Solar Power for Homes... And homes away from home.

Solar Power at Home brings you information and guidelines on choosing the right solar power for homes and gardens.

No matter how you want to use it, we have savvy, cost saving strategies for bringing solar alternative energy into your house.

Solar energy, the most abundant of the green alternative energies, has the ability to replace ALL of your water heating and electricity needs.

In light of the consistent rise in the cost of petroleum based energy and the increasing incidence of power outages due to storms and shortages,

there's never been a better time to have a look at solar home energy possibilities.

The well-thought-out implementation of the different types of solar will produce a comfortable home whose utility costs can be completely eliminated or dramatically reduced.

Solar energy is versatile enough to heat your home, heat your water, run appliances and tools, illuminate the garden and power your car.

Get the most solar energy for the least money by using the right solar method for each job.

3 Ways To Use Solar Power at Home

Passive Solar Power - Collect free energy and delegate most of your heating and cooling costs to the sun. Simply design a space that makes the most use of the sunlight that falls on your property.

No moving parts, no techy installations, just creative manipulation of the natural heat and light from the sun.

Passive solar design creates a balance where the sun is encouraged into areas for daytime comfort and is stored in dense materials, such as masonry and floor tiles, for nighttime comfort in cool climates. Additionally, the thoughtful placement of greenery and breezeways keep summer temperatures from soaring in hot climates.

Thermal Solar Power - Take advantage of the heat that fiery mass throws off. Aside from passively allowing it into your home there are some active measures you can take to capture the thermal energy for heating household water, swimming pools and spaces.

A significant portion of your home's energy bill can be offset by installing a solar power water heater.

This low tech alternative is affordable, practical and ultra green. Thermal solar is where many householders start their solar journey.

Solar Power Panels - This is the spendy kind of solar power.

Making electricity from the sun requires photovoltaic or thin film panels. The energy the panels produce can be stored in batteries to use whenever you want it.

Panels turn sunlight into DC energy which can be stored in batteries as-is. It can be used as-is too, as long as the appliance runs on 12V energy (the kind that uses a cigarette type plug.

An inverter converts the energy from DC to AC, which can be used with conventional household appliances.

Solar Power for Homes

Household solar power is becoming more practical as prices drop and efficiency increases.

Solar Power for Homes comes in a wide array of passive, thermal and photovoltaic applications, Here's how to get set up with household solar power minus the nasty price tag.

With a blend of common sense and high technology, most homes can benefit from the inclusion of solar power in one aspect or another. A fast growing industry, home solar power is becoming a respected resource and prolific alternative.

There are four different types of solar power for homes, passive solar, thermal solar, photovoltaics and thin film. Each of the four types will play a role in a well planned solar home.

Because they don't need solar panels, passive and thermal adaptations will recover initial costs faster than photovoltaics and they cover some of the most expensive aspects of energizing your home - like heating water and cooling your living space.

There are lots of things that can be done, relatively inexpensively, that will dramatically reduce the cost of your solar powered system. The trick is to use the least expensive method for each job leaving the more expensive photovoltaics for only the tasks that can not be accomplished with thermal or passive solar.

Start by reducing household energy loads and incorporating passive solar strategies wherever possible. The cost of a photovoltaic system is significant and it's good management to delegate as much of your power load to less expensive alternatives before considering solar electricity for homes.

For homes in some urban and suburban areas the option to tie into the existing power grid allows you to buy a plug-n-play type system that can be whatever size best fits your budget. Numerous pre-packaged solar power home kits are available on the market.

Here are some easy guidelines to get your household solar power project started.

Energy conservation

~ Every solar project should begin with an honest evaluation of the current power situation. It is not cost effective to spend money on solar panels to power wasteful habits. Before switching to solar power for homes and acreages reduce your household energy load as much as comfortably possible.

Passive solar

~ Adopt as many passive solar concepts as possible. Just as relevant as it was in the 1600's passive solar has been largely ignored in design concepts since cheap power entered the picture. If you want to save big money on your photovoltaic array, start with passive solar.

Solar hot water

~ Water heating is one of your top energy draws. A simple thermal hot water heater will reduce your monthly energy expense.

Heating and cooling options

~ Incorporating as many passive solar concepts as possible can greatly reduce your heating and cooling load. Also, solar heaters are making an appearance on the market. A wood burning stove or other low impact heating method can pick up the slack on particularly cold days.

Direct DC solar systems

~ Water pumps can - and should - function without battery backup eliminating the need for not just batteries but all of the maintenance that batteries require. Swimming pools, well pumping, pond and garden fountain pumps can all be relatively low cost systems when wired direct to the panels. Functional when the sun shines and not functional when it doesn't.

Outdoor Lighting

~ Solar garden lighting and outdoor features are not just funky but functional. Security lighting, solar bricks and solar lighted house numbers have joined the beautiful array of garden lights making outdoor living spaces safer and more fun.

Photovoltaics & Thin Film

~ Whatever is left over will be powered by some form of photovoltaic solar power. For homes that are off grid, the system is carefully sized for the month when the least amount of sun is striking the panels. This ensures that the system produces enough power for all seasons. Grid tied systems have the freedom to pick a size within a certain budget and start with that.

When considering solar power for home use, the pv panel is still your best bet. Although thin film technology is underway, still about 90% of household solar power stations are the silicon panel type. One reason for this is that the technology has been around for decades and has a serious toehold in the industry.

Research continues to bring prices down, certain techniques for concentrating have showed promising results in increasing efficiency.

Recent shortages of polysilicon have handicapped the production ability of silicon solar panels keeping costs high. Resolution of these issues is underway and the polysilicon panel will likely be around for a very long time.

The panels in operation now can be expected to function for 40 years and although thin film technology is reducing cost of production it's not about to nudge polysilicon technology aside any time soon.