Solar Power at Home... Naturally
Solar Power for Homes...
and homes away from home.
No matter how you want to use it, we have savvy, cost saving strategies for bringing solar alternative energy into your house.
Solar Power Home Strategies - Catch Some Rays
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 thrown off by the sun. 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.
Don't speak geek?
No problem.You won't need a science major to learn and share information about solar energy and the best ways to use it.
Over the years we've waded through a lot of technical talk as we completely outfitted our living quarters with solar energy.
It happens that our living quarters are aboard a 41 foot sailboat for the time being.
Using solar energy has been a balancing act between practicing some basic energy conservation techniques and harvesting enough energy to live comfortably and power the laptop that makes this website possible.
Along with pages on solar energy history, how solar power works and interesting facts about solar energy, we'll take an honest look at the cost of solar... and realistic techniques for keeping those costs down.
There's more than one way to use solar energy and not all of them are expensive. A surprising amount of your household energy needs can be provided by the sun without mounting a single photovoltaic cell (solar panel cell).
There are a number of variables that have to be considered when establishing a home solar system. Latitude, insolation, system size, installation costs; each of these will have an effect on the cost of a system.
Here you'll find over 100 pages of solar power at home details and calculators.
Select the Solar Power at Home links below that are relevant to your needs.
- Solar News Come to this page for the scoop on what's happening in the solar power arena, whether it's new discoveries, subsidies or innovative uses, we'll keep you posted.
- Solar Investments Investing in solar power at home without buying solar panels. Check out how your favorite solar stocks and mutual funds are doing.
- How Solar Power Works Simple explanations on photovoltaics for the non techie.
- Advantages The many advantages of using solar power at home.
- Disadvantages Yes there are disadvantages and some of them may be a surprise to you
- Energy Conservation Tips (or how to save money) Some pain free suggestions for reducing your energy costs.
- Solar Power Water Heater Cost effective methods of heating household and pool water.
- Outdoor Solar Powered Lighting Beautify your outdoor spaces and make your yard more secure.
- Cost of Solar Energy Really... how much will it cost me?
- Residential Solar Power Systems What's a grid tied system? What do I require for an off grid system? Which one is right for me? It's all here.
- Portable Solar Power System Take it anywhere! There are even roll up units that tenters and backpackers can use.
- Solar Boats or RV's The further you go into the boonies the more sense solar power makes. During winter months we live on a sailboat and use solar power extensively. While sipping a cold cocktail (with ice cubes) and listening to our favourite tunes we toast the silent solar panels that make these things possible in some of the most remote places on the planet.
- Cool "Sun Run" Products Solar powered calculators and garden lighting have led the way to an amazing array of products that are run by sun power, well made and are reasonably priced.
- Cooking With Solar Solar ovens can be used in your back yard or at your wilderness getaway. Make refreshing and delicious sun tea in a jar.
- Passive Solar Power Free heat and hot water anyone?
- Solar Powered Cars They're coming...
- Deep Cycle Batteries If you're considering an independent system or blackout protection you'll need deep cycle batteries to store the energy for when you need it.
- Inverters To use Solar Power at Home, the energy collected (12V or DC) needs to be converted to 110 or AC. That's where an inverter comes in.
- Solar Swimming Pool An excellent way to reduce your power bill and grid demands is to heat and filter your swimming pool using solar power.
Perhaps using solar power at home is the answer to the age old question, "What can I do about the environment"?
What about those cloudy days?
Although sun panels collect an optimum amount of power when the sun shines brightly they still work on cloudy days at a reduced level.
The deeper the cloud cover and the longer it lasts the less power the panels will generate.
Will they collect moonshine - er - rather, moonlight?
No, but sometimes, during the full phase of the moon, we've noticed a blip on our monitor.
The following words were uttered by Theodore Roosevelt more than 100 years ago:
"We have become great because of the lavish use of our resources and we have just reason to be proud of our growth. But the time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil, and the gas are exhausted, when the soils shall have still further impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, denuding the fields, and obstructing navigation.
The natural resources I have enumerated can be divided into two sharply distinguished classes accordingly as they are or are not capable of renewal.
The minerals do not renew themselves. Therefore in dealing with the coal, the oil, the iron, metals generally, all that we can do is try to see that they are wisely used. The exhaustion is certain to come in time."
Theodore Roosevelt
As I'm writing this, the radio is announcing a power outage in Victoria. Solar power users in the area probably haven't even noticed.
So what do YOU think? Why are you looking at Solar Power? Is it for environmental reasons, do you live too far from the grid, are you worried about international crude oil issues or trying to reduce hot water costs or maybe you just want to be more independent? Share your thoughts here.
Why Do YOU Care About Alternative Energy?
Everyone has their own reasons for looking at Solar Energy and other alternatives.
Have you been using alternative forms of heating or powering in your home or vacation home? Are you considering making the leap?
Tell us YOUR STORY.
Choosing Solar Power at Home for the future, gives us more power over our lives at the same time as it powers our homes.
Independence from unstable fuel prices, security in blackouts and environmental sustainability are no small rewards for utilizing a resource that is available for the collecting.
Visitors to our Solar Power at Home page may also be interested in the following pages
Thin Film Photovoltaic
Solar Powered Water Pump
Cheap Solar Power
