Interest in alternative sources is riveted also because of environmental concerns. The natural resources currently used to produce electricity in the traditional way are gradually being depleted.
This is the decision of many homeowners, dictated by three factors.
It is also necessary to add to this the service maintenance of central power supply lines, the methods of which are outdated thirty years ago, and then the decision to use alternative energy sources in a private house will become irrevocable, convincing and motivating for specific actions.
Interest in alternative sources is riveted also because of environmental concerns. The natural resources currently used to produce electricity in the traditional way are gradually being depleted. Moreover, the intensity of the reduction of stocks causes alarm throughout the world community. At the same time, the demand for energy increases - the number of household appliances and equipment in each house requires huge resources. Already now, on average, energy costs reach 40% of the family budget.
Are such systems really necessary in a private house, if until now it has been possible to cope with the operation of traditional, although fearsome in their technical condition, power lines? In this matter, InnovaStroy specialists demonstrate their competence, conducting engineering work in private homes, including the installation of alternative energy systems.
How effective and, most importantly, necessary, can alternative energy source for home, can be judged by the description of its operational advantages:
The last point is usually of the greatest interest to those who have decided to install an alternative energy source for their home.
The financial advantages of alternative sources are manifested, first of all, in the ability to choose an energy supply system in an affordable price range, depending on the type of fuel resources used, technical characteristics, the authority of the manufacturer's brand and other conditions.
At the same time, the homeowner does not incur additional costs that are typical for centralized networks, including the cost of maintaining and repairing the central highway - he buys only the equipment that will provide energy only to his house.
As a consequence of all these priorities - a very fast payback of such energy sources. If we add here the possibility of making changes to private house project, and the low cost of such work in the InnovaStroy company, then the priority of alternative sources will become quite obvious.
The main technical advantage is that alternative energy source for home allows you to adjust and control performance at the discretion of the owner of the house. Another obvious "plus" is that the owner of the equipment can always turn it off as unnecessary - during a long absence, for example.
Maintenance of alternative energy sources is another advantage. Scheduled technical inspection depends only on the responsibility and desire of the homeowner. At the same time, you do not need to plan a day in order to adapt to the visit of a brigade from the central power grid service. If you need to replace equipment, this is also within the power and capabilities of the owner himself. Complete energy independence with its technical capabilities, which is provided by alternative energy sources in a private house, is also independence from government services, regulatory authorities, and their not always competent actions.
It would seem that such a technology for power supply of a private house should have long been forced out of the market by traditional centralized methods of providing energy. Why doesn't this happen? There are several arguments that testify not in favor of alternative energy. But their significance is determined on an individual basis - for some owners of country houses, some shortcomings are relevant and others are not at all of interest.
For large country cottages, the not too high efficiency of alternative energy installations can become a problem. Naturally, local solar systems, heat pumps or geothermal installations cannot be compared with the productivity of even the oldest hydroelectric power plants, thermal power plants, and even more so nuclear power plants. However, this disadvantage is often minimized by installing two or even three systems, using more power. The consequence of this may be another problem - their installation will require a larger area, which is not possible to allocate in all house projects.
For the uninterrupted supply of the number of household appliances and the heating system familiar to a modern house, a lot of power is required. Therefore, the project should provide for such sources that can produce such power. And this requires a solid investment - the more powerful the equipment, the more expensive it is.
In addition, in some cases (for example, when using wind energy), the source may not guarantee the constancy of energy production. Therefore, it is necessary to equip all communication with storage devices. Usually, batteries and collectors are installed for this purpose, which entails all the same additional costs and the need to allocate more square meters in the house.
While traditional methods require burning coal in volumes measured in tons per minute, the progressive part of humanity is trying to find a way out of the quite predictable energy collapse in the available natural resources. Gusts of wind, the energy of sea waves, the incredible power of solar radiation and other factors are gradually becoming at the service of man . Already now there is a classification of the sources of alternative energy and, accordingly, equipment for completing private house projects.
