| A common route to take when you decide to | | | | spin backwards. There are some things that you |
| switch over to renewable energy is a "Grid-Tie" | | | | should know about this setup though. You will |
| setup. What this means is your house is tied in | | | | have to check local laws to see whether this type |
| with your renewable energy system and tied in to | | | | of system is allowed, and you will have to check |
| the power grid. The reason this is such a popular | | | | with your energy company to see whether they |
| route to take is that it allows you to move to | | | | will allow you to run this type of system. Lastly, |
| renewable energy as you can afford it. | | | | you will need a licensed electrician to do the setup. |
| The beauty of a grid-tie system is that it can be | | | | This way has several advantages though. You |
| configured two ways. The first way is to set up | | | | don't need to initially spend a huge amount of |
| your system with solar panels and wind | | | | money to get up and running, and expanding |
| generators and hook them up to a battery bank. | | | | simply means hooking another solar panel up. You |
| This battery bank is then hooked up to an | | | | also don't have to do any re-wiring to your house. |
| inverter and powers some of the appliances in | | | | As time goes on you can add solar panels faster |
| your home. This system costs more and is | | | | because your electricity bill has gone down, and |
| harder to install for several reasons. Firstly, you | | | | after it reaches $0 you can start buying batteries |
| need to do some re-wiring of your home to | | | | for the storage system. |
| integrate you renewable energy system. This | | | | For those of us who can't afford to make the |
| requires a licensed electrician and can be a time | | | | switch to off grid living all at once this is the way |
| consuming process. Secondly, you have to buy a | | | | to go. It allows you to build your system one |
| battery bank to store the electricity that you | | | | piece at a time as you can afford it. It may take |
| generate. | | | | you 2-5 years to get running completely on |
| The second setup which is more cost effective | | | | renewable energy, but it is definitely worth it. |
| and easier in the long run is to simply wire your | | | | If you'd like more information go to my website |
| system directly into the power grid. What this | | | | There is information regarding everything to do |
| means is that the electricity you produce is being | | | | with renewable energy. |
| fed through your meter. It's really cool to watch it | | | | |