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Written by Miranda Huey   
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Thursday, 13 August 2009

Solar Options For Your Home

Homeowners around the world who want to do something good for the environment while also reducing their electricity bill are increasingly turning to solar energy for their home. Although it's great that there are so many ways to introduce solar energy into the home, it can be hard to decide what to do amongst all of the options. Some solar investments are relatively inexpensive, like building a small solar cooker, but many others are actually quite expensive, like buying and installing solar panels on your home. On the other hand, the larger the commitment, the bigger the energy savings and the more you are helping the environment. This article will help you weigh your options to find the solar choice that's right for you and your home.

Solar Cooking For those who live on a tight budget or who just want to experiment with solar energy, you might consider using solar to power small things around the house. One popular method is solar cooking. By just leaving some food in a solar oven in your backyard, you can slow-cook a nutritious and flavorful meal just using the heating power of the sun. You can find solar cookers under $30 online or you can simply build your own out of cardboard and tin foil. Solar ovens are one of the simplest and easiest projects to make, and would be a great introduction to the wonders of harvesting the power of sunlight.

For more details on solar cooking and building your own solar oven, check out these resources: http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsArticles/Solar-Cooking-Getting-Started.html, http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsGuides/How-to-Build-a-Solar-Oven.html, and http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsGuides/Barbeques-Build-Yours-Solar-Powered.html.

Self-Built Solar Panels If you're pretty good at working with your hands and are willing to spend a little bit more, you might want to try another great solar project: building your own solar panels. Doing it yourself will cost around 40% what it would otherwise cost to buy a pre-built solar panel. If you build one that can recharges rechargeable batteries, you can power tons of small electronics around your house with solar power: cell phones, flashlights, mp3 players, or any other device that runs on batteries. You won't just be saving electricity, you'll be learning exactly how solar panels work, in case you want to buy one in the future. For more details on building your own solar panels, check out: http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsGuides/Solar-Panels-Guide-to-Building-Your-Own.html.

Two Kinds of Solar-Based Cooling Systems For those who are willing to make a significant investment in solar energy, but aren't willing to spend the time and money to install something for powering your entire home, why not just use a solar cooling system? As paradoxical as it may sound, you can use heat energy from the sun to cool your home, in two different ways: 1) passive home design, and 2) active solar-powered air conditioners.

Passive design is great for those who had already been considering building or remodeling a house. It uses simple and effective techniques that optimize the amount of heat that can get into a house. One technique, for example, is orienting the house to face south, so that the house will get more sunlight during winter months and less sunlight during the summer. It may sound pretty minor, but using a good deal of these kinds of techniques can significantly decrease the amount of electricity required to cool your house. For more details on passive design, check out: http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsArticles/Passive-Solar-Design.html.

Another option for cooling your home is installing a solar-powered air conditioner. On average, the air conditioner is the appliance which uses up the most electricity in the house, which makes it an ideal appliance to make renewable. This option is ideal for people who live in particularly sunny regions, since the air conditioner can account for up to 60%-70% of the electricity bill during the summer. Because it's solar, if you live in the United States, you can use the Residential Energy Property Credit to help pay for the cost of installation (http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=206871,00.html), potentially along with state subsidies. On the other hand, because you're dealing with solar, it's important to do your research. Be sure take your time to determine whether your house is set up to deal with solar power by checking things such as the amount of sun in the region and how willing you are to clean or replace your solar panels.

For more details on using and purchasing a solar-powered air conditioner: http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsArticles/Solar-Powered-Air-Conditioners.html.

For details on building your own eco-friendly, but not solar-powered air conditioner for your home, check out: http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsGuides/Build-Your-Own-Air-Conditioner.html.

Residential Solar Systems One of the very best things you can do for the environment is to try to power your entire home on solar power. You wouldn't have to worry about fluctuating energy prices, having to pay the electricity bill, or blackouts. The value of your house would go up. Your system will even recover the cost of installation. But all this comes at a pretty hefty price. For the average home system, that price is around $17,916. That number may sound out of the ballpark, but that price can often be significantly reduced thanks to federal, state, and local tax incentives. Use one of these websites to figure out the local costs and rebates in your area:

http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/index.html, and/or http://www.findsolar.com/index.php?page=rightforme.

When purchasing residential solar systems, it's even more important to do your research. Make sure your house gets enough sun to make the solar panels actually worth the investment. Also, verify that your neighborhood regulations and local laws permit solar panels. Check your insurance policies to see whether solar panels are insured, and if they are not, whether your utility company will require them to be insured. Most importantly, you should shop around for good quality solar companies. After you install your solar panel, you'll be glad you took the time to get it right. For more details on installing a residential solar system, check out: http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsGuides/Power-Your-Home-with-Solar-Panels.html, and http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsArticles/Solar-Panels-and-Financial-Incentives.html.

No matter what your budget or goals, if you were considering going solar, there's probably a way for you to do so right in your own home. So jump on that solar-powered bandwagon already!

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1 http://65.108.108.197/catalog/cookit-p-44.html?osCsid=ee7f2ed77bdb76a1cce73bc1342e8a59.
2 http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsArticles/Solar-Cooking-Getting-Started.html.
3 http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsGuides/Solar-Panels-Guide-to-Building-Your-Own.html.
4 http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsArticles/Passive-Solar-Design.html.
5 http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/cooling.html.
6 http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsArticles/Solar-Powered-Air-Conditioners.html. 
7 http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsGuides/Power-Your-Home-with-Solar-Panels.html. 
8 http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsArticles/Solar-Panels-and-Financial-Incentives.html.
9 http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsGuides/Power-Your-Home-with-Solar-Panels.html.





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