People managed to tame the wind already 40 years ago, when the first wind turbines appeared. In today's realities, such installations are becoming not only relevant and in demand - in some countries, equipping with wind power plants has become a trend for entire regions. In New Zealand, there are entire areas that consume the power of wind energy.
In our conditions, this trend has not yet acquired signs of such relevance and is in its infancy. However, windmills have already appeared in some private houses, producing electricity even with a weak wind movement - from 2 to 6 meters per second. In regions with strong wind gusts, it is enough to install a mast up to 15 meters high to provide several houses with affordable electricity. Where there are few such winds, higher masts are used - up to 30-45 meters with a large span of blades and their number up to 30 pieces.
The energy efficiency and economic viability of this type of alternative energy is striking. For example, just one wind turbine producing 1 MW of energy can save 90,000 tons of oil over a twenty-year period! The same device will eliminate the need to burn 30,000 tons of coal in the same period! At the same time, installation and operation costs pay off much faster than with the construction of traditional energy sources.
The efficiency of wind energy sources is somewhat overshadowed by the need to use batteries. With the variability and difference in the strength of the wind, the production of electricity by this source cannot be called stable. Therefore, it is necessary to accumulate its excess in batteries. The disadvantage of this method is that the cost of the batteries themselves takes up 25-30% of the total budget for equipping this alternative energy source. In addition, with frequent use, batteries have a short life span.
solar alternative energy sources for a private house more productive and more progressive in comparison even with wind turbines. Solar systems consist of solar collectors that receive solar energy and distribute it, as well as a system of batteries and a reservoir for the coolant.
There are two types of solar plants:
In the middle lane, tubular vacuum collectors are more relevant. The efficiency of the solar system is practically unlimited - according to scientists, about 150-300 W of solar energy per day falls on 1 square meter, which is equivalent to using 100 meters of cubic gas or 100-120 liters of diesel fuel. The advantage of this system is that such alternative energy sources for a private house can work even in cloudy weather, despite the absence of the sun.
The use of the energy of the bowels of the earth is another promising direction in modern energy. Energy production is carried out with the help of special devices - heat pumps. By pumping warm underground water and cooling it, such pumps take heat energy from it, converting it into electrical energy.
At the same time, they are able to provide themselves with electricity to maintain functionality. The coefficient of consumption and production of electricity is 1.6 units. Therefore, the allocated energy is quite enough to provide the consumer network and to operate the pump itself. It is also curious that during the generation of electricity, the coolant for the heating system can be heated at the same time due to the heating of the rotational elements in the design of the heat pump.
For example, for the production of biogas, autonomous systems and entire production complexes have been developed that operate by releasing energy from manure, vegetation waste, and even wood waste. Science is discovering new opportunities for using bioresources to produce energy. For example, research has recently begun on the storage of solar energy with the participation of ordinary algae. Sugar beet can be used to produce biofuels that could be used to run gasoline or diesel power generators. Similarly, such an alternative fuel is produced from rapeseed, soybeans and corn.
In recent years, interest in the use of alternative energy sources has grown, as a result of which projects using space technologies have begun to be implemented - numerous satellites can accumulate and transmit energy to the earth with stable characteristics. In addition, stations are being installed in coastal regions that generate energy due to the movement of waves. Another direction of modern energy is the generation of electricity from a thunderstorm.
As you can see, already now humanity has at its disposal quite real, efficient, highly productive modern sources of alternative energy for the home.
The task of designers, builders and even the developer himself is to choose the most profitable alternative system, taking into account climatic conditions, technical features of the project, the availability of a particular source. And only experienced and competent specialists from the professional staff of InnovaStroy can most rationally cope with this task. After all, it is not enough just to design a house - you need to design it. commissioning with the availability of alternative energy sources.
And the project itself must be prepared in such a way that these sources can harmoniously fit into the overall style concept, and fully comply with design standards, state standardization requirements and safety considerations. You can learn a little more about the principles, classification and methods of alternative energy sources from the proposed video materials, placed below.
