In today’s economy, with America’s increasing consumption of electricity and natural resources, the possibility of an inexpensive, renewable and reliable energy source is seen by consumers as a breath of fresh air. That’s where wind energy comes in.

According to the Department of Energy, modern wind turbines can convert winds in most U.S. states and coastal waters into reliable, clean electricity. While wind today provides only a small percentage of our national electricity needs, it is an immense homeland energy resource and is the fastest-growing energy supply technology.

The United States has an abundance of potentially viable wind resources-onshore and offshore-estimated at over 2,000 gigawatts (GW). To put this into perspective, 350 GW of installed wind capacity would represent about 20 percent of our nation’s current electricity demand. This is similar to the level of electricity produced from the nation’s nuclear or natural gas-fired generation today.

Today, the nation’s “wind farms” generate over 9,000 megawatts of electricity-enough electricity to serve more than two million households. Smaller wind systems are being used to generate on-site power and provide additional power to local utilities, and the market is expanding at over 20 percent annually. However, wind power represents more than just competitive electricity. It offers:

• rural economic benefits from project development;

• a hedge against volatile natural gas prices and planned use of imported liquid natural gas;

• cost-effective clean air compliance option for businesses and communities;

• strong potential partner for other domestic power industries including coal and nuclear; and

• a renewable option for producing hydrogen for transportation fuels.

Wind energy is a homegrown energy source that contributes to national security by reducing America’s dependence on oil and natural gas-most of which are imported from other countries. In addition, unlike most other electricity sources, wind turbines don’t consume water. For instance, irrigation and thermal electric generation use 77 percent of all fresh water in the U.S.; wind turbines, on the other hand, don’t use water at all. That makes wind energy a great choice for drought-stricken communities in rural America.

Using the power of the sun is becoming increasingly attractive from an economic and environmental aspect. If youre going solar, you need to know the components.

Solar Components

While generally considered electric platforms, solar systems definitely have unique components. Heres some of the jargon you are going to need to be familiar with before buying.

1. Photovoltaic Cell This is the key piece of any solar platform. Known as a PV cell, it is typically a small cell containing a silicon substance under glass. When the sun hits the cell, the silicon undergoes an electrical reaction that creates a charge. The charge is collected by small wires. Depending on the nature of the cell, each should produce roughly half a volt.

2. Solar Panel A collection of solar cells joined as a unit in a frame. A single panel typically is insufficient to produce enough energy to power anything of significance in your home.

3. Solar System Also known as a photovoltaic system, a solar system is an interconnected set of solar panels. This is what you see on the roofs of home or other areas around homes and buildings. A solar system converts enough sunlight into electricity to provide most or all of the power required by a home.

4. Orientation Before installing a panel system, one has to give some thought regarding where to put it. The sun tracks across a structure in a particular way. To maximize the energy production, the panels have to be oriented to receive the maximum amount of sunlight. This, of course, results in the maximum amount of electricity.

5. Direct Current A type of electricity that flows in only one direction. Solar cells produce direct current electricity.

6. Alternating Current Electricity that flows in both directions. AC power is used by utilities and in practically all appliances and machines in a home.

7. Inverter A key component in a solar panel system. The inverter converts the direct current produced by the solar panels into AC power that can be used in the home or fed back into a utility power grid system.

Obviously, there are a wide variety of systems for converting sunlight into power. Making yourself familiar with the above components is a good place to start.

Youve made the decision to go with solar energy for your energy needs. In going solar, you need to know who is who. Lets take a closer look.

Who is Who?

Companies in the solar energy industry come in two main forms. One set provides the systems you need to produce solar energy on your own. A much smaller subset will sell you a form of clean energy.

If you want to skip putting solar panels or shingles on your home, you need to find a company that will sell you power just like a utility. Unfortunately, there isnt any nation wide company that solely provides solar electricity to customers. If youre willing to look a bit broader, Green Mountain Energy Company may be for you.

Green Mountain Energy Company is a cleaner electricity company. It only buys power produced from wind, solar, biomass, water, geothermal and natural gas. The power is then fed into regional power grids and you tap it from there. The advantage of Green Mountain is you are using cleaner power than a typical utility company, but not completely clean as you find when generating solar power yourself. The biggest downside to Green Mountain is you are still paying utility bills, often more than you would pay to the utility company in your area. That being said, Green Mountain is really the only company of its type.

When people refer to providers, more often they are discussing manufacturers and installers of solar energy systems. In the case of solar energy, there are a few big industry leaders.

