Taking solar power home with you is easy these days. Even if a full home solar power system isn’t a possibility at present, you can still head down to the local department store and pick up any number of solar gadgets and gizmos. Solar flashlights, hat fans, purses, necklaces, underwear (it’s true), sunglasses and solar fountains are just a few.

To help narrow your search, I’ve compiled a list below of my favorite home solar power products. They were chosen as much for function as for use of solar energy. Products designed for the home should have some semblance of usefulness within the home (somehow I doubt that solar undergarments will ever catch on).

Good solar products can save so much time, money and energy at home.

Here are the top 10 home solar products to prove it:

1. Solar Panel – The panel is the brain of home solar power; no solar product works without one. Solar panels may be purchased new or used as part of a larger system or by themselves, and may be built at home out of previous panels. Without the solar panel, there is no solar power.
2. Solar Water Heater - The water heater can now be purchased as a single unit and shipped to your front door (hiring a professional installer is a good idea). Solar water heaters can deduct up to 30 percent from your annual energy bill. A top-notch product.
3. Solar Shingle - Nephew to the solar panel, the solar shingle actually replaces your existing roof shingles. Solar tiles are the most common manifestation, including one of the coolest products to date: the Sole Roof Tile.
4. Solar Garden Lights – Lighted landscaping is stylish, artistic and safe. But also historically labor intensive due to wiring concerns. Solar garden lights have solved that problem and revolutionized landscape lighting. Affordable solar lights are everywhere and need only be stuck into the ground.
5. Solar Attic Fans – Attic or gable fans are vital to proper home ventilation. Home solar power can now play a key role in every aspect of your HVAC system, the most accessible method being the solar attic fan. No wiring. No hassle. Do it yourself. Look into solar attic fans – they can save you a bundle of money every year and make your home more comfortable.
6. Solar Trackers – While not a very popular home solar product (as most home solar systems are installed on rooftops), solar trackers deserve a spot on the list because they’re such a great product for ground-mount systems. They can increase production considerably, which is why so many large-scale solar power plants use them.
7. The Solar Charger – Hand-held gadgets are everywhere, and most of them are still not solar-powered. That’s OK because nearly all of them can be charged using solar power. Laptops, phones, iPods, e-books, gaming consoles, any and all of them. Solar chargers come in many shapes and forms, as well as several brands. A few examples: flexible Suntrica chargers and the Solar Surge iPod charger.
8. Solar sensors - Solar sensors often don’t create any actual power. They merely detect levels of sunlight in a given area. Yet this simple act saves gallons upon gallons of irrigation water for individual homes and communities. Apply a solar sensor to your garden or landscape to conserve water, save money, and help out a world running short of its most valuable resource.
9. Solar Fountains - Solar powered fountains are another way to reduce your landscaping footprint, while adding style and purity to your water features. A solar fountain purifies, cools and moves the water within the feature. Similar technology can also be used in swimming pools to clean the water and keep the pool cool for those swimmers who live in hot climates.
10. Spray-on Solar Cells - These are only #10 because they don’t exist yet… not in the marketplace, anyway. Yet spray-on solar cells, which some scientists are claiming will be market-ready within five years, could fundamentally change how we use solar power around the home. Roofing, siding, windows, sheds, barns, t-shirts, trash cans, anything could become a home solar power system should spray-on solar cells succeed. Hopefully, they’ll jump to #1 on our list very soon.

In the meantime, you can have “lay-on” solar panels and other home solar power products installed by qualified professionals. And it only takes a mouse-click to get started.

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Posted on October 1st in Solar Products by Dan.