There are a number of options that you can choose from when you decide to build a home that is powered by solar energy. You will be able to get heating and cooling all over your house as well as natural light benefits from passive solar designs. As a matter of fact, solar energy can be used to power up home appliances while a solar water heater will be able to provide you with hot water for bathing and for other household uses. Before deciding on anything, it's important that you look for the most efficient and cost-effective options to convert your house into a solar-powered one.
Many people are not aware of this but you can actually have a home that uses passive solar energy easily without having to bring in a lot of special equipment. Passive solar homes utilize solar energy that is readily available in the environment to achieve great reductions in energy use. These homes simply make use of strategic design and some materials to maximize the sun's heat during winter and block it off during the summer.
The four ways to harness and utilize solar energy in a home are the following: radiant heat, indirect gain, thermal mass, and passive cooling. With radiant heat, the design is such that the sun is allowed to flow through the southern-facing windows so heat energy will be absorbed by the inanimate objects that it comes into contact with, such as furniture, the floor, or with curtains. Indirect gain makes use of a solar wall installation which collects and distributes the heat and energy throughout the home, while thermal mass uses natural elements, like brick and stone, which are strategically placed in the home's structure to store heat. Lastly, passive cooling describes a method of cooling a home by blocking the sun and its rays during the warmer summer season.
Solar panels capture heat energy which must be converted to DC (household power) with the help of an inverter so that it will become energy that can be used to do work. Solar electricity can be used to supplement metered power but it can also be used on its own, provided you have a battery storage bank to store this energy.
Solar energy is often used to heat water in the home. The most common kind if solar water heating employs the closed-looped system, which utilizes the sun's energy to heat water-filled tubes directly. A closed-loop system is defined as one that uses a heat-absorbing agent like anti-freeze to absorb energy from the sun; in turn, this heated liquid is then used to heat your household water with the use of a heat exchanger.
Energy efficiency should be the most important consideration you make when you decide to transition to solar power, regardless of which option you have chosen to employ. Using this kind of passive energy will diminish the need for heating and cooling systems and electricity. You will be able to save a lot of money and energy simply by using better insulation and by employing more efficient designs or interior arrangements in your home. These changes may not be possible or feasible when you are trying to convert an already-existing home into a solar one but there are still changes that you can make by employing some of the ideas suggested above to make better use of solar energy.
Many people are not aware of this but you can actually have a home that uses passive solar energy easily without having to bring in a lot of special equipment. Passive solar homes utilize solar energy that is readily available in the environment to achieve great reductions in energy use. These homes simply make use of strategic design and some materials to maximize the sun's heat during winter and block it off during the summer.
The four ways to harness and utilize solar energy in a home are the following: radiant heat, indirect gain, thermal mass, and passive cooling. With radiant heat, the design is such that the sun is allowed to flow through the southern-facing windows so heat energy will be absorbed by the inanimate objects that it comes into contact with, such as furniture, the floor, or with curtains. Indirect gain makes use of a solar wall installation which collects and distributes the heat and energy throughout the home, while thermal mass uses natural elements, like brick and stone, which are strategically placed in the home's structure to store heat. Lastly, passive cooling describes a method of cooling a home by blocking the sun and its rays during the warmer summer season.
Solar panels capture heat energy which must be converted to DC (household power) with the help of an inverter so that it will become energy that can be used to do work. Solar electricity can be used to supplement metered power but it can also be used on its own, provided you have a battery storage bank to store this energy.
Solar energy is often used to heat water in the home. The most common kind if solar water heating employs the closed-looped system, which utilizes the sun's energy to heat water-filled tubes directly. A closed-loop system is defined as one that uses a heat-absorbing agent like anti-freeze to absorb energy from the sun; in turn, this heated liquid is then used to heat your household water with the use of a heat exchanger.
Energy efficiency should be the most important consideration you make when you decide to transition to solar power, regardless of which option you have chosen to employ. Using this kind of passive energy will diminish the need for heating and cooling systems and electricity. You will be able to save a lot of money and energy simply by using better insulation and by employing more efficient designs or interior arrangements in your home. These changes may not be possible or feasible when you are trying to convert an already-existing home into a solar one but there are still changes that you can make by employing some of the ideas suggested above to make better use of solar energy.