Thursday, January 14, 2010

The price of solar power


By Evans D. Smith

Solar energy is a natural power source that comes right from the sun. When solar power hits the earth it spreads over the earth's surface and provides warmth uniformly. If you might capture the sun's rays into a selected area for a significant period of time it might provide enough heat for night or on clouded days. Learning where to find solar electricity will help you to start today. Solar energy doesn't cost anything as it comes from the sun. The source that you select may cost some but in the long term it should be your one cost, unlike gas or oil heaters that you continue to pay for monthly in order to have power or gas heat in your house. Solar energy can offer heating, cooling and ventilation.

If you want to make your own solar power to capture the energy for heating its easy to do if you can find a solar collector, which is anything that attracts the heat from the sun in a concentrated amount, such as glass or clear plastic. Getting into your car that has sat out in the hot sun all day long can be extremely hot and you have to roll down your windows to cool it off inside. That is because the glass has attracted the sun and the objects in your car, including your seats, have trapped the heat not allowing it to escape. When you roll your windows down you are allowing the heat to escape causing your car to cool down. The same thing is true about greenhouses. The glass or clear plastic can attract the sun and not allow it to escape causing the greenhouse to maintain the heat for the plants to grow effectively.

In order to heat your home using solar energy, you need to know the information on a passive and an active home. These two types of solar homes offer the homeowner options to choose from and your cost of heating may be down. Solar energy does not only heat your home but it also heats your water and if you use solar energy lights it can light your home at night.

Passive houses don't use any equipment to heat the home. Passive houses use windows that are made to permit the maximum amount of daylight into your house. The sunlight is controlled by keeping the doors closed in the hottest part of the day not permitting any heat to flee. At night thick curtains might be used on these windows so the heat stays within in the night. This permits the sun to naturally heat your house without any help.

Active houses do use kit to help circulate the heat in the home. Some of the apparatus that might be used includes pumps, blowers and an alternative heating source in case the daylight wasn't enough in the daytime. To warm the home with daylight these houses use special boxes on the outside that attract the sunrays to it. They are made of a dark coloured metal to help attract the sun more. The water or air that's carried in the pipes and ductwork is heated by this glass box which has captured the sunlight. Then the heated water or air is then carried to the remainder of the home.

In the longer term, solar power helps to warm the home naturally and without depending on a company to provide it for you. Solar power can be discovered anywhere the sun is.

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