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1). A Key Element In Solar Panels - Efficiency While solar energy is most often associated with the production of electricity, heating is also a major platform. While heating isn’t particularly difficult, efficiency in doing so is the key to saving wear and tear on your system. A Key Element In Solar Panels - Efficiency The sun produces a ton of energy, but solar pane... 2). Alternative Home Designs - Atriums Building a home for yourself is the American Dream. For some people, it is important to build something unique. Alternative Home Designs You’ve worked your rear end off and reached a financial status where you can do some dreaming. One dream is to buy some land and build a home on it. You’ve found the perfect plot, and no... 3). Alternatives to Fiberglass Insulation When building a home, insulation is one of the major aspects that can cut future heating and cooling costs. Fiberglass insulation has been the primary choice, but not anymore. Alternatives to Fiberglass Insulation People have become much more sensitive to environmental and energy savings issues when building homes. Whereas... 4). An Overview of Solar Cells Through The Years When solar cells first came on the scene in the 1950s, they were simple. Now, there are a wide variety of cells and more are coming as technology improves. An Overview of Solar Cells Through The Years Solar cells are the basic component of any active system used to convert sunlight into a form of energy. Traditionally, so... 5). An Overview of Wind as an Energy Source Wind is one of the cleanest, if not cleanest, renewable energy sources available to us. What most people don’t know is it is also the fastest growing energy sector. Wind is an indirect version of solar power. Different surfaces on the Earth react differently to being hit by sunlight, particular in regards to heat. As sunlight heats up ... 6). Asia, Africa and Climate Modification As often seems the case, less developed countries seem to receive the bulk of the impact when it comes to negative world developments. The third world and climate modification is no different. Third World and Climate modification By definition, climate modification impacts the globe as a whole. That being said, is it possi... 7). Biomass: Heating Your Home With…Corn? With fossil fuel prices expected to continue increasing, many people are nervous about future heating bills. Using biomass as an alternative is becoming particularly popular. As strange as it may sound, corn is a popular fuel. Not Just For Movies Anymore As mentioned by President Bush in his State of the Union speech, the... 8). Climate Change – What is it? Climate change is an amazingly simple phrase for such a complex subject. Following, we have a go at defining climate change in today’s terms. Climate Change – What is it? In the current day lexicon of scientists, climate modification isn’t really a term of use anymore. The reason for this is that we have come to understan... 9). Climate Modification and Volcanoes Climate modification is a multi-faceted and complex subject. In this article, we take a look at the relationship between climate modification and volcanoes. Climate Modification and Volcanoes The climate modification debate is a nasty one. Parties pick their positions, dig in and refuse to listen to the rants of the other... 10). Concentrating Sunlight for Energy One of the consistent problems with solar platforms has been the inefficient conversion of sunlight to electricity. New technology and strategies are dealing with this issue. Concentrate, Concentrate Traditional power generating plants work by using a fuel, often fossil, to heat a liquid until it expands or turns into a g... 11). Cooking With The Power of the Sun Many people understand the concept of passive solar for heating a home. Fewer realize it can be used in to cook food and sterilize water. Cooking With The Power of the Sun A solar oven is pretty much what it sounds like. It is used to cook food and sterilize water. Most people do not even know they exist, but they are an e... 12). DIY Methods to Save on Utilities If your utility bill is out of control, you need to consider ways to tame the beast. There are plenty of do it yourself [DIY] ways to save on utilities. DIY Methods to Save on Utilities Utility costs for heating, cooling and electricity are near record highs. Worse, they are expected to rise fairly dramatically over the ne... 13). Do You Realize You Already Use Biomass Fuel in Your Vehicle The call has gone out from President Bush to kick our oil habit. For many people, the mention of biomass as a fuel source was a new concept. Little did they realize they have already been putting it into their cars. Nope, that isn’t your dad’s gas anymore. There are Plants in My Gasoline? In his State of the Union speech,... 