Posted by Gary Hubbard
on 02/1/2011
The buzz today is about renewable energy, producing power from the sun, the wind and the earth. All of these methods show a great deal of promise to help us reduce our carbon footprint .However while we wait for more economical ways to produce power from renewable energy sources there are plenty of cost effective choices that could help us right now.
It is much easier and more cost effective to save a kW than it is to produce a kW.
As an example a recent press release from a solar power panel manufacturing company was celebrating the fact that they were successful in reducing the cost of manufacturing panels to only one dollar per watt!
Of course this does not include installation or retail purchase of the panel and all of the required connections, wiring and other products that would be needed to hook these panels into the electric grid. Providing you have enough sunshine the best estimates at this point put the cost of solar power to be at a minimum of three dollars and twenty cents per watt.
Wind generation is headed for the magic one dollar per watt territory but it is all about location. If you do not have average wind speeds above 7-8 mph (less than 30% of the United States) the amount of power you could produce will be limited increasing the cost per watt.
Geothermal can produce power for as little as one dollar per watt but could cost thousands of dollars per watt depending on location as well.
You do not have to wait for the renewable technologies to mature. The simple act of changing your lights from the least expensive (incandescent lamp) to the most expensive (led lamp) can be done today for under the magic one dollar per watt in any location.
If a good 60 watt incandescent A lamp cost $2.00 and a light output comparable 12 watt LED A lamp costs $39.95 the energy saved would be 38 watts at a cost difference of $37.95 that is less than 1 dollar per watt. That is three times more cost effective than the very best solar power generation system and all you have to do is screw in a light bulb. ( So easy a caveman could do it!)
Reduce your carbon footprint save electricity and money today simply by changing you light bulbs.
