If you haven’t heard all the talk about Renewable Energy, you must have been living in a cave for the last 10 years. Even so, if you were in a cave I am sure someone would have told you about solar energy, wind power or hydro power. These are all examples of renewable energy, that are being used in to days world and with the concern of Global Warming, at no other time in our history has this concept been more important. Governments to homeowners are all looking for alternatives to carbon producing coal and oil, and this effort has been further boosted by the rising prices of energy making all of us look for alternative ways to heat and light their home.

Solar Electricity, electricity from the sun!

From sunrise to sunset the sun produces an unimaginable amount of energy each and every day, and all you have to do is tap into that energy. You can use a solar collector to help heat the water in your home or use a Solar cell to convert the sun’s energy to electricity, and if you have ever used a solar calculator I am sure you understand the idea. This has moved on from the calculator to cells helping to providing power to homes, cars, street lamps, cell phones the list is endless. You will find solar cells helping provide power from the Artic to the equator.

Wind Energy

For thousands of years man has harnessed the power of the wind, it used to be the only way a ship could get across the oceans. You will have also seen windmills that harnessed to power of the wind to grind grains or to pump water. Nowadays we are harnessing the power of the wind to create a clean source of electricity in all parts of the world. Wind Farms have been appearing all over the countryside, and can produce enough electricity to power thousands of homes. They are surprisingly simple in how they work, the blades of the windmill and connected to an electrical generator through the use of gears and shafts, that mean when the blades turn electricity is created by the generator.

Water Power

Water power is another example of renewable energy that has been used for hundreds of years. The earliest machines were waterwheels, which back then, provided power for grain mills and lumber cutting. Hydroelectricity, as it is now called is the same principle but on a larger scale, the power of the water is used to turn turbines to produce electricity. Hydro power produces an impressive 60% of the electricity in Canada today, unfortunately, the United States are nowhere as close.

For the home owner the simplest ways to get started in producing alternative energy is to look at solar power or wind power, there are now a multitude of options available to get started with. Remember you don’t have to start big, as big changes usually come from lots of small ones, so what small change are you going to make today.