Tariffs for "classic" energy carriers (gas, coal, gasoline, oil) are steadily increasing day by day. And this is understandable. After all, mankind has traditionally used non-renewable energy sources for a long time. And there are many of them in nature, but still a limited number. There will come a time when they run out. And you have to switch, at least on a private level, to something else. Making alternative energy sources for the home with your own hands is the best option for a private trader, the owner of a small building or a compact production that does not require huge energy costs.
Some scientists warn: the natural resources used by mankind may not be enough for the representatives of the living generations, not to mention the descendants! It has been estimated that in modern conditions an ordinary family spends up to 40 percent of its budget on paying for electricity, heating, gasoline for a car. And according to modest forecasts of economists, this share can grow up to 70%! Therefore, for many representatives of the so-called middle class (and not only), do-it-yourself alternative energy sources for the home are an excellent and very economical way out of the current situation.
In fact, almost any natural factor can be converted into energy. For example, the wind, the sun, the power of water, the heat of the earth's interior, the decomposition of biomass. The most popular use of alternative energy sources of the sun and wind. However, this issue has not been worked out sufficiently at the legislative level. Theoretically, all resources belong to the state. Therefore, using such types of alternative energy sources as wind power or solar radiation, most likely, you will have to pay a tax.
This kind has been used for a long time (a vivid example is windmills that existed in ancient times). About forty years ago, they actively began to build wind farms. Do-it-yourself alternative energy sources for the home (mini-wind generators), as a rule, consist of special blades for capturing the wind, connected to the generator directly or through a gearbox. It must be borne in mind that such a device is effective only in areas where there are constant winds (for example, on the coast of the sea). You also need to remember that windmills will be effective only with a mast height of fifteen meters or more (which is quite problematic in the private sector).
There are slow windmills. They are designed for wind speeds up to six meters per second and are characterized by the presence of many blades (sometimes up to thirty). Such devices are low-noise, they start even with a slight wind, but they have a low efficiency with a rather large windage. High-speed windmills use wind up to fifteen meters per second. They have three or four blades, are quite noisy and have high efficiency. Of all the species, they are the most common in the world. Rotary wind generators have the form of a barrel with a vertical arrangement of blades. They do not require orientation to the wind, but they have the lowest efficiency.
Installing windmills as alternative energy sources with your own hands is quite simple. First, you need to mark out a place for the mast in the yard or in a convenient place on the site where the wind is constantly blowing (having analyzed the location in advance). It is required to lay a solid foundation so that a high (better - more than 15 meters) mast is firmly held on the ground. A windmill (or several devices) should be chosen fast. You can buy it in a store, and for those whose hands have "grown properly" - make it yourself according to the corresponding drawings. There is now quite a lot of such information in the media and specialized literature.
Choose the option that, according to user reviews, seems the most reliable and feasible to use. At the time of connecting the machine, as experience shows, it is better to call a professional electrician. He will probably tell you how your windmill is connected correctly, even if there is a tutorial and instructions. And one more thing: in order to power several light bulbs and appliances (for example, a TV or a computer) from this energy, it will be necessary to install several windmills at once. So think about how much you can afford it. Do not forget about the main condition - the presence of a constantly blowing wind. After all, installing a wind turbine in a dense forest, as they say, is a waste of time and money. But in general, it is quite possible to make and install windmills as alternative sources of energy in a private house both financially and physically.
His energy is truly inexhaustible. And besides, quite promising in use. We all saw on TV the European versions of the "smart home", where heating, lighting, and water heating are produced through the use of solar energy. It is interesting that in one year so much solar radiation falls on the surface of soil and water that it (if fully used for energy production) would be enough for all mankind for many thousands of years! It remains, as usual, only to take what is "rolling" underfoot. And this is not so easy. The snag lies in the rather low efficiency of photoelectric converters and solar plants invented by mankind. But scientists are constantly working in this direction.
It is certainly possible (and even necessary) to make such high-tech devices as solar alternative energy sources for the home with your own hands. Just get ready for the fact that it will most likely not be so easy to do this, and you cannot do without certain skills or the help of a specialist!
