Online Solar Products Newsletter April 2008

1^st Steps of Going Solar

Things to consider before going Solar

Converting Your Home to Solar Power

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A new home provides the best opportunity for designing and orienting the home to take advantage of solar radiation. A well-oriented home admits low-angle winter sun to reduce heating bills and rejects overhead summer sun to reduce cooling bills. Work with your architect and/or developer to optimally orient your house. Even a ±5° shift in your home’s orientation can save you thousands $ in a lifetime of energy usage.

Many U.S. consumers buy electricity generated from renewable energy sources like the sun, wind, water, plants, and the earth's internal (geothermal) heat. Our national power grid and transmission lines allow utility companies to buy and sell power from a variety of sources. Your utility company and other independent companies have programs that allow you to buy electricity from renewable sources. This power is sometimes called Green Energy.  (See http://www.eere.energy.gov/ for more information)

The most efficient use of solar energy is for Solar Hot Water. You can use the sun to heat your domestic water in a variety of ways. If you have a swimming pool or hot tub, you can also use solar for those. Most solar pool heating systems are cost competitive with conventional systems. Solar water heating systems have very low operating costs: it's actually the most cost-effective use of solar energy and is discussed right after this section.

Generating your own electricity from the sun with a PV (Photo-Voltaic) is easier than it looks. Don’t let somebody tell you it’s complicated – it isn’t! A few simple initial observations and knowledge will get you started on ordering the right components. For installation, you can hire an experienced solar contractor, or if you have some basic electrical skills you can do it yourself. Just remember there are building codes and other regulations you need to follow. There are also utility incentives to go with a PV ‘net metering’ systemSolar heating is the most efficient and effective of all our solar technologies. While solar PV arrays hover around 10-16% efficiencies, solar water heating can get over 60% efficient depending on your system design. There are thousands of solar hot water systems in use since the early 1900’s. Paint anything black, put it in the sun and it gets hot. Even campers enjoy hot showers when the sun is shining by hanging a simple black plastic water container in the sun.

For domestic usage, you’ll need to install some type of hot water tank storage and supplemental water heating for nighttime usage and cloudy days. Energy savings from solar water heating are remarkable. Heating water with the sun can be simple or complex, there are many system choices that include state and federal rebates. Or you can directly use all that sun shining on your property by storing it in your own batteries and converting it to household voltage with an inverter

Solar Hot Water Part 1

Like any technical system, solar hot water requires planning

Using the Sun to Heat Your Water

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Hard Water: If you use city or ground water, chances are you have hard water – calcium and magnesium. To keep your solar hot water system from clogging up due to corrosion, you must install a water conditioner or other anti-scaling equipment.

Freezing: If there is even a remote possibility of freezing temperatures in your area, you need to protect your solar hot water system from freezing. There are several ways to prevent freezing water by draining back the collector at the end of the day, or by using an active indirect, anti-freeze type system.

Scalding: An issue with any hot water system is scalding. Most modern homes have tempering valves that prevent this. It’s doubly important on solar hot water systems to have tempering valves properly installed and set to prevent scalding. In some systems the tempering valves are set at 80F max; to prevent auxiliary heaters from overheating the solar hot water.

Adjustment: As with any solar system, if it is not properly designed it can waste tremendous amounts of energy without the homeowner’s awareness. Example: having one wrong set-point within an active circulating solar hot water system can waste 100’s of gallons of ‘free’ hot water each day. The more complex your system, the more important it is to maintain proper settings.

Solar Hot Water, Advantages:

Solar heating is the most efficient and effective of all our solar technologies. While solar PV arrays hover around 10-16% efficiencies, solar water heating can get over 60% efficient depending on your system design. There are thousands of solar hot water systems in use since the early 1900’s. Paint anything black, put it in the sun and it gets hot. Even campers enjoy hot showers when the sun is shining by hanging a simple black plastic water container in the sun.

For your home, you will need to install some type of hot water tank storage and supplemental water heating for nighttime usage and cloudy days. Energy savings from solar water heating are remarkable. Heating water with the sun can be simple or complex, there are many system choices

Continued next issue…

Solar Power Design Manual

This ebook starts from first principles to guide you through the process of designing, specifying and installing your own self-contained solar power system, anywhere in the world.