette lighter socket). If you have one of these, then you can simply set it in direct sunlight on your dashboard, and walk away safe in the knowledge that as long as it is daylight, your car is now busily charging itself up, at no cost to you!

Install a Solar Car Battery Charger And Say Goodbye To Jump-leads! is a post from: At Home Solar Panels

A solar trickle charger can be a very useful piece of kit for anyone who needs to rely on a battery that isn’t used all the time. Example of this are leisure vehicles like motorbikes, boats or cars. People also use them for motor homes or cottages. What a trickle charger is is a simple solar panel which feeds a constant slow ‘trickle’ of charge into a battery, thus preventing it from losing its charge over time.

This is a common problem with a lot of lead-acid batteries, which are the most commonly used type in motor vehicles. The issue is inherent to the chemical nature of the battery itself, and can create as much as a two-percent drain per day, depending on your battery. A solar trickle charger attached to your battery can help ensure that when you return to use it, the battery and the device attached to it is not going to let you down. A charger is a good low-cost way to ensure that your battery is always topped up, and will work as long as they have a decent regular exposure to sunlight.

They are durable- a solar cell has no moving parts, and isn’t likely to stop working, unless they’re left exposed to some pretty severe environmental conditions. Obviously, some chargers are better suited to external conditions than others, but if you shop around you’ll be able to find something pretty robust. This is useful if you’re considering using a trickle charger for an outdoors application, such as maintaining the charge on the burglar alarm on a building like a garage or outhouse. You can install your charger on the building’s roof and leave it safe in the knowledge that it’ll just keep on ticking over with no connection to the mains necessary.

Another good point of a trickle charger is that it won’t overcharge your battery, which is a risk if you are connecting it to mains power. A battery which is overcharged will, over time, lose some of its capacity, which will hasten the day when you have to replace it. Now, nothing lasts forever, but take it from me, it’s a real pain having to replace an overcharged battery- there is NEVER a good time for that to happen!

It’s also especially useful to have a source of energy available if you’re on a camping trip, or anywhere that’ll take you away from civilisation, or other cars, for any extended period of time. They’re a simple tool to use and they can save you hours of frustration, and the fact that they’re solar powered means that you don’t need any access to an external power source to know that they will work!

Solar Trickle Chargers – A Low Maintainance Solution is a post from: At Home Solar Panels