Can You Cut Your Fuel Bills With DIY Renewable Energy?

With every hike in the price of electricity, more and more people start to think about whether they should be using renewable energy to supplement their regular power supplier.

What kind of renewable power you decide to use will very much depend on where you are in the world. If you enjoy a reasonable climate and the sun shines for much of the year, you'll likely decide to use solar energy.

If you're in a colder part of the world, it's more likely that you'll turn to wind power instead.

Both solar and wind power have their plus and minus points.

Pretty obviously, solar power only works in daylight, even if the efficiency of modern solar cells means the sun can be hidden from view. If you live in a hot climate, the sun will be shining at the time you most need your power for air conditioning and other such items. In cooler climates, solar power almost certainly won't be your only option, although we still use power in the summer months, when output will be higher, or solar power could contribute to running your computer in the day, your fridge and even some evening lighting for your garden or patio.

Likewise, wind turbines need at least a breeze in order to operate but they'll also have an upper limit of windspeed, beyond which they won't operate - if the wind falls below a certain speed, they won't operate, if the wind is too fast then the wind turbine may fail to operate as well. Wind power also brings with it occasional times of no wind at all, so you'll need a battery or regular power connection for such times. This problem also means that unless you have your own storage, you shouldn't totally go off grid power if you rely on wind.

Once you've decided on the type of renewable energy you want, the next decision is whether to buy an off-the-shelf product or go for DIY renewable energy. You can get a set of comprehensive renewable energy instructions to help take you down this path if you like, there's also a big advantage that DIY renewable energy will typically cost hundreds of dollars less than shop bought equivalents.