Electricity bills have been getting more expensive for a long time but it has now got to the stage where power is playing a major factor in the household budget. The rising cost of power in conjunction with the environmental problems created by burning fossil fuels, is forcing more people to think green and look at the possibility of creating their own renewable power supply.

Constructing your own solar panels or a wind turbine is very tempting but how feasible is it? Can a home made solar panel or home made wind generator really produce a real difference to a typical household power bill? Or are they just fanciful dreams and urban myths?

There are several variables that impact the answers to these questions. The answer will depend on where you live and the extent that you wish to go with your home power system.

One of the primary factors that affect the viability of home made solar panels will be the exposure that your house has to the sun. It is easy to see that a log cabin deep in the heart of a forest is not going to gain much from a solar panel! So check how the sun moves over your house, how many hours of direct sun does your house get? The encouraging news is that most homes should not have any trouble in gathering enough sunlight to produce electricity from a home made solar panel.

The same logic is true when considering a home made wind turbine; you will need wind to turn it! In most places the wind cannot be relied upon as the only source of power--it simply fills in the spaces left by solar power quite nicely. Luckily when the sun stops shining the wind tends to blow.

The quantity of power that can be produced from a DIY power set up will be a product of the size and type of the devices being used.

Solar panels which produce electricity are also known as 'photovoltaic cells' or 'solar pv modules' The amount of power that you can expect to achieve from a solar panel is worked out from the surface size and weight and usually will range between 5 and 50 watts, although many cells can easily be linked together. Any excess power that is generated can be stored in batteries for release at a later time.

The amount of electricity that can be generated from a home built wind turbine is related to the square of the blade diameter (double the diameter and you get 4 times the power) and the cube of the wind speed (double the wind speed and you get 8 times the power). Although you can't select the wind speed, you can define the blade diameter. Typical home wind turbines will have a diameter of around 6-8 feet and a typical home power system would be capable of generating 1 - 6 kilowatts with a wind speed of about 6-10miles per hour.

A home power power station consisting of a home made wind generator and solar panel is not only possible but extremely practical. With a bit of research it is possible to find plans for constructing DIY wind turbines and solar panels and these do not require any great degree of skill or unusual tools. In fact, all of the parts are readily obtained from local sources and the whole building stage shouldn't take more than a couple of weekends.

Is it possible for a DIY home power system save you money, yes it certainly can. Either you can feed electric items in your house directly from the generated renewable power, or if you are able to link your home built power system to the power grid then you can offer your electricity to your power company.

Home power generation is not only a reality; it is an easy way to reduce your power bills. Who knows, maybe all homes will have a renewable energy source in the future.

Visit www.my-ecopower.com and check out the plans that I used to construct my own low cost, easy to build domestic power station.