Renewable sources of energy are the future of technology and many big companies, as well as many governments, seek opportunities to go as green as possible in the shortest possible time.
There are many reasons for this – from the ability to provide a variety of energy sources and thus become less dependent on one of them, to the ability to save money in the long-term perspective, to the ability to earn a positive reputation.
Some people are even sincerely interested in a greener and safer future for themselves, their children, and humanity as a whole.
But at the same time, green energy is now associated with extra expenses, unreliable technologies – because you can’t control whether the weather is sunny enough for your solar panel or not – and the need to get used to a new way of life.
To be honest, these points are partially true but partially, oil and gas corporations use these stories in the media to scare people off the renewable sources of energy, especially in their everyday lives and in their homes.
In this post, we will see whether and how renewable energy technologies can be used at home.
Solar Energy
Solar panels are not a novelty anymore for at-home use; many people have them on their houses’ roofs, or, if they have enough space near the house, they build small solar farms in their yards and gardens.
Even if you live in an apartment and don’t have a big patio or roof you can use, many small panels are handy enough to put on the windows or under the windows on the wall, pretty much like people put their satellite dishes.
If you like in a sunny place and your apartment has lots of sunny hours per day, you can use solar panels as a comparatively affordable and easy-to-maintain technology that makes you less dependent on the electricity provided by the city.
Hydropower Energy
People that live nearby rivers or that have rivers going through the lands they own can use or can make small systems of lakes in their lands and can think of getting small hydropower plants to alternate their energy sources.
However, people who don’t own enough land, or live in apartments often believe they cannot use hydropower energy, but they are wrong.
What can easily be used in a house or even an apartment is the so-called gray water energy. Using running water in the shower, when cooking, washing dishes, running washing machines, and flushing the toilet means there is enough water moving around the system to power electricity production.
For this, small devices are placed in the pipes, and when you use running water for any activity in the house or apartment, these devices produce electricity. Of course, this is not much per occasion, but if you accumulate it you can use it when the power is off in the town, etc.
Wind Farms
Wind farms are comparatively widespread, efficient, and become popular among private households. Unfortunately, using wind farms in apartments individually is not an option.
But if you have a private household and you live in a windy place, a small wind farm can be a reliable and very renewable source of energy almost on a constant basis.
Having only one or two windmills is not efficient; depending on your location and the space you have for them, you may be recommended to get several smaller windmills or two to five bigger windmills.
Windmills are very stable and have a wide range of wind regimes when they can work efficiently. Only during full calm or during a hurricane, the wind farm will not produce electricity.
Biomass Gas
Biomass gas is produced from plant and animal residues that release combustible gas in the process of fermentation. Then, the gas can be burned and used for heating, cooking, etc.
Surprisingly, biomass gas can be produced even in the apartment if you have enough space for a small special plastic bucket to place the plant residue and food leftovers in. You can’t do that in a regular bucket but you will need a special one.
Then, you will have to store the gas; most people use inflatable bags for biogas to avoid the process of compressing it for storage.
If you live in a private household, the task is even simpler because you can have a big reservoir for plant residue, collect lots of gas and store it conveniently.