How to Sell Electricity Back to the Grid

Renewable Energy Sources: Learn Your Options

Solar energy is one of the most popular methods for generating renewable electricity. While solar technology exists in a variety of formats, photovoltaic (PV) cells are the most practical for small-scale production. PV cells are the active components of solar panels, using a semiconductor material (usually silicon) to loosen electrons from light rays. Magnets then guide the loose electrons into a current.

While solar energy is attractively abundant, it's also expensive to harness. A residential solar panel installation will typically cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $35,000. However, much of this cost will be offset over time by saving you money on your monthly electric bills.

Wind power offers another way to harness weather for energy production, and although they're not quite as common as solar energy systems, wind generators are actually more efficient. Wind power systems rely on wind turbines — windmills — that catch the wind with propeller-like blades. This turns a shaft within the turbine, which spins a generator to create electricity.

Like solar power, wind energy systems pose a significant financial investment. Would-be users may also face issues of land coding and push-back from neighbors opposed to a 100-foot-tall windmill across the street. However, for families or small farms with abundant land, a wind-powered system is a great way to take advantage of a free and infinite resource.

In biomass electricity systems, fuels are made from sources like plants, paper and manure. If you work a farm or deal with a high volume of the above kinds of waste, biomass systems offer a practical method for disposing of that waste while making you a little money back from the electric company. The catch? A relatively small percentage of people actually have access to high volumes of biomass material.

Once you've found the perfect renewable system for you, what happens next? Read on to find out.

Commercial Production of Solar Electricity

While photovoltaic technology is most practical for small-scale entities or individuals generating their own electricity, larger entities like energy utilities may use other technologies to produce solar energy on a larger scale. Solar thermal power plants concentrate the sun's rays into tubes that use a special fluid to produce steam. And massive solar dish engines can convert sunlight into heat. This creates a dramatic temperature difference between the sunlight and the air around it. Both the steam and this temperature difference are harnessed to power generators that create electricity.