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With the ever-rising price of electricity more and more people are looking at alternatives to save money. It used to be a few years ago that the pay back on a solar power system was over 20 years, but nowadays you can hope to pay for your installation in 5 years or less - after that you are making money.

There are actually three main alternative sources for electricity: 1) The Sun, 2) The wind 3) Running water. Of course there are others but these are the ones you'll most commonly find solutions for on auction sites such as eBay. This guide shows what you have to look for when making your buying decisions.

MORE VOLTS IS BETTER

The first and most important thing to remember is that the lower the voltage of the system you buy, the thicker wires you'll be needing for it. The reason for this is based on a very simple piece of math called Ohm's law which states that voltage equals current times resistance. Therefore if you have a regular mains wire at 120 volts and capable of handling 60 amps of current - if you then choose to run a 12 volt power source through this wire you will only be able to carry 6 amps. To get the same amount of electricity through a wire at 12 volts you would have to have a wire capable of supporting 600 amps. Because of Ohm's law if you decrease the voltage 10 times you must multiply the current 10 times to get the same electrical throughput.

Even if you skipped through that little explanation, the results of it are simple, you really should try to buy the highest voltage system you can. If you can get 24 volt panels instead of 12 volt you will halve the size of wire required - or if you can get a 48 wind turbine, the wire you will need will only be 1/4 the size it would have to be for 12 volts. This will save you a lot of money on wire.

The only downside is this. Lower voltage panels and equipment are generally cheaper as they were designed to run on standard car batteries. The higher voltage equipment you buy, the less you will find and the more it will cost. Therefore, when looking at what is available you should weigh up the different costs of equipment and wiring. This means get a good estimate for how much wire you will be needing first and find out the prices you can buy it for.

BATTERIES OR GRID TIED OR BOTH?

If you are not connected to the power grid you have only one choice - you must buy batteries to store the power you generate so you have it available for when the sun is out or at night or when there's no wind etc. The best batteries

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