Solar Heating and Cooling

Solar Water Heaters

If you heat water with electricity, have high electric rates, and have an unshaded, sun-facing location (such as a roof) on your property, consider installing a solar water heater. The solar units are environmentally friendly and can now be installed on your roof to blend with the architecture of your house.

More than 1.5 million homes and businesses in the United States have invested in solar water heating systems, and surveys indicate over 94% of these customers consider the systems a good investment. Solar water heating systems are also good for the environment. Solar water heaters avoid the harmful greenhouse gas emissions associated with electricity production.

During a 20-year period, one solar water heater can avoid over 50 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. When shopping for a solar water heater, look for systems certified by the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation or the Florida Solar Energy Center.


Solar Heating and Cooling

Using passive solar design techniques to heat and cool your home can be both environmentally friendly and cost effective. Passive solar heating techniques include placing larger, insulated windows on south-facing walls and locating thermal mass, such as a concrete slab floor or a heat-absorbing wall, close to the windows. In many cases, you can cut your heating costs by more than 50% compared with the cost of heating the same house that does not include passive solar design.

Passive solar design can also help reduce your cooling costs. Passive solar cooling techniques include carefully designed overhangs, windows with reflective coatings, and the use of reflective coatings on exterior walls and the roof.

A passive solar house requires careful design and site orientation, which depend on the local climate. So, if you are considering passive solar design for new construction or a major remodelling, you should consult an architect familiar with passive solar techniques.

Holographic Solar

Holographic Solar needs less silicon area to produce the same solar electricity.

Holograms to cut the cost of solar modules! Yes, Prism Solar Technologies in New York has developed a proof-of-concept solar module to use holograms to concentrate light, and this lead to a cut in solar module cost by 75 percent. And this concept can easily challenge electricity generated from fossil fuels.

Compared to it, the silicon-based solar panels are less energy-efficient, and to finds a solution to it, the concept uses mirrors or lenses that concentrate light from the sun, hence reducing the total area of silicon necessary to produce a certain amount of electricity.

Sleek flat panels laminated with holograms, replaces the unsightly concentrators in this new technology.