BP Solar is one of the largest producers for solar energy solutions for residential, commercial and industrial platforms throughout the world. The company is a true leader in the field and provides simplified solutions for homeowners by combining the sale of solar energy systems with full installation. A very popular company with many homeowners.

Somewhat surprisingly, General Electric is one of the biggest producers of solar energy solutions. The company offers high end commercial solutions and custom made solutions using crystallized silicon solutions. It also offers pre-packaged systems for residential homes.

On the other end of the scale, Uni-Solar is the creator the new solar roof shingles that are gaining popularity with consumers, businesses and government agencies. The shingles sit flat on homes like regular roof shingles, getting rid of the bulky solar panel appearance. The Uni-Solar product is considered a fairly major break through in solar power.

Solar companies come in all types and forms. You can visit our site in the byline of this article to find companies in your area that provide the particular solar solutions you need.

Hardwood floors are beautiful but anyone who has been through a hardwood floor refinishing project knows just how difficult it can be-dusty, toxic and generally unhealthy. That’s why most homeowners vacate their homes during the process.

Fortunately, that’s changing, thanks in large part to companies with an environmental focus. For example, BonaKemi, whose Environmental Choice System™ featuring dust containment and waterborne finishes recently became the first system certified for indoor air quality by Greenguard. An industry-independent, nonprofit organization, the Greenguard Environmental Institute (GEI) works to improve public health and the quality of life through programs that improve indoor air. The Greenguard Certification program for low-emitting interior products establishes acceptable air-quality standards and testing protocols for indoor products.

Because homeowners want to be assured that their health is not compromised by the dust and toxic fumes associated with traditional hardwood floor refinishing, the latest dust-containment systems connect the sanding equipment to a high-powered vacuum, which extracts the dust generated during the sanding process.

But dust containment is only half of the equation when it comes to maintaining indoor air quality. Using an environmentally sound floor finish is the other. The most modern floor-finishing products are waterborne, which means they have no toxic fumes, are virtually odorless and nonflammable, yet feature superior durability over their more toxic counterparts.

“Refinishing hardwood floors with waterborne products and sanding with dust-containment equipment creates a healthier environment for not only the hardwood flooring contractor, but the homeowner as well,” said Marilyn Black, Ph.D., of Air Quality Sciences, a third-party indoor air quality-testing company that was part of the GEI team certifying the BonaKemi system.

Some people who have studied global issues would say there was no such thing as global warming and it is all a big hoax. However, others disagree and believe that since the industrial revolution, we are having a negative affect on our environment.

The best place to start is to look at what we have already been led to believe.

The Greenhouse effect is the relationship between the earth and the sun. The sun provides the earth with the heat and energy it needs and the earth releases back that energy into space.

The greenhouse effect comes into play as the gases in the earth trap that energy so that it cannot be released back into space therefore, warming the earths environment.

The greenhouse effect is a natural process and vital to our survival, without it, the earth would be cold.

Gases such as Methane, Carbon dioxide and water vapour all trap energy from the sun and enable the warming of the earth.

It is commonly known that plants provide Carbon dioxide (C02), but not so commonly known that plants also remove carbon dioxide.

This is because, when a plant dies and is buried into the earth, these plants become fossil fuel which is coal and oil.

When coal and oil is burned, this then removes the carbon dioxide from the air around it.

200 years ago, before machinery was invented and cars filled our streets, global warming wasnt an issue.

The natural gases which came from the earth would trap energy to warm the earth, however, since the industrial revolution, more gases are being produced, which means more energy is trapped and result is global warming.

Activists and researches cannot agree as to whether or not humans are causing global warming, but I think we can all agree that when something unnatural occurs, it affects the natural.

If we are producing more gases than what is known as natural, then you would expect that this would have an affect on our environment, but whether or not this affect is causing global warming, well, we will have to leave that down to the scientists.

It is said that in the last century the earth has warmed by 1%, although this is not a massive amount, it still could be an unnatural 1% which would have an effect on the earths climate.

The truth of the matter is, the earth works in a certain way that even the best scientists in the world cannot fathom it. We can never assume we know it all just as we cannot 100% rely on what we already believe we know as there could be many unknown factors that have not been taken into account.

It is natural to believe that we are having some kind of affect on our environment in comparison to 200 years ago, but is the cause of global warming? I guess we couldnt say either way, but what we do know is that we need to keep it in mind and do what we can to help our environment.