Solar Power For Your Home

As mentioned in my article, Solar Panel Basics, there are two basic methods of using solar energy in your home.  The first is a solar heat collector system that captures solar energy to heat air or water for use in your home.  This is excellent for providing warm air and hot water, but doesn't help in powering your lights or electric appliances.  For that, a Photovoltaic (PV) system is recommended.

100% Solar Electric-Powered Home

A home solar electric system has these elements:

• Solar electric panels
• Inverter
• Racking
• Wiring
• AC and DC safety shut-offs
• Optional Equipment such as Solar energy monitor, Net meter, and Battery back-up

A home solar electric system works when sunlight hits the panels. The panels capture sunlight and convert it into direct current (DC) electricity. Then, the electricity goes through an inverter which converts the DC electricity into alternating current (AC) electricity. AC electricity is what you can use throughout your home.

Cost

There is a tendency to assume that electricity produced by the sun is cheaper than other forms.  That may be accurate if you don't count the installation costs, but you obviously cannot ignore that factor.  The cost to install a solar electric power system that will provide 100% of your power needs is can be between $20,000 and $60,000 or more.  Obviously, this is not a cost that you will recoup quickly.  When you buy a solar heating system, you're essentially paying in advance for 25-30 years of power. When you think of it that way, the cost of solar energy is not much compared to what this power will cost from the utility company over the next 25-30 years.  Of course, this only makes sense if you are planning to stay in your home that long or can sell the home for enough to recoup the costs.

Factors affecting costs depend on these factors:

• Size and energy-efficiency of your home
• Amount of sun available to you.
• Equipment cost and efficiency
• Labor cost
• Federal and local solar rebates

When you buy a solar electric system, here's where your money typically goes:

• 60% for the solar panels
• 10% for the inverter
• 15% for all the other parts
• 15% for labor

As time goes on, the panel cost will come down.

Hybid System

As an alternative to a 100% solar electric-powered home, you should consider a hybrid system which integrates PV panels with passive heating and cooling techniques, heating by a solar collector system, and power from your local power company.