The most expedient and simple use of devices is for heating water. Separate direct and indirect heating. Direct includes a variety of greenhouses, tanks for heating water in the sun, greenhouses, glazed loggias, verandas, for example. This type of heating allows you to use free solar energy to generate heat in any convenient place: on the roof, in any open space. Non-freezing liquids (antifreeze) are used as a heat carrier, and the subsequent one takes place in storage heat exchangers. From them, water is also taken for heating and domestic needs.
By the way, there is a children's designer "Alternative Energy Sources" ("Expert"), which allows you to collect up to 130 projects. Children over the age of five can also join the creation of windmills, use mechanical, water, solar energy to generate electricity.
Development has led to the creation of solar cells as the most efficient way to use the sun's radiation. This kind of panel is a system of semiconductors that converts solar energy into electricity. Such systems provide uninterrupted and reliable, cost-effective supply of electricity to a private house. They are especially effective in hard-to-reach areas. For example, in the mountains, where there are many sunny days a year, and the "official" supply of electricity is absent or suffers from irregularity. Or in an area where there are frequent interruptions in the supply of electricity from the main source.
Such an installation has the following advantages:
The challenges of alternative energy sources such as solar panels are:
Alternative energy sources - solar panels - are mounted quite easily with certain skills. First you need to select the necessary materials for the design. We will need high-quality solar cells (from mono- or polycrystalline silicon). It is better to take those whose work is effective even in cloudy weather - polycrystals, readily available in a set. We buy cells from the same manufacturer so that everything is compatible and interchangeable. You will also need conductors connecting the photocells. The case is made of its dimensions are determined by the number of cells. For an external covering - plexiglas. For mounting on the roof of the house we use self-tapping screws. For soldering wires - an ordinary soldering iron. In general, nothing "military". With the help of a good instruction, as a rule, attached to the kit, you can figure it out yourself. In extreme cases, invite a neighbor in the country as an assistant.
The issue of electricity production has not lost its relevance over the years. It seemed to scientists that with the advent of nuclear power plants, humanity would receive an unlimited amount of energy and would never ask this question again. But everything turned out to be somewhat different - the reserves of U 235 uranium necessary for nuclear power plants are not endless, and already now in many countries, even in the USA, its shortage is felt. There are methods for obtaining other necessary fuel, for example, plutonium P 239, by artificial methods, but this is far from enough. It comes to the point that it is necessary to use previously created nuclear weapons to extract the embedded nuclear charge from them in order to use them at stations.
To solve the energy issue completely, many developers have turned their attention to alternative sources of electricity.
These traditionally include the following:
Consider the use of these alternative sources of electricity in more detail.
By means of solar rays, approximately 1000 kW of power is transferred to Earth annually, which is equal to the energy that is released during the combustion of 100 liters of diesel fuel. This is a fairly large number, and its development occupies the minds of many modern researchers. The best option today for using solar radiation are solar panels, often combined into large blocks of several dozen, so-called panels. The principle of operation of such products is simple - photons from the rays of the sun, passing through the batteries, create a potential difference on the semiconductor material, which causes the movement of current in the electrical circuit.
A typical battery of this kind, having a surface area of 60-80 cm 2, in good sunny weather, can provide a current of about 1 A, which is enough to charge a mobile phone, listen to the radio and other simple tasks. If you build a large panel of 40–50 such elements, then you can get, respectively, an energy source for 40–50 A of current and 20–25 V of voltage. Such power will be enough already for more serious tasks: lighting a room, charging a car battery. To cover the needs of a private house in electricity, the entire surface of its roof is covered with such solar panels.
Solar alternative power generation is a good option for generating electricity, but the method has several drawbacks, the main among which are the high cost of organizing your own power plant, as well as complete dependence on weather conditions: in case of cloudy weather, the generated power will be very small.
Windmills are widely used in many developed countries of the world: Holland, Denmark, Japan, USA and others. Their use is especially effective in mountainous areas or on sea coasts, where strong winds are constantly raging. The power of a modern power plant from wind generators is enough to cover the needs of large agricultural facilities remote from civilization, or the infrastructure of small cities.
