While no two solar homes are exactly the same, most are built using the same basic principals. This article will highlight some of the elements that give a home enough efficiency, utility, and resourcefulness to be called “solar.”
Because the sun is the guiding and empowering force behind all things solar, it’s no surprise that solar homes are built to face the sun. This means that the rooms most frequently inhabited are situated on the south side, where they can absorb heat, even from the low-lying winter sun.
Shading is a critical tool for keeping the home at a cozy temperature. It should be available during the hot summer months and can manifest in window coverings, skylight coverings, trees, and landscaping. Inversely, shading should be reduced in the winter.
This leads to another critical factor in home design: windows. Like the placement of high-traffic rooms, the majority of a home’s windows should face the south side of a home. Be careful, though, because overglazing can also lead to temperature extremes.
Thermal mass occurs when the sun has heated a solid or liquid object to such an extent that it stays warm long after the sun stops shining. Solar homes do not let this stored energy go to waste. Solar slabs made from adobe, brick, stone, concrete, or other heat-conducive material are placed in walls or floors to absorb heat and help maintain uniform temperatures.
Proper insulation can make the difference between a poorly ventilated home and an energy-efficient one. Solar homes are insulated at every surface that separates the interior of the home from the exterior world. This includes the walls, floors, and ceilings of attics, garages, porches, crawl spaces, and basements.
Greenhouses and sunrooms are a great solar addition, especially since their benefits can flow to the rest of the house via entryways and connective air flows.
Solar PlansInterested in Home Solar Energy?
Fill in your details below and certified solar contractors will give you FREE estimates.
Moved project along ahead of schedule & were very accommodating when we made changes.
We really appreciate all of your hard work and the entire Standard Solar team. Everyone did an awesome job and should be commended. I do not think that we had one issue from beginning to end. We appreciate your flexibility, dedication to the customer, hard work and managing all of the details that your team completed seamlessly. We are really thankful for Standard Solar helping with all of the certifications and government paperwork for our tax credits. With so much that could go wrong – yet didn’t – we know that it is not accident.