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

Making your own solar panels or a wind turbine is very tempting but how realistic is it? Can a DIY solar panel or DIY wind turbine really make 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 be a product of where you live and the extent that you wish to go with your DIY power station.

One of the main factors that impacts the effectiveness of DIY 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 depth of a forest is not going to get much benefit from a solar panel! So check the travel of the sun 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 generate electricity from a DIY solar panel.

The same logic is true when thinking about a DIY wind turbine; you will need wind to turn it! In most locations the wind cannot be trusted as the only source of power--it simply fills in the gaps left by solar power quite nicely. Luckily when the sun stops shining the wind tends to blow.

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

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

The energy that can be generated from a home built wind turbine is derived from 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 choose 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 creating 1 - 6 kilowatts with a wind speed of about 6-10miles per hour.

A home renewable energy set up consisting of a DIY wind turbine and solar panel is not only achievable but very practical. With a bit of investigation it is possible to find plans for constructing DIY wind turbines and solar panels and these do not demand any great degree of skill or unusual tools. In fact, all of the elements are readily obtained from local sources and the whole construction stage shouldn't take more than a couple of weekends.

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

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