For this reason we now sell wind turbines and solar systems to harness renewable energy from the sun and wind. Both types of energy are clean, sustainable, renewable sources of energy. Therefore neither producer releases carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide or mercury into the atmosphere like traditional forms of electrical generation does. The sun produces more energy in one hour than the amount of energy used by the entire population in one year. Also development of 10% of ten of the windiest states could provide more than enough energy to displace emissions from coal fired power plants.
The initial cost of wind and solar is not cheap, but both have forms of energy systems have tax credits and solar systems have an additional Oncor rebate which brings the cost down significantly. Both systems are meant to be long term investments not quick pay off’s. The average break even period for solar and wind energy is around 11 to 12 years. After the system is paid off, you have many years of free electricity potentially saving you tens of thousands of dollars down the road. No one knows how much the utility rates are going to rise in the years to come, so wouldn’t it be nice not to have to worry about that.
Because of height restrictions, the wind systems are normally best suited in a rural area with at least an acre of land or more. The towers usually range anywhere from 15 feet high up to 60 feet high. The higher the turbine, the more energy usually produced. The general rule of thumb is to be 30 feet higher than any object within 200 feet for maximum performance. Maintenance on the turbine is very minimal usually just consisting of checking the blades and cone for cracks and keeping it lubricated.
The solar systems will be more likely to be found in the city. The most common form of installation is the roof mount, usually on the southern most exposure roof line, with ground mounts also available. The panels are mounted directly to the roof slats and are rated for 120mph winds. They can also withstand a direct hit from an inch and a half diameter size hail stone and are warranted for 25 years but often outlive the warranty by many years. Most solar systems are grid tie systems running directly into the fuse panel. For this reason many electric companies will pay you for the electricity that you are overproducing and pushing back into the grid when producing more than your house needs. Also with this system if the city power goes out the solar system immediately shuts down. This is a safety precaution for line man that could be working on the electricity lines, preventing the solar system from pushing electricity back through them. The other form is an off grid system. With this system the solar panels are pushing electricity into batteries to be stored and you are completely independent from the electric companies. These systems usually run a little more expensive because of the batteries and maintenance of them. The off grid systems are usually more suited for houses that do not already have electricity and bringing electricity to the house being very expensive.
