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Green Energy Guides

There is one major thing that all eco friendly homes have in common. It is the fact that they are largely, or sometimes totally, off the grid.

What this essentially means is that these homes generate most, or sometimes all, of their own electricity using renewable technology. This page is going to focus on this aspect of sustainable home design. More specifically, we're going to look at the different options home owners have when it comes to renewable energy solutions.

Solar Eco Friendly Homes

Solar is by far the most popular home made renewable energy supply currently used in eco friendly homes.

The technology has advanced considerably over the last ten years to be a lot more user friendly.

It's now possible to buy all of the parts and assemble the solar panels yourself. You can even do the wiring yourself, or get an electrician to do the final part for you.

You can get the parts straight from the manufacturer or look around for re-sellers and second hand parts. If you go online, places like Amazon have a wide selection of parts and panels to choose from.

Building your own photovoltaic panels will only cost you a few hundred dollars per panel.

However, if you're willing to spend a bit more you can get solar panel kits for around a thousand dollars which already have all of the parts ready. You just need to put them together and install them.

The top end of the scale involves getting a renewable energy franchise or professional manufacturer to custom make and install your system.

This option goes for wind power and magnetic power also.

A lot of eco friendly homes get these systems installed during the design and build, thereby masking the cost of such a system.

However, for a retro fit system you can expect costs for a small system of twenty grand to a full scale off the grid system for a hundred grand.

The price is high but it's a lot easier and generally comes with a guarantee.

Personally I'm not really an advocate of the expensive option as I can see the low-cost option is where the future of the market is. DIY is more affordable and exciting.

Wind Eco Friendly Homes

Wind power is something that a lot of eco friendly homes have as an add-on to whatever solar power they have.

There aren't many homes which can run solely off of wind power.

The power source is generally too dependent on the prevailing winds.

The good news is that you can make your own wind turbine very easily and more importantly, very cheaply!

If you live in a area where there is even the slightest bit of breeze, it really is worth considering getting a cheap windmill up.

A lot of eco friendly homes are using more than one source of renewable energy these days and wind is a very good option.

Magnet Eco Friendly Homes

One of the least known power sources comes from small electro magnetic generators.

Also known as perpetual motion devices, these motors produce a relatively small level of electricity.

However, many eco friendly homes still have one or two of these devices because they have the added advantage of being able to work continuously and permanently, regardless of weather conditions and other external factors.

Another good thing about these generators is that they are portable so you can take them camping or on road trips.

There isn't currently any domestic models in production, however there are detailed plans with videos and parts lists available for you to make your own portable magnet generator.

U.S. And CA Off The Grid Homes Network Present

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