The design of the windmill is as follows: it has blades of a certain shape, which are rigidly connected to the rotor of the generator installed inside. As the blades move, the rotor rotates and the generator generates electricity. The larger the blades, the more they create rotation, the larger and the more often the wind occurs in a given area, the more the electric generator will produce electrical energy. It is estimated that the minimum wind speed at which a wind generator can operate is about 2 m/s. If the constant wind speed is more than 8-10 m / s, then the generated electricity will be enough to power the electrical network of a private house.
The disadvantage of this method is that the battery included in the system fails rather quickly (due to too frequent charge-discharge cycles), and its cost is a significant part of the entire wind turbine. Structural parts can be damaged from the wind, which will require regular repairs.
Increasingly, you can see how people equip windmills for the home. Despite some difficulties, they are able to work with goals and bring many benefits to the owner.
Deepening into the bowels of the Earth showed: under the layers of the surface - a high temperature. This can be seen in such phenomena as, for example, geysers - fountains of hot water gushing out of the ground. The heat of the earth also belongs to alternative energy sources - it is very convenient to use it with a heat pump. True, it is worth noting that the operation of the pump also requires the supply of a certain amount of current, but, as practice shows, the ratio of the power spent on the operation of the pump in relation to the heat received from the bowels of the earth is approximately 1: 4–1: 6, which completely covers the costs and makes this method very advantageous.
The principle of implementing this method is also quite simple - a well is drilled to the zone of elevated temperature in the ground, where a heat pump is then installed. It serves to cool hot underground water, and as a result of this, additional energy is released, which is sent to the consumer through special communications.
The benefits of using this method of generating electricity are obvious, but there is also a significant disadvantage - for a house with an area of 150 m 2, you will have to spend about 20-30 thousand dollars on the necessary work and equipment.
The use of biomass has gained considerable popularity in recent years. Its essence lies in the fact that from various biomass (bard, bird droppings, manure and other similar substances) during fermentation, a special gas is released called cellulosic ethanol. Here, alternative electricity can be obtained by simply burning the gas thus obtained.
To realize this idea, scientists have developed special biogas plants, which are now sold at fairly affordable prices. It is most beneficial to use them for various farms, where biological waste is an integral part of the production cycle. Once spent on a biogas construction, a farmer can get an excellent source of gas close to natural, which in the end is easily converted into both heat and electricity.
Another interesting alternative energy source that is widely used in maritime countries. Due to natural ebb and flow, the water is constantly moving. If water turbines are installed at a certain depth, they, using this movement of water masses, will generate quite a lot of power. It is noteworthy that even considering the low speed of water from the ebb and flow, water turbines can show high efficiency. This can be seen in the world's largest tidal power plant, located in France and capable of delivering as much as 240 MW of power.
As a conclusion, it is worth saying that these are not all possible ways to obtain current. They are constantly being improved and developed, but the greatest practical result was achieved precisely by these methods. They are already able to make a worthy alternative to traditional options for generating electricity, and in some cases completely replace them.
For owners of private houses, there is an opportunity to significantly reduce utility bills or not use the services of heat, electricity and gas providers at all. You can even provide a considerable economy, and if you wish, you can sell the surplus. This is real and some have already done it. For this, alternative energy sources are used.
In fact, energy, in one form or another, is practically everywhere in nature - the sun, wind, water, earth - there is energy everywhere. The main task is to extract it from there. Humanity has been doing this for more than one hundred years and has achieved good results. At the moment, alternative energy sources can provide the house with heat, electricity, gas, warm water. Moreover, alternative energy does not require any super skills or super knowledge. Everything can be done for your home with your own hands. So what can be done:
All alternative energy sources are able to fully meet human needs, but this requires too large investments and/or too large areas. Therefore, it is more reasonable to make a combined system: to receive energy from alternative sources, and if there is a shortage, “to get” from centralized networks.
One of the most powerful alternative energy sources for the home is solar radiation. There are two types of installations for converting solar energy:
Do not think that installations work only in the south and only in summer. They work well in winter too. In clear weather with snowfall, energy production is only slightly lower than in summer. If your area has a large number of clear days, you can use this technology.
