Build Your Own Solar Panels.

Converting To A Solar Home

There are tons of cheap options available to convert your house into a solar home and new solar options can supply for many different uses in your home. Passive solar powered technologies can provide heating, cooling and natural light for your home. Power your appliances with solar electricity and solar water heating can provide hot water options for showers and laundry. When planning a solar home it is important to consider what solar energy options are most efficient for your lifestyle.

The Passive Approach

A passive solar home utilizes special designs to provide heating, cooling and natural light without the use of any unordinary hardware. Passive solar homes basically will reduce energy by using the environment. A passive solar home uses construction materials and design to make use of the sun’s heat during winter months and block the sun’s heat during the summer.

Don't forget about passive cooling, which generally includes overhangs on windows and light blockage to keep the sun out during the summer for cooling the solar home.

Direct or Indirect

There are lot's of different solar ideas you can use in a solar home. You can use direct gain, which is radiant heat from sunlight passing directly into a living space and being absorbed by your furnishings and usually achieved with south facing windows. Indirect gain, which involves a wall that collects heat and distributes it throughout the home by the use of fans. You can also use thermal mass, items that absorb and store heat.

Heating is Common

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 is a good option if your house isn't subject to freezing temps. These systems use water filled tubes that are heated directly by the sun. Closed loop systems use anti freeze to store sun-provided heat and then the 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.

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