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Solar Heating

Solar heating for the home or office is a great way to save energy, reduce pollution in the environment, and reduce the stress and frustration that comes with high utility bills.

What is solar heating?

It's simply using the heat from the sun's rays to create energy we can more readily use.

Our sun’s energy can provide for many of the everyday things that most of us currently use electricity for.

By setting up devices (typically on the roofs of buildings) to capture sun energy, this energy can be used to heat liquids that transfer the heat energy into other uses in the home.
Solar heating is a method of harnessing the power of the sun to give us solar thermal energy for solar hot water, solar space heating, solar cooling, and solar pool heaters.

A solar setup can save a tremendous amount of energy (which is normally powered by electricity from the grid).

These solar power systems have dramatically increased in efficiency and reliability over the last several years. This makes them more and more attractive options for use in your home or business. (Although there is still some room for improvement)

For those living in the U.S., there are now tax incentives and credits offered for those using heating systems from solar energy for the home.

What Types Of Solar Heating Are Available?

As mentioned above, there are currently 4 types of solar thermal systems that can be setup in the home or office:

Solar Hot Water - By far, the biggest energy-saving solar setup that can be used in the home is the solar hot water heating system.
The sun’s heat energy is absorbed in a collector plate, which heats a non-evaporative liquid, which is used to heat the water in a water heater for use in the home.

Space Heating - Solar energy can be used in colder climates to heat an area of a building to a comfortable temperature - when the space is insulated correctly. Sun rays are "trapped" in the enclosed space and the space is insulated to prevent the warm air created by the sun from escaping.

Solar Cooling - Solar thermal energy is used to heat liquids, which then power evaporative cooling systems (similar to freon systems in air-conditioners).

Pool Heating - Energy from the sun is used to heat a liquid (similar to the home water heating system) that is used to heat an indoor or outdoor pool. This saves the electric energy normally needed for electric-powered heaters that normally perform the same function.

Since heating elements that are powered by electricity tend to be the biggest energy users, using free solar energy to do the same thing reduces the cost of utilities significantly!

Of course, there are several factors that come into play for these systems to be worth the initial investment (good location relative to the sun, typical weather and cloudiness, etc.)

The Future

Solar energy is getting cheaper and better in all respects. Many people have even begun building their own home systems with great success.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its partners are currently working to provide more cost-effective solar heating systems and are working to improve the materials used in these systems and the durability of those materials.

The DOE's research is helping to make these systems much more accessible to everyday consumers. This allows them to reduce their utility bills.

In the long run, the more developed nations will be able to significantly reduce their consumption of fossil fuels just by using more sun energy.

As mentioned earlier, the U.S. Energy Policy Act provided a credit in the tax code that allows up to a 30% tax credit for consumers who install solar water systems in their homes. To be eligible for this tax credit, the system(s) have to be certified by the Solar Rating & Certification Corporation (SRCC).

SRCC is a non-profit partner of the Department of Energy. Additionally, if you live in Florida or Hawaii, you can use the certification programs provided by these 2 states.

If you'd like to learn more about building your own solar home systems, we found an excellent source of information for doing just that from a company called Off Grid Living. They offer information to people like us for building your own systems very cheaply with everyday materials.

Currently, a vast majority of people aren't really taking advantage of using solar energy to heat their homes or offices. But, the future does seem to hold a tremendous number of possibilities. And more and more people are starting to realize the effects and savings.

This can only improve as materials and technology get better in the future, and as more and more of us begin using these systems on a daily (long-term) basis.

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