Solar panels are assembled from photovoltaic converters, which are made on the basis of minerals that, under the influence of sunlight, emit electrons - they generate an electric current. For private use, silicon photoconverters are used. In their structure, they are monocrystalline (made from one crystal) and polycrystalline (many crystals). Monocrystalline have a higher efficiency (13-25% depending on the quality) and a longer service life, but are more expensive. Polycrystalline ones generate less electricity (9-15%) and fail faster, but have a lower price.
This is a polycrystalline photoconverter. You need to handle them carefully - they are very fragile (single-crystal too, but not to the same extent)
Assembling a solar battery with your own hands is not difficult. First you need to purchase a certain amount of silicon photocells (the amount depends on the required power). Most often they are bought on Chinese trading platforms such as Aliexpress. Then the procedure is simple:
A few words about why the substrate for the solar panel (batteries) should be painted white. The operating temperature range of silicon wafers is from -40°C to +50°C. Operation at higher or lower temperatures leads to rapid failure of the elements. On the roof, in summer, indoors, the temperature can be much higher than +50°C. That's why white is needed - so as not to overheat the silicon.
Solar collectors can heat water or air. Where to direct the water heated by the sun - to hot water taps or to the heating system - you choose. Only heating will be low-temperature - for underfloor heating, what is required. But in order for the temperature in the house not to depend on the weather, the system must be made redundant, so that, if necessary, another heat source is connected or the boiler switches to another energy source.
There are three types of solar collectors: flat, tubular and air. The most common are tubular, but others also have a right to exist.
Two panels - black and transparent - are combined into one body. Between them is a copper pipeline in the form of a snake. From the sun, the lower dark panel heats up. copper is heated from it, and from it - the water passing through the labyrinth. This way of using alternative energy sources is not the most efficient, but it is attractive because it is very simple to implement. Thus, you can heat water in. It will only be necessary to loop its supply (using a circulation pump). In the same way, you can heat water in a container for or use it for domestic needs. The disadvantage of such installations is low efficiency and productivity. It takes either a lot of time or a large number of flat-plate collectors to heat a large amount of water.
These are glass tubes - vacuum or coaxial - through which water flows. A special system allows the maximum concentration in the tubes of heat, which is transferred to the water flowing through them.
The system must have a storage tank in which water is heated. The circulation of water in the system is provided by a pump. Such systems cannot be made on your own - it is problematic to make glass tubes with your own hands and this is the main drawback. Together with the high price, it hinders the widespread adoption of this source of energy for the home. And the system itself is very efficient, with a bang it copes with heating water for hot water supply and makes a decent contribution to heating.
Scheme of organizing heating and hot water supply from alternative energy sources - using solar collectors
In our country, they are very rare and in vain. They are simple and easy to make by hand. The only negative is that a large area is required: they can occupy the entire southern (eastern, southeastern) wall. The system is very similar to flat-plate collectors - a black lower panel, a transparent upper one, but they directly heat the air, which is forced (by a fan) or naturally into the room. Despite the seeming frivolity, in this way it is possible to heat small rooms during daylight hours, including technical or utility rooms:, cottages, sheds for living creatures.
Such an alternative source of energy as the sun gives us its heat, but most of it goes "to nowhere". To catch a small fraction of it and use it for personal needs is the task that all these devices solve.
Alternative energy sources are good because they are mostly renewable resources. The most eternal, probably, is the wind. As long as there is atmosphere and sun, there is also wind. Maybe for a short period the air will be still, but not for long. Our ancestors used wind energy in mills, and modern man converts it into electricity. All that is required for this:
The tower is built any, from any material. A storage battery is a battery, you can’t imagine anything here, but where to supply electricity is your choice. It remains only to make a generator. It can also be bought ready-made, but it is quite possible to make it from an engine from household appliances - a washing machine, a screwdriver, etc. You will need neodymium magnets and epoxy resin, a lathe.
