Get Solar Heating!

Here is an interesting news story on an actual ‘zero energy home’. It produces all of its own energy! The whole house runs on solar energy and uses both active solar power and passive solar heating systems. In fact, the house converts so much solar power that it sells it back to the power company for other houses to use. The story estimates this ends up saving over $2000 a year on their heating bill.

The house takes solar energy from its solar panels on the roof. However, it also uses passive solar heating systems in the form of triple-pane insulated windows. From some of the images shown it also looks like it uses insulation in the roof at the least. I would imagine it also uses a passive solar water heater to further save on power usage. The house looks very bright, so must allow plenty of sun and heat through accurate and generous window placement.

In the spirit of the ‘green living’ the house actually uses recycled soda bottles for carpet! It even looks surprisingly comfortable. The news article bills it as the first affordable zero energy home, priced at around $260,000. It is a great example of solar technology getting cheap enough to actually use. I also like how it combines active and passive solar heating systems to produce an extremely energy efficient home. It is still a bit pricey for me at the moment, but I’m happy to save money with my DIY solar water heater in the meantime!

Naturally the term ‘solar’ means ‘from the sun’. Since the world began it has been used for heat and light. Solar energy can be used throughout the home in a variety of ways. When machinery is used to convert that energy it is known as ‘active’ solar power. However, it can also be ‘passive’, meaning the sun basically shines on a certain place and heats it up. Solar heating in the home can involve having a solar hot water system or passive solar water heater. However, it might just involve preheating the air in the house to comfortable temperatures; houses can be designed in specific ways to make this more efficient. More advanced options of solar heating systems might be using solar panels for electricity.

Solar energy is a renewable energy source as opposed to fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, which are not renewable. However, fossil fuels have been historically cheaper to use. While passive solar heating systems have been used in houses for decades, such as sky lights and passive solar water heaters, the technology for using active solar heating has been expensive. This price is reducing greatly as technology improves and more people begin to use solar electricity. People have also begun to make homemade solar water heaters and panels.