We all know how important renewable energy is as we try to integrate it into our lives more and more. People are using the sun, wind and even rain to run their homes. You might have noticed, passing a row of houses, that many now have solar panels attached to their roofs.

Many people who use solar panels to run their home are even making money from the energy they produce. Most solar panels can produce more than enough electricity to power the home and many households are left with energy they can sell back to the electricity board. This means solar panels pay for themselves after a time.

If you are looking to get solar panels for your house, one option is to take solar courses. If you already work in a trade such as a plumber or an electrician, there are a number of different courses you can take to help you understand solar panels more.

You can learn about different types of solar panels that are used in the industry For instance, if your trade is plumbing, you can learn about vented and un-vented solar panels and how they attach to a roof safely. Ploughcroft Solar offers a variety of different courses in various places around the country. It’s only a matter of finding the right one to suit you.

You can even train with a qualified installer on the job. That means you get first-hand experience of the job and how to install everything properly. This live demonstration would surely be one of the best ways to learn.

With the ever increasing popularity of solar energy it may be time to get on board. Or, if you know someone who works in a trade, then this may be a great career expanding option for them. Maybe they’ll even help install your system!

By preparing now for the renewable energy switch, you’ll be one step ahead of the game.

Though we typically think of reds, oranges and lovely golds when it comes to fall colors, when September rolls around, the color we can’t forget is green.  While winter and summer typically get all the excitement for “green season prep,” that’s not to say that fall and spring don’t have ample opportunity to grasp a hold of and run with.  So, this fall as we prepare to return to routine, break out the warm cardigans and enjoy the rich smells of baking apples, consider these easy tips for greening up your home this fall.

Transform Fresh to Lasting

If you haven’t tried your hand at canning yet, it’s one of the very best ways to green up your home this fall.  You’ll be able to take advantage of the flood of fresh produce that is available to us during the fall months and preserve it to get you through the winter months when the only other way to get it would be to purchase something shipped from across the globe.

Craving raspberries in December?  Then you will love your homemade canned raspberry jelly.  Peaches?  Canned!  Drying is another great option.  Apples are one of my favorites to eat dried, and since they are abundant in fall, this is the prime time to stock up and stockpile dried stashes.  Nothing beats your own fruits and veggies in the middle of winter that you didn’t have to sacrifice your green principles for.

Switch Out Those Light Bulbs

With the start of fall comes the beginning of shorter and shorter days and you’ll naturally be using your lights for more hours each day.  Switching to energy efficient light bulbs might seem like a small thing, but if you haven’t done it yet already, this can go a long way to saving energy.  CFL (fluorescent) bulbs can even be up to 80% more efficient than the typical bulb.

Pesky to Perfect

You know those leaves that pile up so quickly in the front yard, the back yard, the side yard….  They seem pesky and annoying and often get a bad rap for taking up too much time and killing the grass underneath.  But, with a green mindset, those pesky leaves can become the perfect spring fertilizer.

Skip raking the leaves and ditching them in garbage bags on the side of the street and contributing to more energy use and consuming more landfill space.  Instead, shred them up and add to your composting bin.  Come spring, you’ll have a lovely, rich organic fertilizer.

And remember!  Rake, don’t go out with a leaf-blower.  One gas-powered leaf blower running for an hour is equivalent in emissions to driving 350 miles.  Other great green leaf uses?  Frame a few for fall décor or turn them into a potpourri.  Just crush, store in mesh bags and spread them throughout your house for the ultimate smell of fall all season long!

Add Some Green Inside, Literally!

Fall is the perfect time to move your “garden” from outside to inside.  Plant an herb garden for your windowsill.  You’ll get to keep that summer feeling going all year long with fresh mint in your tea, newly picked rosemary for those portabella burgers and perhaps even spinach.

Start Prepping Insulation

As soon as those daily temps start dropping, it’s absolutely appropriate to start “winterizing” your home.  There’s no need to wait for the first snowfall (in fact, that’s a really bad idea); plenty of us live in locales where fall most certainly calls for early effort to save precious heat.

Get prepped with draft blockers for the doors and for behind your light switches.  Insulate the hot water heater.  Consider caulking or double-checking the caulk all around sneaky spaces like windows, pipes, wires, etc.  You might want to look into getting a programmable thermostat that will automatically turn down and off at the appropriate times, relieving your less-than-perfect memory of the responsibility.  Change out all of your furnace filters.  As they become dirty, the airflow gets restricted, meaning more energy needed to push through.

And of course, you can get your own “insulation” invest in some good warm, heavy sweaters so you can keep that thermostat set low!  Stock up on propane, de-ice and any winter products you might need, now, before price increases to meet demand.

Freelancer Jocelyn Anne writes about greening up the home on a regular basis.  Her favorite fall methods include canning lots and lots of apple pie filling and thoroughly playing in the leaves before composting.  At the moment she’s promoting the efficient, energy saving G70 garage heater for the winter season.