Solar Energy For The Home

A passive solar home utilizes home design to provide heating, cooling and natural light without the use of any special equipment, basically using the environment to accomplish great reductions in energy use. Passive solar home designs can use construction materials and planning to utilize the sun's heat during winter months and block the sun's heat during summer months. There are several passive solar techniques you can use in a solar home:

Direct gain uses radiant heat from sunlight passing directly into a living space and being absorbed by furniture, flooring etc and is usually achieved with south facing window installations.

Indirect gain involves installing an attached Trombe wall that collects heat and distributes it throughout the home by the use of fans.

Thermal mass incorporates building with materials that naturally collect and store heat such as brick or stone.

Passive cooling utilizes overhangs for south-facing windows to block the sun during summer months to prevent unwanted heat gain in the solar home.

Any or all of these techniques can be used in combination with each other to make your passive solar home more efficient.

If you would like to read more about passive solar homes, the US Department of Energy has a lot of great information on their website. I would start with their article, Passive Solar Home Design.

Another feature often found in a solar home is the use of solar electricity. Solar power for the home is generated when photovoltaic cells are used to absorb sunlight and convert it into usable electricity. The energy produced by solar panels must be converted from DC (Direct Current) to AC (Alternating Current, or household power) through the use of an inverter. Solar electricity can be used to supplement metered electric power already being received by a solar home, or it can be used as the only electric source for the home with the use of a battery storage bank. If the latter is going to be used, it is suggested that owners of the solar powered home have a generator available for backup power.

Solar water heating is one of the most common uses of solar energy in a solar home. There are two kinds of solar water heating available for solar home use. The first is a closed loop system, which can be used in areas that are not prone to freezing. These systems use water filled tubes that are heated directly by the sun. A closed loop system uses an anti-freeze type liquid to collect heat from the sun and then the heated liquid is used to heat household water via a heat exchanger.

Regardless of which steps you take toward converting to a solar home, energy efficiency is the most important attribute to a successful solar home operation. Energy efficiency minimizes the need for heating, cooling and electricity. Using higher insulation levels, more energy efficient windows, appliance and lighting than used in traditional construction, you will already be saving yourself a lot of money and energy. However these changes may not be an option when converting an existing home into a solar home, so make any changes possible to your home energy efficiency and adapt other solar practices to convert your existing home into a solar home.