Solar Power for Everyone
From Margaret on November 29th, 2011 in Green Remodeling
If you’ve been wanting to go solar but find yourself scratching your head at the confusing details and high costs of installing solar panels, this may be your day. The good news for you is that the future is looking more and more solar, which means that industries are working hard to make it more affordable to the everyday homeowner—and even apartment dweller.
Yes, real people in real homes are beginning to use solar power to cut energy costs. Huge advances are being made to bring residential solar to an affordable level for normal people. Solar panels continue to get smaller and more cost-effective. Installation costs and installation service costs continue to go down.
To get pricing on solar in your area, click here.
Recent employment stats show that the private sector is catching up on investing in solar enterprises. In the meantime, companies with breakthrough technologies have had to rely on public sector investments to see their ideas through to production. In short, this means that private interest groups are merging with federal support organizations to create green jobs and lower the cost of solar energy for residential homes.
Start small with a few panels at a time
If solar is an important and intriguing (albeit confusing) idea to you, you don’t have to go Jetson’s space age solar all of the sudden. No, you don’t have to completely remodel your entire home with paneling. The cool thing about solar panels is that you can customize how many you install on your roofing. Consider that many smaller power options include simply a panel, a controller, and a battery.
You could start going solar as soon as this weekend.
As you “warm up” to the idea of solar energy in your home, consider installing a simple skylight that will bring solar power in its most undiluted form to your living area, reducing your need for heating and lighting. A San Francisco resident recently reported that the abundant light filtering into her home has eliminated the need for her family to turn on lamps, except during a couple of hours in the evening.
Once you think in terms of solar, and the many ways that you can turn your attention and energy towards solar power in your home, there’s a simpler path continually opening as we move more and more towards this superior—and increasingly accessible—residential energy source.
December 6th, 2011 at 8:24 am
Another way to decrease the amount of energy used to run your home is by using solar reflectant coatings. You can find specific guidelines on how to ‘go green’ and earn LEED points at http://www.usgbc.org.
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program is an organization interested in assisting the public to build safer, greener structures. They operate on a point based system in which points are awarded when a builder meets certain environmentally friendly criteria. If a builder is interested in earning LEED points, cooler surfaces is one way to acquire them.
Builders and homeowners should be interested in the benefits of cooler surfaces because numerous studies show that untreated surfaces contribute to the Urban Heat Island Effect. The UHI, as defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is a measurable increase in ambient urban air temperatures resulting primarily from the replacement of vegetation with buildings, roads and other heat-absorbing infrastructures. The heat island effect can result in significant temperature differences between rural and urban areas.
In other words, as sunlight comes in contact with objects such as buildings or roads, radiation is absorbed and heat is generated. Temperatures can reach unacceptable levels if heated objects are unable to reflect the Sun’s rays. As a result, energy is used to cool down the area. Obviously excessive heat can affect the health, safety and comfort of inhabitants. Fortunately, the surface temperature of materials can be decreased in a few different ways.