Renewable Energy Components

Once you have learned what your basic energy needs are, you're ready to learn how to meet those needs with energy collection systems (e.g. solar panels, wind turbines) and systems that allow you to store and manage your own electricity. Other sections cover energy collection systems in depth so for now, let's concentrate on energy stoarage amd management.

We begin with a discussion on the four essential elements of your home power plant or power center :

Charge Controllers - Whose job it is to manage the power being delivered to your home for storage and use. Inverters - Whose job it is to deliver clean, AC electricity for your home needs from the... Batteries - Because batteries occupy such an important role in your power center, we have broken the topic into several sub-topics: Cycling, Voltage and Charge, Maintenance and Configuration & Installation. Monitors - What you use (and how you use it!) to evaluate the performance of your power center.

After discussing the components of your power center, we turn to:

Refrigeration and Appliances - The roles they play in your power needs and how you can reduce their impact. Backup Generators - Do you need one? We'll explain when you might need one and tell you how to incorporate it into your system. Grid Intertie Systems - Using Solar to offset your energy expenses without going off-grid or investing in a power center