We forget that solar power comes in many guises. Stand alone solar lighting can provide simple efficient lighting to the outdoor areas of your home. Either installed as off the shelf or a DIY solar panel hook-up, it can provide garden, garage or porch lighting for home security and enhance your homes appearance. When it comes to solar, we are so used to seeing solar hot water systems and solar panel electrical systems, that we forget that the suns heat and energy can be used in many other ways.
Home designers these days are well versed in passive solar design. However, these features are not always adopted unless asked to do so by the client, or unless required by local regulations to implement them as energy saving measures. If you are considering a new home, you are well advised to discuss the many design features that would make your home highly energy efficient and practically free of heating and cooling costs, simply by applying good design.
Solar can provide heating and cooling to the home. The heat energy of the sun can be trapped and recirculated in a heat collector on the roof or a wall. These are usually painted black and heat air or water containers that become a storage of heat, they in turn heat air which is circulated through the home. These heat storage containers can even become part of a wall, radiating warmth into the room. Typically though, the heat trap warms air that is then circulated via ducts throughout the house. A fan is used to push the warm air through your home, which can be powered by a solar panel.
Cooling is achieved in a similar way. A dark or black heat module or tower on the roof is heated by the sun. As the air in the tower is heated, it rises, it in turn draws cooler air, often drawn through underground piping where it is cooled, then into the home. This simple method can provide comfortable air temperatures in the home. When coupled with an attic fan that extracts hot air from your roof space will significantly lower internal temperature.
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