4 Solar Power Options For Your Home

The sun’s energy is one of the most abundant and important forms of energy on the planet. In nature it is used for photosynthesis; in ancient temples it was used as a natural light source, and in arid countries it is used to purify water.

So, how can solar power be used on a smaller scale at home as clean source of energy?

So far people have discovered how to solar power their homes in 4 ways:

Solar Cookers:

A solar cooker is an extremely healthy, inexpensive and clean alternative to cooking your food. Though solar cookers have been used a lot to desalinize water in poor arid countries, many 1st world countries are adopting them in summer for cooking their food.

With solar cooking, the oven has a number of reflective panels arranged in a parabola, where they focus the sun on a single pot, in which the food is placed. Depending on the design, the cooker can make a variety of dishes from bread to steamed vegetables to fried eggs to a roast beef, and it typically caters for up to 5 people.

The disadvantage of using a solar cooker is that it can up to four times longer than a conventional oven to cook your food. But if you think that the food it cooks is healthier, cheaper (since no power is used) and it is portable, that extra time should not be such a big issue.

Solar Water Geyser:

Solar water heating has a number of uses, and thanks to technological developments, modern solar water heating systems can be used at home to completely replace conventional boilers or geysers.

As cold water is pumped through a solar collector, the pipes absorb the sun’s energy, and heat the water, which is then stored in an insulated tank for later use. Usually the water can get so hot that it has to be mixed with cold water before it can be used.

Passive Solar Living:

Over half of a household’s power bill is spent just on heating and ventilation. So it crazy how few people think of trying passive solar living to save power and ultimately money.

With passive solar living, a household is design to effectively use the sun’s rays for natural heating and lighting. This would include being built on a sun-facing slope, with the length of the house facing the sun and having a number of large Low-E windows. And as a result staying naturally warmer in the colder months.

With the right placement of windows and mirrors and even white walls in your home, sunlight can be effectively used to light your home, instead of you having to resort to electric lights.

A natural air conditioning solution would be to plant deciduous trees on the sun-facing side of your home. This would provide cool shade in summer, but allow warm sunlight though in winter.

For free ventilation, you could make use of a solar chimney or solar attic fan, where hot, stale air is sucked out of the home and replaced with cool, fresh air from outside.

Electric Solar Energy:

More scientifically known as photovoltaic energy, this form of solar power can be used at home as a renewable source of electricity. For a solar electric panels system to be most effective, the panels should always be facing the sun.

How the system works is as sun hits the panels, the solar cells absorb the light and convert it to electricity, which is then stored in special batteries. For you to be able to use solar power in your home, it first needs to be converted from direct current into alternating current with the help of an inverter.

What’s great about this form of solar power is that it is relatively affordable, clean, and easy to implement at home. Furthermore, many diy fanatics have discovered how to build their own solar power systems for a fraction of what it would cost to get a commercial system installed.

With these four ways on how to solar power your home, there is no need for you to rely on the utility companies or the government for heating and lighting at home. Right now it is very possible for us to use solar power at home. It is just a matter of everyone having the determination, energy consciousness and environmental awareness to take action and harness the sun’s free, natural power.

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