Earth 4 Energy
What You Get
When you order Earth 4 Energy, you get a step-by-step guide which tells how where you can locate decent solar cells at low prices, how you can scale up your system once you start building it by hooking up solar panels to each other, and how you can store the energy you collect for use later.
There are a number of free bonuses which are included. One of the most useful bonuses was a video series which included around two hours of footage providing visual demonstrations of the construction process. These were very helpful to me, since I am not really a handy guy. I would’ve had a hard time picturing how to do this stuff just from reading the text, and the videos made it a lot easier to understand.
There is also a free solar sizing calculator, which helps you figure out how many solar panels you need to cover all or part of your energy bill. If you’re interested in wind power, there is a Make A Windmill bonus which tells you how to get started making a windmill for under $100. The Earth 4 Energy CD and email coaching program (one year included) add even more value to the full package.
Did It Work?
I was indeed able to rig together a basic solar panel using the instructions provided. For $200, I wasn’t able to get a lot of wattage out of it, but that was implied pretty clearly by the sales page. The panel I made was able to produce 120 watts. What can you power at 120 watts? One example of a device which requires about this much power to run is a personal computer. By itself. So that should tell you how little power you actually are getting out of a single solar panel.
I have heard a lot of people say that this program is a scam. Come on. You could draw that conclusion if you didn’t think about the meaning of 120 watts, I guess. This program isn’t designed to power your house for the price of the eBook plus $200. It is meant toget you started building your own solar panels for that price. You are then going to have to spend more money building more solar panels and hooking them together so that you can get some substantial power. If you hook together 10 of these panels, you’ll get 1200 watts, and there is a lot more you can power with that kind of electricity. The total cost for that will be a couple thousand dollars. But that is cheap compared to the kind of money you might spend if you purchased professionally designed and installed solar panels.
A Good Value
Because I actually calculated the costs of my project properly, I was pleased with the value of this product. There is no attempt to deceive; the author never makes any claims that you can power your whole lifestyle for just a couple hundred dollars. Building solar panels is much like any other kind of constructive craft; there is a certain investment you need to get started, and then you can proceed from there. You only need the instructions once, so the great thing is that once you get started, it’s not like you have to pay the cost of the eBook again and again. You have the instructions you need forever.
I have about five panels hooked together right now, and together they are sufficient to power a number of the devices in my home. I still don’t have enough to compensate for my space heater, which sucks up more energy than most of my other devices combined, but being as I now don’t have to pay the cost of using the rest, dealing with the heating bill in the winter isn’t nearly as big a deal to me as it used to be. And in the summer, my energy costs are pretty negligible, which is awesome. One less bill every month is great. I actually save the cost of the eBook each month during the warmer seasons.
So am I glad that I bought Earth 4 Energy? In the end, yes, I’m very satisfied with the product. Just make sure you calculate your energy needs before you get started, and have some serious thought about whether you can afford the project over time. If you look up the devices you own, you can usually find specifications online which will tell you their wattage.
Even if it takes you months or years to have the money to add more solar panels to your system, think about the money you can save over the long run. Your savings will be small in the beginning, but they will grow as you add more panels, and eventually your project will pay for itself. You just have to think about it in terms of long-term planning and payoff. That is a big part of going green, and it’s one of the hardest aspects of sustainable thinking for many people. Most of us are short-term planners, but long-term planning is the key to saving money and energy and protecting the environment.
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