Renewable Energy: What's the First Step?

Reader Contribution by Staff

Many people using renewable energy at home will tell you that if you’re interested in installing a solar or wind system to generate electricity, a good first step is to start cutting your electricity use. For example, you might want to start by installing compact fluorescent light bulbs, getting in the habit of turning off lights when you leave the room, plugging all your appliances into easy to shut off power strips, or any of dozens of other proven ways to cut your electricity use.

Why Energy Efficiency is Exciting To be honest, cutting your energy use doesn’t have the romantic appeal of immediately installing solar panels or a wind turbine to generate all your electricity, but I think there are two good reasons to get excited about the idea.

1. You can start doing it today. Renewable energy systems are an investment, and financial or other personal circumstances may prevent you from purchasing one right now. But there are lots of simple, painless ways you can start cutting your electricity use around your home right now.

2. It can save you a bundle of cash down the road. The size of a renewable energy system to meet all your electric needs varies a lot, depending on how much electricity you use. If you cut your use of electricity first, you can buy a smaller, less expensive system that still meets your needs.

No, Seriously… It Saves Thousands of Dollars I’ve written before about how useful the Find Solar Web site is for getting rough estimates of the cost of a solar-electric system. You don’t even have to have exact numbers from your electric bill to get an idea of how much a PV system for your home might cost.

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