From milling grains, sawing wood and pumping water – we’ve been using traditional waterwheels to provide the necessary mechanical power to complete such tasks. Eventually improvements were made towards the efficiency of early models which led to the invention of the hydroelectric turbine in the 1800’s.

Hydroelectric power is driven by the natural cycle of water, which is broken down as follows:

• Solar energy causes plants to transpire, and water to evaporate from lakes and oceans
• The water vapor condenses into the clouds which produces precipitation
• Mountains receive a great portion of this precipitation
• This spawns the occurrence of downward flow into the rivers and streams
• The water is then driven from the streams to the oceans
• The moving water contains kinetic energy, which results in hydro power

To understand a micro-hydro system, we first need to look at larger scale hydroelectric power generation set up such as the Hoover Dam. A large system such as this diverts the water through turbines, which cause generators to spin and produce massive amounts of electricity. Due to the scale of such a project, there are obvious requirements for tremendous amounts of land in order to compensate for factors like flood control. Back in January 2007, The Energy Information Association (EIA) stated that 16% of the world’s electricity is supplied by large scale hydroelectric plants – this percentage has likely increased since then.

Micro-hydro can be defined, under general circumstances, as electricity generation with a capacity up to 100kW. Many of the systems which fall under this capacity are referred to as run-of-river, which don’t require an impoundment and diverts a fraction of the stream’s water through a pipe downhill passing through a small turbine.

Type of Hydro-electric systems

AC/DC Systems – The mass majority of micro-hydro systems use batteries to store the electrical energy. The water passes through a turbine, which drives the generator and charges the battery tank, and just like a solar powered system, the energy is then passed through an inverter which converts the DC power into Alternating Current – in order for the system to power common household items.

High/Low Lead Systems – A micro-hydro system and its potential energy output is determined by a combination of two factors: head and flow. Power can be generated from either a high head/low flow, low head/high flow, or any given amount in between. As it stands, high head is generally considered to be 10 feet or more, with specially designed systems required for heads smaller than the standard threshold of 10 feet – which is needed when there are large amounts of water required.

There are all kinds of renewable energy solutions that will provide an alternate source of heating for your home. Not only will switching to off grid alternative energy ensure that your home remains heated and powered during an oil or power crisis, but you will also save money – sometimes up to 40% depending on what energy source you are utilizing.

Oil Versus Alternative Energy Sources

Just like our current sources of energy, alternative energies are natural. The main difference between alternative energy resources and what we’re currently using is that alternative energy is renewable, where coal and oil are not. Another main difference is the price – most renewable energy resources are cheap, and will remain this way with some newer sources even becoming free. Below you will find a few alternative energy sources that you can begin incorporating into your home for heating:

• Corn, Rye and Wheat – All three of these energy sources can be purchased fairly cheap and by the bushel. You could even be proactive and turn unused land into a crop of your own alternative energy source. To burn corn, rye or wheat you will need to purchase a furnace specific to these fuels – once you’re set up you can get about 500,000 BTU’s per bushel.
• Solar Energy – The most popular off grid technique for energy and heating is using Solar panels and systems to pull energy from the sun. Hydronic systems are the most common for heating your home, as they act like a boiler and use the sun to heat the system’s water, which in turn heats your home.
• Geothermal Energy – Not as common as Solar Energy, Geothermal uses heat and energy from the earth. If you dig deep enough to a specific depth in the ground where the earth remains a constant 70 degrees. Rather than sucking every natural resource out of our planet, why not harness the natural heat from the planet itself.

Both Hydronic and Geothermal Energy systems use similar methods to heat your home. Tubes are inserted from the heating system and ran throughout your home, usually within your concrete or wood flooring. Within this series of tubes is a liquid, usually a water and anti-freeze mixture, which circulates in and out of the system receiving its heat from the source – either solar or geothermal. Most standard hot water heaters or pump systems can be used in conjunction with solar and geothermal heating set ups.

The goal is not to make your life more complicated by installing some sort of alien heating system that will require an abnormal amount of maintenance, but rather to install an efficient, cost effective and self sustainable home heating system that will utilize cleaner, renewable energy sources instead of the standard oil and coal sources that we’ve been using for ages. Yes, it will initially cost you a little bit more to get an efficient system installed and running – but we’re thinking long term, and there’s a good chance that within in the first year of using alternative energy for heating your home you will recoup the investment on the savings from your energy bill alone.

Alternative energy systems are more reliable, last longer, and will provide you with a constant energy source regardless of the world energy market situation. It’s definitely a win-win situation.

Solar powered outdoor Christmas lights use LED bulbs for illumination, and in most scenarios as long as the solar panel provided receives around 3 hours of direct sunlight during the day, your lights should remain lit throughout the entire night, and even into the next morning when they begin charging again.

I’m sure you can remember the classic movie National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, and the scene where he could not figure out why the lights wouldn’t turn on – well you’re not going to have that problem! Solar powered Christmas lights will turn on automatically at night, and charge automatically during the day. No wires, plugs or switching on and off.

Have you ever forgotten to turn off your outdoor Christmas lights before bed? Can you remember the feeling of waking up and realizing they were not turned off, and how sick you felt to your stomach thinking about your upcoming electric bill? That’s not a great feeling. Since the energy crisis of the 1970’s, people have been studying and seeking for alternative sources of renewable energy, and with the influx of Eco-friendly corporations you have more options than ever for finding stylish solar powered decorations for your home and Christmas tree. Speaking of stylish, you can still find your favorite rope or string arranged Christmas lights in the solar variation, and it’s not that uncommon to see your traditional star formation solar lights, butterflies, reindeer and Christmas trees available.

Most solar powered outdoor Christmas lights are a tiny bit more expensive than your traditional powered lights, but if you really stop and think about how going green during Christmas will benefit you, the choice should be easy to make. You can find standard solar powered Christmas light sets retailing between the $30-$40 per 40 feet of lighting range – which is not all that bad! If you take care of your lights and store them properly, they should last you twice as long compared to your old wall powered lights. So have an Eco-friendly Christmas this season and enjoy the feeling of knowing that you are saving time, money and worry by choosing to have a green holiday season!