14). Energy Department Kicks in $119 Million for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle Research President Bush has indicated it is imperative to kick America’s oil habit. In conjunction with this goal, the Department of Energy has just announced a $119 million dollar research initiative. Money for Research and Development Obviously, automobiles are the basis of America’s oil addiction. Everyone seems to have at leas... 15). Financing Residential Solar Power Although competition is driving prices down, solar panel systems can require you departing with a chunk of change. Fortunately, the mortgage industry wants to talk to you. Financing Residential Solar Power If you are considering improving your home with a solar panel system or the hot new thin solar roofing systems, you n... 16). Heating Your Home With Solar, But Without Panels With rising energy costs and massive stress on our electrical grids, solar is gaining in popularity. Not everyone realizes you can heat your home without buying big panel systems. Heating Your Home With Solar, But Without Panels – Gain You can use solar energy to heat your home through a concept known as gain. While you ma... 17). Historical Advances in Producing Electricity From the Sun When politicians start talking about renewable energy, you know we have problems. Solar energy is a significant renewable energy and here is an overview of how the technology has developed. Historical Advances in Producing Electricity From the Sun Solar electricity is simply energy produced by harnessing the sun. It comes... 18). Home Improving with Solar – The Important Concept of Gain You’ve decided to pursue a solar home improvement, but aren’t so keen on the idea of putting panels on your roof. No worries, you just need to understand the concept of gain. I Gotta Gain Some Heat I’ll cut to the chase – gain refers to how you generate heat for your home without solar panels. You can think of it as gaini... 19). Huff and Puff – Power Your Home with the Wind The fastest growing alternative energy platform in the United States is the wind. No, I’m not blowing hot air. Cheap and Productive Manipulating the wind to generate electricity for your home is cheap, easy and very misunderstood. First, you don’t have to live in the middle of tornado alley to generate electricity from th... 20). I Want Hot Water and I Want It Now! Give me convenience or give me death. When this cliché is applied to water in a home, we are talking about water heaters that produce hot water immediately. I Want Hot Water and I Want It Now! There are certain types of water heaters that provide hot water only as it is needed. They don’t have tanks holding and continuall... 21). Is Biomass Really a Clean Energy Resource? As we strive to find alternative energy resources, many potential solutions are on the table. Biomass energy is one such solution or is it? Biomass energy is unique in that it has existed in primitive forms since the early days of mankind. Burning wood in a cave is a form of biomass energy, which is simply the conversion of an organic... 22). Methane and Potential Impacts on Global Warming Methane is a gas found on most planets with atmospheres. In limited amounts, it isn’t a particularly problematic gas. In larger amounts, however, it can become a regulator of atmosphere temperatures. Methane and Potential Impacts on Global Warming Methane is fairly common gas found in nature. It is produced from both natu... 23). New York Green Building Initiative As is occurring in many states, New York is trying to promote Green Building practices. The state is doing it by offering tax credits as financial incentives. New York Green Building Initiative The concept of green building isn’t particularly old and has arisen as a result of a better understanding of the impact of buildi... 24). President Bush Goes Solar Environmentalists throughout the world are still in shock. Who would’ve every thought President Bush would push solar energy? The Initiative As you undoubtedly know by now, the President George Bush announced it was time to start weaning ourselves from our oil addiction during his State of the Union speech. As with anythi... 25). Solar For Your House: Learn The Lizard Lesson Using the power of the sun to provide heat or light in your home can be done a couple of ways. In this article, we look to lizards for a basic solar lesson. Solar For Your House: Learn The Lizard Lesson Nature is a funny thing. If we pay close attention to it, we can often find the answer to many questions. Solar is no di... 26). Solar Gadgets – Gotta Love Them It has been claimed that our nation is infatuated with a variety of things from civil rights to freedom. Bah! If we are honest, we will admit we are infatuated with gadgets. Solar Gadgets – Gotta Love Them Forget the oil addiction, our biggest weakness as a nation is we are fools for gadgets. If it peels an onion 56 diffe... 