Solar Energy For Your Home

Solar energy for your home

It is quite clear that installing solar panels for your home is a good decision in many respects. The most important thing is that you are saving the environment and Earth from the harmful effects of fossil fuels (global warming included). You rarely get such opportunities to make your contribution towards such a huge global cause. So, you should make the most of this opportunity and feel good about it Then there are financial savings too associated with solar power for homes. However, the first step would be to assess the suitability of solar power for your home.

Assessing the suitability of solar energy for your home

This will be your first step towards making your home a solar home. As discussed in the previous section, you can harness the energy from sun in three ways i.e. Solar Thermal (Solar Water), Solar Photovoltaic (Solar electricity) and Passive Solar. Solar Thermal (ST) and Photovoltaics (PV) are collectively called Active Solar and the suitability criteria for both are very similar.

Assessing the suitability of solar energy for home:

• South facing roofs (south-east or south-west) are the best for installing solar thermal and solar photovoltaic systems. Flat roofs are also fine; the solar systems installer will install the solar panels at an angle in such a case. You also have the option of getting the solar systems installed at ground level. In any case, it would be best to get the advice from a A E Solar Systems an MCS certified solar power installer.
  
  
• You will need an area that is sufficiently exposed to sunlight for most part of the day. Also, the area should be sufficiently large so as to allow installation of solar panels.
  
  
• While planning permission for solar power systems is not required in most cases, you should still check with the local authorities to confirm that the area is not marked as a heritage site or a conservation area or a listed building or a wildlife protected area; and accordingly move forward with your plans for solar energy systems.
  
  
• If you are constructing a new home, you can also harness passive solar very effectively. For new constructions, active solar too can be harnessed in a better way. This has been discussed in more detail later in this section.
  
  
• You should also check and document your solar hot water requirements and solar photovoltaic electricity requirements.
  
  
• Also, if you are installing solar panels on your roof, you might want to check the condition of the roof prior to having them installed.

If you are unsure, you should call A E Solar Systems a solar energy solutions provider to do the assessment and site survey for you (you can call A E Solar Systems on 0845 303 8370).

New home construction
If you are just building a new home, you can consider going for a design that will help you harness passive solar and active solar at the same time.

• For passive solar, the building’s orientation, the construction material, glazed areas, insulation etc are the factors that are considered.
  
  
• For heating requirements, you can go for solar air heaters for keeping the interiors warm and Solar Thermal energy systems to cater to your hot water requirements for bathing, washing etc.
  
  
• For electricity generation, you can opt for installing solar tiles instead of installing solar panels on the rooftops. Solar tiles are available in various colours and styles and look pretty much like the conventional tiles that you use for your roof.