Kitting out your home with solar panels and wind turbines can make a huge impact on your energy bill and the environment. But it’s not something that most people can just do on a whim. A full solar panel installation can cost up to $22,500 and take up to 15 years to break even for the average American. But you don’t have to go the full renewable hog right away. There’s plenty of small scale options available to whet your appetite in the green energy realm. Check out five of our favourite renewable energy DIYs for your home.
1. Solar USB Charger
Solar energy is one of the most popular renewable energies for home use. The entire planet is solar powered, so why not harness some of it for your own personal use? The sun sends more energy to earth in one hour than the entire earth consumed in 2021. A simple DIY solar charger can be an easy way to start capturing some of the sun’s energy.
DIY Solar Charger Instructions
- DIY Solar USB Charger (Footprint Hero)
- DIY Altoids Solar USB Charger (Instructables Circuits)
- DIY Solar Phone Charger (Solar Energy Hackers)
Solar energy works by converting light from the sun through the photoelectric effect. Home solar panels capture UV light, even on cloudy days, and generate power for use. Any excess power can be stored in batteries for when the sun’s down. It’s unlikely you’ll have much, if any, excess from a small USB charger but something to get familiar with if you want to upgrade eventually.
2. Solar Water Heater
Continuing on the solar theme, next on our list are solar water heaters. Solar water heaters are most commonly used to preheat water rather than fully heat it. This mightn’t sound like the most effective use of energy but according to EnergyStar preheating with solar can cut your energy bill in half. By using a green energy source like solar, you reduce the amount of fossil fuel energy needed – a win for you and the environment.
DIY Solar Water Heater Instructions
- Easy DIY Solar Pool Heater (Anika’s DIY Life)
- DIY Solar Water Heater (Krostrade)
- Home-Made Solar Hot Water Panels (Eco-Ants)
One of the simplest solar water heaters, a coil of black hose, is often seen around pools. The hose absorbs the sun’s heat transferring it to the water and heating the pool. It’s not so effective that you can use your pool in winter but it does help reduce your reliance on a pool heater.
3. Water Wheel
Next on our list of renewable energy DIYs for your home is a water wheel. This option isn’t for everyone since you need access to running water, like a river or stream, but it can be a good energy source for those that have it. The water wheel is an ancient invention, developed in the Middle East in the first century BC. It was a key source of energy for pre-industrial activity from the Middle Ages through to the nineteenth century.
DIY Water Wheel Instructions
- DIY Waterwheel-Based Power Generator (Interesting Engineering)
- DIY Rain Gutter Water Wheel (Quint BUILDs)
- DIY Undershot Water Wheel (Build It Solar)
Water wheels are made by attaching paddles to a wheel. The wheel is then attached to machinery (in the olden days) or a power generator or dynamo. The force of the moving water against the paddles causes them to turn the wheel and generate power. Larger scale water wheels can produce between 84-144 kWh of power per day. Considering a US household only uses an average of 30kWh per day, a small DIY water wheel might be worth exploring first.
4. Pedal Powered Charger
Next on our list of renewable energy DIYs for your home is a pedal powered charger. Remember those dynamo lights that you’d attach to your bike wheel and they’d work just from cycling? Well the same concept applies here. Generating electricity from pedalling isn’t going to run your entire house but it can generate between 5 – 20 watts. The average mobile phone charger uses about five watts, so you can charge about four phones.
DIY Pedal Powered Charger Instructions
- DIY Bicycle Generator (Pedal Power Generator)
- DIY Bike Generator (Instructables Circuits)
- DIY ‘No-welding’ Pedal-Powered Generator (Renewable Energy Innovation)
Companies like Spinetics and K-Tor have products for sale that generate electricity from pedal power. Pedal Power has a desk-bicycle generator combo that allows you to generate electricity as you work. But you can also make a home-made version yourself. With so many of us working from home these days, why not generate some free electricity while you work.
5. Mini Wind Turbine
Last on our list of renewable energy DIYs for your home is a mini wind turbine. Wind power is the second most popular renewable energy available, producing 6% of global electricity in 2020. The power generated depends on where you live and how windy it gets. Some can power their entire homes with wind, others use it as a supplementary energy to solar. It all depends on what renewable energy you naturally have access to. But wind turbines work best when the wind is above 10 mph.
DIY Wind Turbine Instructions
- DIY Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine (Applied Sciences)
- DIY Wind Generator (Instructables Workshop)
- Easiest DIY Wind Generator (Robert Murray-Smith)
Wind turbines work in a similar way to water wheels. Instead of water, wind turns the blades of the turbine around a rotor, spinning a generator and producing electricity. While a small home wind turbine isn’t going to power your entire home, you can still use it to power garden lights, power tools, charge phones and laptops. You can potentially generate between 200 – 600 kilowatt hours per year, depending on your wind speed.
Sustayn is designed to present the most useful recommendations for environmentally friendly approaches and items. We update links when possible, but note that links can be broken and subject to change.
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