Solar Home Design
The sun provides a tremendous amount of energy and most homes don’t take full advantage of it. Homeowners and builders alike are starting to realize that a solar home
design makes sense and can save them a lot of money wasted each year on heating and lighting.
Most modern solar home design starts with the orientation of the home to take advantage of as much of the suns power as possible. By orientating the home correctly, the homeowner can install large windows on the side that faces the suns travel during the day. This allows them to utilize the suns power and light to both heat their homes and provide natural lighting as well.
There are several natural advantages that the seasons provide and these really benefit the solar home design if they are taken into account. For example the sun is higher in the sky during the summer months and strikes the ground and the homes windows, at a steeper angle. This means that even though the sun can provide more indirect lighting for the home, it tends to heat the home less because of the angle of the sunlight. The converse is true in the winter where the sunlight is hitting the home at a lower angle and penetrating through the window deeper into the house.
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This increases the sunlight’s ability to heat the home through the greenhouse effect and can help to substantially lower a homes heating needs naturally if included in your solar home design. Another design feature that many of these solar homes take advantage of is solar water heating. This is accomplished by installing solar heating panels on the roof that are either directly or indirectly tied into the homes water system. By using the heat from the sun to heat a homes water, the homeowner can eliminate the need to use a gas or electric hot water heater in their solar home design.
Even though these systems are very efficient and reliable, most solar homes still have a backup water heater for those times when the sun isn’t shining. These backup hot water heating systems are usually the more efficient “on demand” systems that heat the water just before sending it to the shower or faucet. Unlike older hot water systems that would heat a large tank of water and then waste energy keep it hot and ready; these newer water heaters only heat the water you are going to use at that moment. This type of system can save you a substantial amount of energy. Another one of the solar home design options that helps the homeowner lower their energy costs are the solar power systems. These consist of a series of solar panels that are mounted on the roof that convert sunlight to an electrical current for use in the home.
Some of the newer solar homes actually incorporate these panels into the design of the roof and have them mounted flush with the roofing material. This makes them less noticeable and less prone to damage by the elements as well. It also makes them easier to replace and service since the homeowner has access from inside of the attic and doesn’t need to climb up on the roof. Some of the newer versions of these panels actually do both the solar power and solar water heating in a single panel. They have the standard solar collectors and the webbing used for the solar water heating built into the same panel and allow them to share the same roof space. This can help you make better use of your roof and has the added advantage of using the greenhouse effect to help heat the water.