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From the monthly archives:

January 2009

What Are Solar Shingles? Renewable Energy For The Home


With the rapid advancement of solar power we are now seeing new products enter the market containing “integrated solar panels”.

For example, solar shingles. Essentially, these are ordinary roof shingles which are made out of photovoltaic materials. They perform the same function as an ordinary roof shingle, but have the added capability of producing electricity.

The advantage of these thin “solar panels” is that they can now be integrated right into one’s building materials – so instead of having solar panels on your roof, you would now have a solar roof.

Aside from being more desirable from an aesthetic standpoint, this also eliminates the need for the installation of bulky and heavy “traditional solar panels”.

How are Solar Shingles Made?

Advancements in solar power technology, such as the inventions of solar ink and other combinations of semi-conductors, have made it possible to combine or include photovoltaic materials in with a wide range of other products and materials. Solar cells no longer need to be made out of bulky heavy weight silicon panels, but can in fact be printed on just about any type of material – such as plastic, metal, and others. Researchers have even found ways to produce organic photovoltaics, though that is at the moment still in a purely experimental phase.

Benefits of Solar Shingles

- Attractive style

- Fully integrated shingle roof

- Lower electric bill

- Free electricity

- Pollution-free power

- Increased home value

- Protects the environment

- Exceptionally durable

- Great investment

- Significant state cash rebates available

- Federal tax incentives available

Costs and Financing

To be honest, right at this moment solar shingles might still seem expensive to some, but as any new technology develops its products become cheaper with time. However it does look as though the cost will be considerably lower than installing a comparable set of conventional solar panels. In one recent example, the entire cost of a solar shingle installation on a home was about $16,000, with a $12,000 tax rebate. This brought the entire cost to only $4000. Not only is that considerably lower than the usual cost involved in installing a home solar power system, but one has to keep in mind that the cost of tiling or shingling a roof is covered at the same time. These are, after all, shingles as well as solar panels.

Clean energy cash incentives and tax rebates are available at a federal level, and most states also have a clean energy or sustainable energy source rebate program. This, combined with energy savings, does make them affordable, and will in most cases pay for itself over time.

You can find more information about solar power at Solar Energy and you can find a variety of solar power products at our Solar Power Store.

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Build Your Own Solar Power Generator And Start Saving Cash


DIY solar panels are a wonderful idea for your house and for the world.

By using the renewable energy that the solar panels make, saving a big amount of money on energy costs is easy and it can be as much as an 80% saving! This type of natural energy is used in many places already. It is being utilized more and more, not only in people’s houses, but also in commercial and for industrial energy supplies. There are even energy pumping stations and some telecommunications equipment that employ the energy created by solar panels.

As well as being a wonderful tool for saving money on energy bills the environment and as such is often termed ‘green power’. As well as saving money it is very environment friendly too.
Solar panels are a series of photovoltaic cells; these essentially generate an environmentally friendly energy source from the sunlight. This energy is termed ‘solar power’. The get the most advantageous performance for this type of power production is by ensuring that the panels are exposed to the sun for as much of the day as possible, this system works best in moderate rather than severe temperatures – on the other hand it will work in extreme climates too. The solar panels are normally mounted on rooftops, though it is possible to position them on special stand alone frames as well. The most important part of installing solar panels is to be certain that they are placed where they will get the most exposure to the sun and to avoid any shade if feasible. Clearly the more sunlight that they are exposed to, the more power they will produce.

When producing your own solar cells for your solar panels, great care must be taken to build it correctly to be sure that the maximum efficiency is realized. There are several products available now that make it very easy for just about anyone to produce their own solar panels. DIY solar panels are easy on the pocket to produce and with the right advice and materials, it is feasible to begin saving money on power bills almost straight away. In addition to that, if enough electricity is created there are many places where it is feasible to sell the excess power back to the power company!

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Researching Stock Market News to Avoid The Home Lending Market


The federal government has finally succeeded in passing the $700 billion dollar rescue bailout as the new format passed over the former rejection coming from the House in the bill’s initial review. With the stock market news clamoring to see different a better investing environment, the bailout plan ought to go to good hands. There is actually so much more to hope for; after all, there is plenty of good to be done with a bailout fund. These banks, being the major beneficiaries of the fund, have so much to prove that they are worth the taxpayer’s investment.

When we consider what happened, the stock market news then creates a clear picture of these financial industries being rescued that have turned out to be selfish, unyielding companies that can’t return the favor to the taxpayers who actually saved them from bankruptcy. They must have already forgotten that the $700 billion bailout fund also came from the pockets of the middle class taxpayers who only want little assistance in refinancing their house loans. What the government can do is to regulate lending and borrowing scheme to a more reasonable payment process that will mutually consider the bank and the borrower’s current financial situations. It could come to a point where banks could be very stubborn by ignoring the “law” as it will cause them to lose significant profit but the major goal of the bailout should first put the welfare of the majority on top of anything.

The stock market news regarding the mortgage defaults create a huge tension with the homeowners. This is due to the fact that the bailout bill has not specified clear provisions on the process and extent of saving properties from foreclosures. Whatever these lenders had in mind—that is certainly not to get them back into debt again. They believe that it’s almost suicidal for these companies to re-offer mortgages at the expense of losing significant percentage of the principal amount borrowed. This was, however, partly what the bailout suggests. Funds were given to these banks to give them room to get bad assets off of their books, and to help small-scale investors who have been directly hit by the economy’s credit crisis. The outcome turns out to be the opposite: banks were given financial aid to solve their ailing problems but are not enthusiastic in helping out common citizens to obtain better terms on mortgages.

Ironically, while the Americans want aid, these banks have tightened the requirements for eligible borrowers, further making it difficult for these borrowers to regain control over their nearly foreclosed properties. While the Federal Housing Administration assures help for almost half a million troubled homeowners, the banks and other lenders still worry about the bailout’s succeeding house programs that will require the banks to cut the borrowers’ loans to about 90% of the principal amount. Whether the banks would yield to the government’s bailout rules or not, they have to keep in mind that the only way to resolve the country’s credit crisis is to watch each others’ back—this equally pertains to the lenders and the borrowers.

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