Any yard can benefit from the addition of a refreshing water fountain. Even the hottest summer day is more bearable with the sound of running water. In addition, you can enjoy the birds and wildlife that will be attracted by your new fountain. However, all water fountains have one thing in common, they use pumps in order to prevent the water from becoming stagnant which results in a breeding ground for insects and mold. These pumps require electricity which may not be that cheap. Since fountain pumps need to run around the clock they can lead to a high amount at the end of the month energy bill.

However, this doesn’t mean you can’t have a fountain in your yard. Rather consider solar power fountain pumps. With solar power fountain pumps you can power your fountain with the same fuel that helps grow your garden, the sun. By installing solar power fountain pumps you won’t have to pay for the refreshing and beautiful addition to your yard.

How Solar Power Fountain Pumps Work

Solar power fountain pumps have a solar panel that collects light energy from the sun and turns it into energy that the pump uses to keep the water in your fountain, pond or waterfall circulating. The size of solar power fountain pumps you need is determined by the gallons per hour rating of the pump.

There is another terrific energy saving feature to solar power fountain pumps; on the brightest days the solar panel can store energy to make sure your fountain keeps running all night long and then during overcast days your fountain will still work. In addition, by having solar power fountain pumps you can place your fountain wherever in the yard you want as long as it is sunny. You don’t have to worry about situating it near a electricity feed from you home, garage or pool area. This allows you to place your fountain wherever it appeals to you. With solar power fountain pumps you can even have more than one fountain in your yard if you want.

So with these excellent benefits, why not consider solar power fountain pumps for your garden. By using these pumps you will not only save a lot of money on your electricity bill, but you can design a beautiful yard or garden that will have the whole neighborhood talking. Solar power is providing new freedom for garden and yard design that you couldn’t have with regular electricity powered pumps.

The late, great Bruce Lee was once asked what the best advice he could give was. “Be like water, my friend,” he smiled. Water is formless, and yet is all forms. It is one and yet made of separate droplets all simultaneously. You can plunge your hand easily into it, and yet a feather or a flower petal cannot penetrate the water’s skin. Water is so contradictory and so hypnotic that no wonder we love to stare at it. Adding a solar power fountain to your property can make it not only look more enchanting, but add financial value to the property, too.

What Parts Are Solar Powered?

Although global warming seems like an insurmountable obstacle, every little step helps. Solar power is being used in many items like calculators, watches, cell phone chargers and solar power fountains. It all adds up. But doesn’t a fountain run on water power and not solar power? No, not really. Most fountains are man-made and run with electronic water pumps to keep the water moving. It’s those water pumps that can be successfully changed over to renewable solar power.

Where To Get Them

You can find solar power fountains and solar power pumps in real gardening, aquarium or home remodeling stores and their online equivalents. If you are having trouble finding them online, just type in “solar power fountain” into your favorite internet search engine and soon you’ll be spoiled for choice. One of the exciting new markets are solar powered objects stores, usually found online. They feature several kinds and sizes of solar power fountains and pumps for you to choose from.

The advantage of buying your solar power fountain from these online solar device shops is that you can also order replacement parts. Depending on the size of your fountain, the price (in US dollars) runs from $100-$200. You can choose from parts or whole aquarium kits. You can disguise any equipment with rocks, moss or driftwood. Lots of times the solar power panels can be positioned discretely away from the fountain, if you want.

Kits usually include a solar power pump, solar panels, wiring and sometimes different fountain head attachments to vary the water shape of your solar power fountain. Reputable companies offer warranties, as well. Before you buy, check to see that the company that sells your prospective solar power fountain has a return policy, a tech support number or email and a readable Privacy Policy.

Many homes in the south with attics often invest in attic fans to cool off the space, thereby reducing the number of times their air conditioner kicks on. What if you could get solar power fans for the attic that costs virtually nothing to operate? The latest solar power fans aid in the ventilation of attics as well as the cooling of these attics. In turn, the ventilation helps keep the air conditioner from cycling on every few minutes.

Most solar power fans consist of a small solar panel, which helps to power a DC motor during those times that the sun is shining. There are fans installed with intake vents (like a soffit) which provide the ventilation of the attic without requiring electricity in order to do it. You will discover that the vents for these solar power fans are typically high on the roof and often there will be at least two to four along strategic places on the roof.

What Is So Great about Solar Power Fans

There are several attributes of these fans, which make sense since you are the one who typically has to pay the electric bill. Well, in these cases, virtually no electricity is wasted which means no increase in your electrical bill. These fans have the capability of lowering the temperatures in attics, which works in tandem with the better ventilation, all without increasing your electrical use.

Solar power fans are also easy to install yourself and don’t require anything fancy in terms of materials or tools. Older homes do not have these fans but today’s architectural home designers are all cognizant of the new, clean and renewable energy sources like the sun. Of course you can retro-fit solar power fans for these old homes using your own tools and easy to get materials.

Getting to Know Solar Power Fans

Typically, the cost of these fans will run anywhere from $400 – $700, based on the features, manufacturer and even the ventilation capacity. Luckily for do-it-yourselfers, these fans are fully assembled and do not need extra, separate roof flashing. Installation is quite easy and you will likely see these solar power fans disguised with gable vents as well as soffit.

There is no need to understand electronics or wiring, as solar power fans do not use any type of electricity; instead it creates energy so that the fans can properly ventilate the attic area. It is important to note that these solar power fans are only as effective as the sunlight. When the sun goes down, that’s it, no more natural power to operate them.