On the motor rotor we mark the places for the installation of magnets. They must be at an equal distance from each other. We grind the rotor of the selected motor, forming “seats”. The bottom of the recess should have a slight slope so that the surface of the magnet is tilted. Magnets are glued to the carved places on liquid nails, filled with epoxy resin. The surface is then smoothed with sandpaper. Next, you need to attach brushes that will remove the current. And that's it, you can assemble and run a wind generator.
Such installations are quite effective, but their power depends on many factors: wind intensity, how well the generator is made, how effectively the potential difference is removed by brushes, on the reliability of electrical connections, etc.
Heat pumps use all available alternative energy sources. They take heat from water, air, soil. In small quantities, this heat is there even in winter, so the heat pump collects it and redirects it to heating the house.
Heat pumps also use alternative energy sources - the heat of the earth, water and air
Why are heat pumps so attractive? The fact that having spent 1 kW of energy for its pumping, in the worst case, you will receive 1.5 kW of heat, and the most successful implementations can give up to 4-6 kW. And this does not contradict the law of conservation of energy in any way, because energy is spent not on obtaining heat, but not on pumping it. So no inconsistencies.
Heat pumps have three working circuits: two external and they are internal, as well as an evaporator, a compressor and a condenser. The scheme works like this:
The heating circuit is best done in the form of a warm floor. Temperatures are the best for this. The radiator system will require too many sections, which is ugly and unprofitable.
But the biggest difficulty is the device of the first external circuit, which collects heat. Since the sources are low-potential (there is little heat at the bottom), large areas are required to collect it in sufficient quantities. There are four types of contours:
The main disadvantage of heat pumps is the high price of the pump itself, and the installation of heat collection fields is not cheap. In this case, you can save money by making the pump yourself and also laying the contours with your own hands, but the amount will still remain considerable. The advantage is that heating will be inexpensive and the system will operate for a long time.
All alternative energy sources are of natural origin, but you can only get a double benefit from biogas plants. They recycle animal and poultry waste. As a result, a certain volume of gas is obtained, which, after purification and drying, can be used for its intended purpose. The remaining processed waste can be sold or used in the fields to increase yields - a very effective and safe fertilizer is obtained.
The formation of gas occurs during fermentation, and bacteria living in manure are involved in this. Any livestock and poultry waste is suitable for biogas production, but cattle manure is optimal. It is even added to the rest of the waste for the "sourdough" - it contains exactly the bacteria needed for processing.
To create optimal conditions, an anaerobic environment is necessary - fermentation must take place without oxygen. Therefore, effective bioreactors are closed containers. In order for the process to proceed more actively, regular mixing of the mass is necessary. In industrial plants, electric mixers are installed for this, in self-made biogas plants, these are usually mechanical devices - from the simplest stick to mechanical mixers that "work" by hand.
There are two types of bacteria involved in the formation of gas from manure: mesophilic and thermophilic. Mesophilic are active at temperatures from +30°C to +40°C, thermophilic - at +42°C to +53°C. Thermophilic bacteria work more efficiently. Under ideal conditions, gas production from 1 liter of usable area can reach 4-4.5 liters of gas. But maintaining a temperature of 50 ° C in the installation is very difficult and costly, although the costs justify themselves.
The simplest biogas plant is a barrel with a lid and a stirrer. The lid has an outlet for connecting a hose through which gas enters the tank. You won’t get much gas from such a volume, but it will be enough for one or two gas burners.
More serious volumes can be obtained from an underground or above-ground bunker. If we are talking about an underground bunker, then it is made of reinforced concrete. The walls are separated from the ground with a layer of thermal insulation, the container itself can be divided into several compartments, in which processing will take place with a shift in time. Since mesophilic cultures usually work under such conditions, the whole process takes from 12 to 30 days (thermophilic cultures are processed in 3 days), therefore a time shift is desirable.
Manure enters through the loading hopper, on the opposite side they make an unloading hatch, from where processed raw materials are taken. The bunker is not completely filled with biomixture - about 15-20% of the space remains free - gas accumulates here. To drain it, a tube is built into the lid, the second end of which is lowered into a water seal - a container partially filled with water. In this way, the gas is dried - already purified is collected in the upper part, it is discharged using another tube and can already be choked to the consumer.