27). Solar Home Improvements and Tax Deductions Going solar is all the rage these days with massive financial incentives fueling the fire. Here’s a little trick to write off an additional part of your solar system purchase. Financing Your Solar Improvements Improving your home with a solar panel system is financially advantageous these days. The federal government, mos... 28). Solar Home Improvements without Panels You’ve grown tired of paying monstrous electric bills and have decided to go solar. Solar panels, however, aren’t exactly your taste. Don’t worry, you can go solar without them. Solar panels are used to convert sunlight into electricity, which can be used to light and heat a home. They are not, however, the only method for accomplishi... 29). Solar Projects – Should You Do Them Yourself? With increasing fossil fuel prices, solar is becoming a popular option. If you have a solar project in mind, the first thing you have to determine is whether you should build it yourself. Solar Projects – Should You Do Them Yourself? In the late 70s, the world suffered through an oil crisis. Oil dependant countries reacte... 30). Solar Rebates American’s love rebates. Whether rebates are offered on computers, software, cars or whatever, we snatch them up. If your considering going solar, you’ll be happy to hear rebates are available. Solar Rebates As most people know, a rebate is a give back by a company in exchange for the purchase of their product. Rebates us... 31). Solar: Will It Ever Power Our Vehicles As solar power has matured as a technology, companies have started applying it to more than just houses. Acting as an energy platform for our transport was an obvious application. Solar: Will It Ever Power Our Vehicles As an active technology, one of the first uses for solar power was on NASA spacecraft. Although not used... 32). Swamp Coolers – A Different Way to Cool Your Home Known by the humorous name of “Swamp Coolers,” cooling systems based on evaporation have been around forever. Here’s a primer on evaporative cooling. No swamp is needed. Swamp Coolers – A Different Way to Cool Your Home Swamp coolers are based on the natural process known as evaporation. Importantly, they only work in low... 33). Taking Solar Into Account When Designing Your Home Improvements Using the sun to heat up a home is growing by leaps and bounds in popularity these days. To really save money with solar, the best way is to design your home or improvements with solar in mind. Taking Solar Into Account When Designing Your Home Improvements In this case, we are not talking about using active solar panels t... 34). The Solar Decathlon Every other year, the U.S. Energy Department holds a solar decathlon for teams from various universities around the world. The winning team receives a $100,000 grant over two years. A Contest of a Different Sort The solar decathlon is an interesting strategy for promoting research and development on solar technology by the... 35). Time to Heat the Pool Again - Cheaply As we slowly leave winter behind, it is time to start heating the pool up again. Here are some tips on how to do it without heating up your utility bill. Time to Heat the Pool Again - Cheaply If you have a pool, you know heating it can run your utility bill through the roof. It takes a lot of energy to get such a large am... 36). Using Incense to Save on Your Utilities If your utility bill is out of control, you need to take dramatic steps. Yes, it is time to use the inherent power of incense. Stick with me on this one. Getting Metaphysical With Your Home – Well, Sort of. Okay, you are seeing the words incense and utility in the same sentence and wondering why. Don’t worry. We will not... 37). Using the Sun to Power Your RV Jumping in your RV and leaving the rat race for the weekend is an American tradition. Did you know you can provide power to your RV with the sun while getting away from it all? The Sun is Everywhere! One of the biggest misconceptions regarding solar power is that it is limited to large panel systems on roofs. Au contraire!... 38). Ways to Prevent Climate Modification Climate modification is essentially the excessive heating of the planet, which results in dramatic climatic changes. So, are there ways to prevent climate modification? Ways to Prevent Climate Modification In many ways, the climate modification debate is benefiting from the current highly volatile issues concerning energy.... 39). Why Use Biomass for Our Energy Needs The last five years has seen a revolution in how governments, people and industry view energy. The positive aspects of biomass energy have come to the forefront in this discussion. Why Use Biomass for Our Energy Needs: The Pros The primary positive aspect of biomass is it is part of the biocycle of life. This means it isn... 40). Windows and Killer Utility Bills Does your utility bill leave you in tears? Does your family walk around wearing all their clothes so you can avoid cranking up the heater and wiping out your bank account? Those beautiful windows are killing you. Hate Paying Taxes? Do you hate paying taxes? Everyone does. At least you only have to do it once a year. If yo...