The amount of solar radiation received at the earth's surface depends on geographical location as well as local conditions such as cloudiness and turbidity and will vary according to the season and time of day. Useful solar radiation sources are either direct radiation, scattered radiation or radiation that is reflected from various surfaces. The solar radiation can be converted into electricity by photovoltaics or into hot water using solar water heating.

Solar energy is absorbed by the ground and remains fairly constant the deeper you go. This heat can be harnessed by the use of ground source heat pump.

Wind is a renewable source dependent on solar energy. Global winds are caused by differential heating over the earth’s surface, which sets up pressure gradients that leads to a flow of air. This flow of air can be converted to a useful form of energy using wind turbines. Some important factors to remember are that while doubling wind speed increases the power generated by a wind turbine eightfold, doubling the size of the wind turbines only doubles the power. Modern, large, electricity generating turbines are designed to reach maximum output at a wind speed of between 10-15 m/s. Disturbances and turbulence can affect energy output as turbines work best at constant fixed wind speed. Wind turbines start operating at wind speeds of around 5m/s and at wind speeds over 25m/s wind turbines shut down. Although available for urban areas, roof mounted turbines perform best in remote areas with consistent, undisturbed wind.

Biomass energy is harvested from energy crops such as short rotational coppice or miscanthus. Biomass can be used in wood burning stoves, biomass combine heat and power or a biomass boiler. However the production of biomass, especially energy crops, has been criticized for the taking over of useful agriculture land and producing crops for other than food production.