Building a Solar Powered Home – So Many Options!

There are many different options to consider when building a solar powered home. These can be broken down to three basic topics - passive solar design, solar hot water and Photovoltaic Panels (PV panels).

Passive solar design is basically about planning the layout of your home to maximize the exposure to the sun to utilize the most heat and light from the sun. This is typically done by building your house so that it has a full southern exposure, installing as many windows on the south side of the house as you can, and installing flooring that absorbs and hold heat for long periods of time, typically stone, brick, ceramic, etc.

Solar hot water systems use various techniques to heat your water in the sun, then pump it back into your house or pool. One common technique uses coiled black hose on the roof. The water is pushed into the hose and it heats up as it flows through the black hose in the sun then it flows back down into your house or your swimming pool.

Another method is to use solar collectors on the roof. These are made of glass tubes with copper ends. The principle is similar - the water is pushed to the collector panels, heated and then pumped back down to a hot water tank.

PV panels are used to collect energy from the sun that is converted to household power and stored for future use or be fed back to the grid. The standard PV panel system consists of the panels, a bank of batteries to store the power, and inverters that convert the stored DC power to useable AC current to power the lights, appliances and other electrical items in your solar powered home.

Whether you choose to use one or all of these methods in your solar powered home, you will be saving a lot of money on energy costs as well as reducing your carbon footprint. Depending on which technology you choose, and whether you decide on a professional installation or a DIY project will determine your initial costs. A professional installation is still very expensive, while a do-it-yourself installation can be started for as little as $250.

If you are interested in learning how you can convert to a solar powered home yourself, be sure you get a good DIY Solar Guide. This will save you a ton of headaches and money. Building your own system is not difficult, but you need a good DIY Manual to make sure you get it right.

We have reviewed the top DIY Solar Guides and have narrowed it down to the top 3. To make sure you get the best DIY Solar Guide, check our DIY Solar guide Reviews and get started today!