Home Improvement Tips

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.

But, more importantly it can also be used on a domestic level, as a clean source energy for various households.

Basically, there are four main ways how to solar power your home:

Solar Ovens:

Solar cooking is the cleanest and cheapest way to prepare food. Although it is widely used in third world African countries, where fuel and electricity is not readily available, there is no reason we cannot use it during summer at home.

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 one problem with a solar oven is that it takes rather long to cook the food – up to 4 times longer. But if you are prepared to wait for a healthy, wholesome, energy saving meal to be ready, then a solar cooker is a good idea.

Solar Water Heating:

Thanks to extensive research and development, a solar water geyser is an affordable and clean alternative to using the typical gas or electric powered boiler to heat your water.

With a modern solar water heater, solar collectors are filled with a conductive type of anti-freeze that heats up in the sun, As this gel heats up, it flows through narrow tubes in a cylinder, where the heat is transferred to the water. And so you get hot water.

Passive Solar Design:

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.

For natural lighting, the effective placement of large windows and mirrors in your home can help reflect and distribute sunshine throughout the house, and lower you dependence on traditional light bulbs.

To help regulate the temperature in your home, you could plant deciduous trees outside to shade your home from hot sunlight in summer and let sunshine through in winter.

To replace your conventional ventilation system, you could install a solar attic fan or solar chimney that draws hot air out of the house, and pulls in cooler air.

Electric Solar Energy:

More accurately called photovoltaic power, this is the most commonly known way to solar power your home. For this system to work properly, a number solar panels need to be facing the sun to produce electricity.

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.

Other than providing you cheap, clean renewable power, solar electric panels have become affordable and simple enough for anyone to install at home. In fact, with the right information it is possible to make your own solar power for under $200, as compared to getting a professional installation for a couple of thousand dollars.

So that is how to solar power your home in four ways. If you just implemented one or two of these strategies, you would decrease your dependence on fossil fuels, get renewable energy tax breaks, and reduce your power consumptions and costs while helping the environment. It is not a matter of these solutions being too expensive or complicated to use, but a matter of us being willing to learn how to use them at home.