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So yeah, unless you\u2019ve been living under a stone you\u2019ve heard a million times about using solar panels to power your home. <\/p>\nSo yeah, unless you\u2019ve been living under a stone you\u2019ve heard a million times about using solar panels to power your home. <\/p>\n
But what if you can\u2019t afford their hefty up-front cost? <\/p>\n
Well, fortunately solar panels aren\u2019t the only way to use renewable energy to power your home. And you don\u2019t have to be financially well off either. <\/p>\n
Here are some other ideas to use renewable energy and save money on your electric bill at the same time: <\/p>\n
1. Solar Water Heating and Air Conditioning<\/strong><\/p>\n These two systems are among the leading consumers of energy around your home. <\/p>\n Solar water heaters and air conditioners never actually generate electricity for your home itself. <\/p>\n Instead, they use solar panels to collect electricity and run it directly to those appliances. <\/p>\n Solar powered water heaters heat a reserve of water. Solar air conditioning also uses heated water to keep your home cool. <\/p>\n Both save you a ton of electricity. But neither cost nearly as much as installing your own solar panel system. <\/p>\n 2. Use a Rechargeable Battery to Store Energy <\/strong><\/p>\n Batteries like the Tesla Powerwall can store several kWh of electricity when prices run low. <\/p>\n Then, when the prices rise because of greater demand, you use the battery\u2019s electricity rather than that from your REP. <\/p>\n It\u2019s not technically renewable energy. However, you can score nice savings going this route. <\/p>\n Batteries like this are technically designed to store electricity gathered by solar panels, but they can also be connected to your local grid too. <\/p>\n 3. Use Solar-Powered LED Lights and Device Charges<\/strong><\/p>\n Ok, so this one is decidedly smaller-scale than the others. You\u2019ll power a light or device that consumes far less electricity than many other appliances. <\/p>\n But, every little bit counts. <\/p>\n You can get power banks that you run to an inverter to power small kitchen appliances like your toaster, blender, coffee make, and slow cooker. <\/p>\n Your smaller technological devices can also operate on energy from solar collectors with power banks (like your smartphone or tablet PC). <\/p>\n And in the case of LED-based lighting with a solar collector, you don\u2019t have to pay any attention at all.<\/p>\n Maybe this is one you use to teach your kids about energy savings! <\/p>\n