Home Improvement

Solar homes. Many people talk about them, although few in the U.S. do more than talk. They are said to reduce utility bills. Some say a solar home cuts utility bills drastically. Some are able to sell excess power back to the power grid. Savings are not automatic, however. Steps must be taken to make the solar home efficient; to conserve the electricity that is produced.
Ways to conserve solar photovoltaic power in the home must be found. The home owner must actively seek out ways to make those photovoltaic (PV) panels on the roof as efficient as possible. Photovoltaic power is free, but it cannot be generated in unlimited quantities. It is important to take measures to use it to best advantage.
Of all the ways to conserve solar photovoltaic power in the home, the most important is probably replacement of power-gobbling electric appliances. Home lighting can also be changed to conserve solar photovoltaic power (PV power). Finally, power usage can be reduced by making every person in the solar home conscious of conservation methods.

12 Ways to Conserve Solar Photovoltaic Power in the Home

1. Shop for energy-efficient appliances and home electronics for your solar home. Most products in this category carry EnergyGuide labels. These labels give an estimate of the products’ energy consumption or energy efficiency, and show the ratings of similar appliance models. In the U.S., appliances and home electronics that meet strict Department of Energy (DOE) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) energy efficiency criteria carry Energy Star labels.
2. Replace an electric water heater in a solar home with an energy-efficient propane or natural gas heater. Connect the new water heater to a solar water heater system. The sun will preheat the water, and the new unit will have less work. Wrap the water heater with thermal wrap to retain heat.
3. Replace the solar home’s electric furnace with an energy-efficient propane or natural gas unit. Install a solar panel air heater to reduce the work load of the new furnace. If you are building a new solar home, consider passive ways to heat the floors and air, further reducing the workload.
4. If the solar home is in a hot, dry climate, use an evaporative cooling unit in place of an electric air conditioner.
5. Check weather stripping around all windows and doors. Seal cracks and openings. Stopping air leakage in and out can improve indoor climate control in every season.
6. Insulate the solar home well. Insulation will keep heat or cool air from escaping. It will also keep outdoor cold or heat from entering readily.
7. Use heavy, insulted drapes and window shades/blinds in the solar home to keep out hot or cold air, making cooling and heating units work more efficiently.
8. A serious solar home owner can save even further by using a solar oven for cooking whenever possible. Especially good in hot climates or summer months, a solar oven will cook food with solar energy, and avoid heating the home. Money is thus saved in two ways.
9. Control of computer usage is another of the many ways to conserve solar photovoltaic power in the home. Monitors should be turned off whenever the computer will not be in use for 20 minutes or more. The CPU and monitor both should be turned off when the unit will not be used for 2 hours or more. Power down or sleep modes should be set.
10. Replace light bulbs with Energy Star qualified compact fluorescent light bulbs. If every U.S. home replaced just one light bulb with one of these bulbs, we would save more than $600 million in annual energy costs. To the solar home owner, such savings are vital.
11. Maximize your use of daylight, turning on lights only when necessary. Use windows to advantage, and install skylights where possible.
12. Landscape your property to block the heat of summer sunlight, permit winter sunlight. Deciduous trees near the solar home will shade windows in the summer, and let warming sunlight through in winter months.
Ways to conserve solar photovoltaic power in the home are not limited to these twelve, but if these alone are used, the increase in efficiency will be tremendous

Home LED solar powered lights are the latest in solar power products to hit the market. By being free of relying on traditional electricity sources, these modern lights are a dream for designers when it comes to outdoor lighting.

How solar power LED lights came about:

Ever since solar power became portable, people have thought of as many solar power uses as possible. What made solar power so attractive for outdoor lighting was its portability – replacing the need for long, unsightly extension leads in the garden. Initially individuals tried using compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs, but the small solar panels could not produce enough wattage for the lights to burn bright enough.

As a result the solar light market was limited to places near the equator with large amounts of sunlight. And even then the solar panels and batteries had to be large enough to cater for the period of longest nights, shortest days and cloudiest conditions.

Then as LED lights started hitting the market, manufacturers realized they would be ideal for solar lighting since they burned brightly, but used minimal power. And thanks to technological improvements in home solar power LED lights, the solar lighting market is no longer confined to equatorial areas with the most amount of direct sunlight and highest temperatures.

So what were the technological improvements, and how did they benefit the solar market?

They were:

1. Optimized system efficiency

LED lights are now capable of optimizing current flows, where no power is wasted, so the overall system efficiency is almost 100 percent.

2. LED’s can be fine tuned

Since solar LED lights can be programmed, users are now able to select not only where the light is delivered but also how brightly and when it is delivered. This has led to a reduction in solar panel and battery size by as much as 50 percent of the original outdoor lighting system.

3. Effective illumination

LED lights are able to provide directional beams of light, where about 90 percent can be used for ambient lighting and a further 70 percent for task lighting.  Furthermore, a 45 lumen LED light can create the same amount of light as a 75 lumen CFL bulb, resulting in lower electricity usage and costs for running a home power solar lighting system.

4. Improved performance, efficiency and lifespan in cold temperatures

Most outdoor lamps tend to lose performance and lifetime in colder temperatures – where they seem rather dim or burn out very quickly in sub-zero climates. But LED’s are different – they don’t produce light from a filament, but rather a micro-chip. And since micro-chips run better at lower temperatures, solar LED lights can last 5 to 10 times longer than CFL bulbs.

With all these technological breakthroughs anyone is now able to enjoy home LED solar powered lights at home, no matter where they live. And if you know how to make your own solar panel system, all you have to do is add some inexpensive LED lights to enjoy free outdoor lighting. It couldn’t be simpler!

Home security and crime statistics indicate that a burglary occurs roughly every fifteen seconds in the United States. This means that such crimes take place almost round the clock. While daylight serves as a big deterrent to home invaders and burglars, the night time provides good “cover”.

So, how do you eliminate that cover without racking up big electricity bills and home security system fees? It is easy with the installation of solar powered landscape lighting. Walkways can be lined with attractive and effective lights, motion sensor units can be stationed at all entrances and unobserved areas of the home and yard, and they can even be placed inside such areas as garages and sheds!

With solar powered security lights the only expense for installing a complete home and yard lighting plan is the cost of the units themselves. Small solar panels and collectors make it easy to install the lights wherever they may be needed and gather the power of the sun to operate the system all night long.

Let’s consider a “typical” yard and home. There will be a driveway of some sort and perhaps a garage. Because the garage is the typical point of entry for many thieves, it is important to use solar lighting at this location, as well as good locks on all doors. A homeowner could install solar powered accent lights along the edge of their drive and a motion-sensor light above the garage door. This would be triggered by anyone pulling into their yard or walking anywhere near the entrance to the garage. Additionally, with the benefit of the solar collection panel, a motion sensor unit could also be positioned inside the garage. A good location for such a fixture would be immediately above the door that leads from the garage and into the home.

Strategically locating solar security flood lights  would remove a would-be burglar’s element of comfort or security that is provided by the cover of darkness, and the motion sensor lights may lead them to believe that they have also triggered a security system as well!

While the solar accent lights along walkways and the drive illuminate the entire area, and eliminate the chance for a burglar to approach any entryway under cover of dark, they also make it much safer for those arriving home in the evening. They provide a guide to the safe and level sidewalk or pathway and serve as a nice welcome home!