While solar power is fast becoming a viable energy source for electricity to homes and businesses, did you know that the solar power boat has actually been in existence for over 100 years? In 1838, a Russian scientist created the world’s first solar power boat and as years went by, boats powered by solar energy continued to be developed. However, the internal combustion engine cast the concept aside because it had more power from diesel fuel than the solar power boat did from harnessing the sun’s energy.

It wasn’t until the early 1980s that the solar power started recapturing attention of the public and even then, it was in the form of competitions and races rather than viable public transportation. While more focus is being spent on creating a solar power boat which will power larger vessels, it is still somewhat of a novelty.

Total Power Versus Partial Power

The everyday user is not focusing on powering their entire boat via the sun, but rather just smaller portions of it as electrical power for appliances such as the oven, refrigerator and lights. For this partial solar power boat concept, many boat stores, marinas and even RV outposts sell solar power kits. These kits incorporate some solar panels to capture the sun’s energy, which could then power the incidentals on board the boat.

There is a small contingent of boaters who are looking to the solar power boat concept to power the entire boat instead of relying on diesel fuel. The proponents of the technology say that using the sun’s rays rather than diesel will protect the environment because there is no pollution associated with it. In addition, using fuel means that the engine during sailing will be loud, causing noise pollution whereas the solar power boat is quiet.

Existing Boats with Solar Power

There are quite a few commercial and personal boats using solar power these days. However, they are not quite viable for long sea voyages. Rather these small passenger ships and personal yachts use solar power for small trips such as traversing rivers, canals and lakes. As of right now, for the open seas, sailing power using a sail and wind typically has more power than a solar power boat. This is the primary reason why the solar power boat is only viable for smaller trips.

Technology is advancing quite rapidly and many experts feel that in as little as 20 years, larger ships will use at least partial solar power to make long trips. Personal pleasure boats and cruisers could soon become viable solar power boat options for river, lake and bay excursions. The price may be a bit more than the fuel-based boats, but the solar power boat could pay for itself within a few years by the easier maintenance and no fuel costs.

Providing water for your outdoor feathered friends can be inviting during most warm months of the year, but the birds in the yard will want something to drink, if not splash around in, even in the dead of winter. A solar power birdbath heater can keep the water from freezing over and provide an open invitation to wildlife to keep their sights and sounds as part of your outdoor landscape, regardless of the weather.

For most, a birdbath is used not only as an attraction to the flying wildlife, but also as part of their outdoor decorations. Keeping the invitation open during the winter will also make friends with the birds. Additionally, many of the solar power birdbath heater styles can also be equipped with lights, to provide additional decoration during the night as well. Since both the light and the heater are operated by the same solar cells, there is no additional charge for electricity to operate either of them.

For the larger birdbath, small fountains can be incorporated into the picture and the solar power birdbath heater can keep the water from freezing to make the presentation during the cold months as well as at night. This will help maintain the outdoor appearance all year long.

Birds Bathing In The Shade Is No Problem

With many solar powered items, they photovoltaic cells have to be placed in direct sunlight in order to charge their batteries during the day and keep them functioning. Many of solar power birdbath heater units will have the cells built into the birdbath, in which case the bath will have to be in direct sunlight. For many landscape designs, this location may not be as appealing as placing the birdbath under a nearby tree, in the shade.

For this type of installation, a solar power birdbath heater can be found that has the solar panel separate from the birdbath. Placing the panel in the direct sunlight and the heater in the birdbath in the shade offers more versatility in the landscape layout. However, it will also require that a small wire be run between the solar panel and the solar power birdbath heater.

In some cases, it may be possible to place the solar panel on another nearby tree, but it will take a minimum of four to six hours of sunlight exposure to keep the batteries fully charged. A larger panel array may be needed if incorporating a fountain and lights with the solar power birdbath heater.

Although for the moment non-renewable energy companies contributed to getting the planet into its current environmental crisis, it’s also working within their own ways to converting bit by bit to renewable energy. And every little bit helps. One of the great ways that oil and gas companies are using renewable energy is by buying and employing solar power air compressors.

Great, But What’s An Air Compressor?

“Air compressor” is one of those terms you hear all of the time, but couldn’t tell one if it compressed you in the face. Even this writer’s brain went blank and she had to quite a sudden bit of research with a red face. So, obviously, a solar power air compressor does the mysterious things a gas power air compressor does, just with renewable energy.

What do air compressors do? They compress air. (Ducks). They work like power generators or battery cells in that they force energy to where it needs to go in order to make a doo-hickey work. They are often used in more remote and inaccessible areas where you just can’t plug your drill into a wall socket, because there are no walls. Oil and gas companies use air compressors for a variety of tasks including drilling.

And solar power air compressors are being used in remote locations to drill for oil and natural gas. Kinda makes you want to scratch your head, doesn’t it? But it works for them and that’s just a bit more of the ozone layer saved. Solar power air compressors can ONLY run on solar energy. They can’t be hooked up to a car battery, for example, to get one started. This usually damages the solar power air compressor beyond repair. In one way, you are assured that a solar power air compressor is entirely green.

What About For Me?

Okay, perhaps you are not a big oil company prospecting for oil in the middle of nowhere. But there are solar power air compressors made small enough and inexpensive enough for more mundane uses such as charging up cell phones or laptops, running pneumatic tools, a source of emergency power and a number of other uses. They vary in size and price.

A solar power air compressor is not just a tank and portable generator looking device, but also needs solar power panels and wiring from the panels to your solar power air compressor. Usually these are always included when you buy a solar power air compressor.