Solar power for home use is one way that we can overcome the dwindling supplies of fossil fuels - and, even better, it’s a completely free source of power. There is a constant supply of solar energy, renewed every day, and generating solar power for home use helps to reduce the environmental damage from fossil fuel use. Some people are avoiding solar power solutions because of a concern that solar power solutions may be highly-priced or difficult to manage. In actual fact, generating solar power for home use is neither difficult nor expensive. What’s more, converting to home solar power can reduce your power bills dramatically. And, of course, you will be playing your part in saving the planet for future generations.
There are many viable ways to use solar power for home use.
Solar Cooker
A solar cooker is a cooking utensil which utilizes solar power to cook food without requiring any other power source. Feeding up to five people, the average solar cooker looks like small box. It may seem that this unusual cooking utensil would limit the variety of food you can bring to the table - but the solar cooker is more flexible than it seems. You can not only boil food items in the solar cooker, but also roast and bake! You will need to bear in mind that cooking times are longer in a solar cooker, so you can’t leave meal planning to the last minute. Even so, because a solar cooker is free to run, it is a good option to cut down those spiralling energy bills.
Solar Home Lighting
Solar home lighting is a popular form of solar power for homes, using solar power to generate electricity, which then powers the lights in your home. Solar power for home use is generated via cells that become electrically charged by absorbing solar energy. The power stored in the solar cells can then power the lights in the house at night. You can easily generate enough power to run your lights, and never worry about those electricity bills again.
Solar Heating System
Having your own solar heating system will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions; it will also reduce the drain on your wallet from those ever-increasing utility bills. Some people still carry prejudices from the early days, when solar heating systems were ugly and expensive, but these days such prejudices are unfounded. Providers of solar power solutions have invested effort and research dollars into making their products aesthetically pleasing.
When considering price, it is wise to think of a solar heating system as an investment, from which you get a return in 3-4 years, and thenceforth free power for the rest of your life.
Home Solar Panels
For just a fraction of the price of a commercial installation, you can convert your home to solar power, by making your own solar panels. The components of solar panels can be purchased at any hardware store, and assembling them is a simple matter for the average home owner.
Get the Alternative Energy Savers complete guide to solar power for home use.
Karl Bailey is a staff writer for AlternativeEnergySavers.com, and contributes regularly to other publications. This article is part of his series on alternative energy.
