How to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient with Solar Panels

Table of Contents

There are a few significant factors to consider while planning for the sun. In particular, these are:

Orientation

Location of Windows

Materials

Shading

These are the fundamentals that guarantee a design’s success in every environment. Let’s rewind and define solar home plans to see if that helps. Designing a home using solar energy is an example of sustainable architecture. During the day, the sun’s rays will warm every home.

When the temperature outside drops at night, heat will escape from the house through the walls, windows, and roof.

If you incorporate solar planning into your home’s layout, you can build a home that stays warm during the day and cool at night.

A. Positioning.

The sun is lower in the sky, and the days are shorter throughout the winter. At this time of year, the sun will enter your home at a more shallow angle. When viewed from the northern hemisphere, sunlight comes at an angle from the south, and vice versa in the southern hemisphere.

This is the foundation upon which orientation is built. You can take advantage of the winter sun in the northern hemisphere by positioning your home to face south. Because of this, the north side of your home will feel the coldest during the winter.

We will presume that you are in the northern hemisphere for this essay. (Those of you in the southern hemisphere should reverse this.)

To maximize orientation benefits, you should face the living room, kitchen, and other high-traffic areas toward the south. The rear walls of these interiors will be bathed with sunlight even in the dead of winter.

It is recommended that bedrooms be located on the eastern side of the home. This means that you will be exposed to the sun’s earliest beams. Don’t do this if you hate the sun and want to sleep in.

Rooms like the dining area and living room should face west to take advantage of the afternoon sun. The winter and afternoon sun will shine brightest on the southwest side of the house.

Put the house’s utility spaces on the northern side. Less-frequented rooms are reserved for service. Everything from hallways to restrooms to storage spaces to closets to perhaps even the laundry room is included.

Second, Measurements for Windows

This is a crucial consideration when designing a solar-powered home. Windows allow the most heat to escape any part of your home’s construction. This situation is not entirely wrong because windows let natural light into your home. However, due to glass’s poor insulating characteristics, heat can easily escape through the panes in your windows.

Windows are typically double- or even triple-glazed in icy regions. Some heat is retained because of an air gap between the glass. Even triple-paned glass isn’t as effective as a solid wall at keeping the heat.

There are two factors to consider when determining your windows’ total number and dimensions.

The primary factor is the orientation of your windows. The issue is one of direction once again. If they face north, most of your windows will not get much sun in the winter. As a result, they will lose heat without receiving any solar power benefits.

As a result, the southern, western, and eastern sides of your home should feature the most significant number of windows.

The total surface area of your windows is the second factor to consider. Every climate has an ideal window-to-wall ratio. A window-to-wall balance of 30% windows and 70% walls may be appropriate in milder climes. This is climate-specific.

The other proportion concerns the placement and size of windows. In the same mild environment, the ideal distribution of window orientation might be as follows: 50% south, 10% north, 30% east, and 30% west. This arrangement of windows is optimal because it maximizes natural light while minimizing heat loss.

Unfortunately, this is only a rough guide; the ratios depend on the weather. Finding the optimal balance for your needs may necessitate some investigation.

3. Components

Insulation is essential in situations where heat loss is a concern. A material’s ability to withstand heat transfer makes it insulate. Insulated walls, for instance, will prevent heat from escaping via the exterior. This is analogous to putting on a warm coat on a chilly day.

Insulation can give you some wiggle room when calculating the heat lost via your windows. For instance, more oversized windows may be feasible if heat loss through them is compensated for by having highly insulated walls.

Keep in mind that heat rises. Thus, most of your heat is lost at the top of your home. The roof, next to the walls, and the floor should be insulated. Drapes or blinds can help prevent heat loss via very drafty windows. Curtains offer insulation by isolating a space of relatively quiet air between the window and the curtain. This layer of air acts as insulation and reduces heat loss.

Utilizing heat storage is yet another option to put materials to use in your solar home design. Have you ever experienced the sun setting next to a stone wall? The stone wall will retain heat even while the air outside is chilly. The object emits heat. This concept can even be applied domestically.

Having a wide southern window that lets in sunshine all day on an insulated tile floor is the simplest method to get this effect. The insulation beneath the floor keeps warm air in. The thermal mass justifies the tiling (over the concrete slab).

Materials vary in their characteristics. It takes a long time to heat stone, tile, or concrete, but once it is hot, it retains heat for an extended period. Using this method, you can keep a concrete slab warm all day with the sun shining through a window. The floor retains its warmth throughout the night, gradually losing it until morning when it can be heated again.

The same idea can be used for other surfaces, such as walls and flooring. A properly constructed thermal heat sink will maintain its heat throughout the night.

Fourth, shade

The design of the solar home incorporates shading in many forms. For both heat gain and loss purposes, this is crucial. Keeping the sun out is preferable to letting it in when temperatures are high.

There are commonalities between the designs of different tropical countries. They have open airflow, wide overhangs, and covered porches. Shading can be used to block the sun in the summer and let it in during the winter in temperate locations.

Your home is oriented, with the south-facing side looking out. The sun dips lower in the sky during the winter, flooding the inside with light. However, the sun is overhead throughout the hottest part of the day in the summer.

If you put a canopy or other shading structure on the south side of your home, the hot summer sun won’t be able to warm up the interior. You can use the same window coverings to let the winter sun into your home.

The amount of shading needed and your latitude (where you are on the map of the world) are essential considerations when designing shading. Where you live in the world affects how low the winter sun gets. With this information, you can accurately plan for a shade controlling the sun’s intensity in winter and summer.

In conclusion, using solar house plans is a fantastic strategy for creating habitable homes that are inexpensive to heat and cool.

A home’s orientation, window placement, materials, and shading combine to produce a microclimate inside the larger whole.

Please visit this link for further reading on solar power.

linda