Solar Power Lighting

There are numerous applications for solar power lighting but probably the two most important are: (1) lighting our households and (2) making life more agreeable in outdoor situations such as camping. This article will attempt to provide simple and pertinent information about these two functions..

Lighting for the outdoors such as when we are out camping is usually provided by small petrol engine driven generators. These are fairly expensive to buy and to run. They are also noisy and smelly, to say nothing of their pollution. Solar power lighting on the other hand is less expensive (as a do-it-yourself project), far more portable and is totally non-polluting. The downside is that batteries required to store the power generated from the sunlight so that it is available at night. Admittedly these batteries are heavy to handle but no more so than a petrol or diesel engine generator set.  

Solar power can also be used to generate electricity for the household. This is becoming a more common practice due to the falling prices of solar panels and the increasing prices of the power supplied by utilities. The solar panels are usually placed on the house roof and could cost as much as $20,000 to supply the needs of an average household. This is very much a ballpark figure as there are so many variables involved. For example many people these days build their own solar panels to provide solar power lighting simply because this can be done for as little as 25% of the cost of a commercially built product. 

There are a number of excellent e-books available on the Internet that provide step by step directions for constructing your own solar panels and wind turbine generators and these are well worth reading.
If you're considering going green, remember the federal government is providing a 30 percent tax credit for homeowners who install renewable-energy solutions. There is also pending legislation at the state level for additional incentives.