Anyone can use alternative energy sources. It is more difficult for apartment owners to implement this, but in a private house you can at least implement all the ideas. There are even real examples of that. People fully provide for their needs and considerable economy.
The lack of developed infrastructure in remote areas often forces owners to look for alternative energy sources for their homes. Technologies do not stand still, such things are no longer something exotic and hard to reach. In this article, you will find out what the market offers today as a replacement for connecting to the central power grid.
Energy is always present in the environment in one form or another. These are the wind, the radiation of the sun, the flow of water, the warmth of the earth. It remains only to use them and transform them into the one that is needed. Consider what sources of alternative energy allow you to do this.
The principle of operation is based on the ability of electronic devices called photocells to convert the photon energy of sunlight into electrical energy. This example of alternative energy is the most common.
Batteries produced for private use use silicon photocells. They are of two types:
Advantages of solar panels:
Their disadvantages are the high cost of equipment, which pays off for a long time, and dependence on the intensity of sunlight. If the sky is overcast, the power of the photocells is reduced.
They are a combination of a wind turbine with blades mounted on a special mast and an electric generator. When air flows through this installation, the blades begin to rotate under their influence and set in motion the inner shaft connected to the gearbox.
This design allows you to increase the initial rotation speed. The gearbox is connected to a generator, which, when the rotor rotates, generates an electric current. Its surplus accumulates in installed batteries.
Depending on the location of the axis of rotation, wind turbines are divided into horizontal and vertical. The first type is more popular. Many models are equipped with an automatic turn in the direction of the wind, which significantly increases the efficiency of the installation.
The advantages of these devices are in many ways similar to solar panels. Efficiency can range from 25% to 47% depending on the specific model and weather conditions.
The operation of the wind generator does not depend on the time of day. All you need is the wind, and the stronger it is, the better. The cost of equipment is relatively low, but installation costs can be much higher.
The main disadvantages are noise during operation and low-frequency infrasound, which adversely affects health. For this reason, the mast with the device should be installed as far as possible from housing.
Various waste products are used for work, for example, from domestic or farm animals and birds. In a sealed container, they are treated with anaerobic bacteria, which in turn release biogas.
To make the process go faster, the waste must be periodically mixed, for which a manual or mechanical mixer is used.
Biogas enters a special storage, called a gas tank, where it undergoes shrinkage. Then it is used as ordinary natural gas. Fertilizer can be made from the waste left after processing.
Modern technologies for generating energy using biogas plants allow you to do this without performing unpleasant actions. Their main advantages:
The disadvantages include the following:
It is more correct to call them an alternative source of heat. Are intended for the organization of heating and hot water supply of the house. They consume electricity, so they must be used in combination with other types of alternative energy.
The principle of operation is based on the ability of substances such as freon to boil at low temperatures. When it turns into a gaseous state, thermal energy is released. The installation consists of external and internal circuits, as well as a pump circuit. The outer one is buried underground or sinks to the bottom of the reservoir.
The freon circulating through it is heated under the influence of the environment, in the pump circuit under high pressure it passes into a gaseous state, as a result of which the temperature rises to 70 ° C. The internal one carries the coolant heated in the pump around the house.
Heat pumps are very efficient and able to provide hot water and heating all year round. At the same time, electricity costs are minimal - with a consumption of 1 kW of electricity, an average of 4 kW of heat energy is released.
Let's figure out which alternative energy option is better. Solar panels are the most preferred option due to their simplicity and environmental friendliness. However, they do not operate at night.
Wind generators are well suited for areas where strong winds constantly blow. They function both day and night, but if the air flows weaken, the efficiency becomes zero. The best option is a combination of these two devices. Then you can be almost 100% sure that you will never be left without electricity.
Opt for a biogas plant if you keep cows, pigs or chickens on the farm, or if there is a farm nearby where you can take waste for processing.
And if you need hot water and heating, add heat pumps to your home system. They are not demanding in maintenance, there is no need to buy and store fuel somewhere, as is the case, for example, with a solid fuel boiler.
