Economical Solar Energy Solutions
For Home, Pool, & Business

 We get a lot of inquiries from future builders who wish to incorporate solar into their plans.  Solar is just one of the best investment steps to consider. If you are planning on building a home or extensively remodeling a house with energy efficiency in mind, here is our list of things to do in order of  the best financial performance.

1) Passive Solar Design
New Home:  A new home is a blank slate to design in features that will use or avoid the sun to control solar energy transmission.  Orientation of the house, window size and location, and roof eave overhang are just a few of the features to be manipulated to help the home stay cool and hot when you want it to.  A link to www.SunPlans.com is here and on the home page.  They specialize in this type of design and have many examples of it.  The book 'The Sun-Inspired House' is highly recommended as a guide to energy efficient construction and passive solar home plans.

Existing Home:  Remodels have fewer options to change a home's passive solar charactaristics, but shading of and types of windows is something that is frequently addressed.  Additions can be oriented to provide rooftop solar collector area.

2) Insulation and Air Sealing
New Home:  Getting the insulation and air sealing, or envelope, of a new home right will pay off for its entire life.  Caulking air leaks and making the envelope 'tight' will keep excess humidity from getting in.  Even small leaks and openings can admit large amounts of humid air that your AC unit will have to work to remove.  Spraying open-cell foam costs more, but will insulate and seal better than fiberglass batts.  Spray insulating the bottom of the roof deck between the rafters to turn the attic into a conditioned space decreases the load on any AC equipment by up to 25%.  A tight home also needs appropriately designed ventilation to provide fresh air from a clean source (covered in the HVAC item below).  New homes should be performance tested before completion to ensure that the air leakage control goals are met.  The motto is Seal Tight, Ventilate Right.

Existing Home:  Have your home audited by a Home Energy Rater (HERS) such as Head's Heating and Air and address any glaring findings such as the door seals or duct leaks.  The HERS report and rater can help prioritize further action to get the best results.

3) Properly Sized and Efficient HVAC
New Home:  To properly size an HVAC system, a calculation known as ASHRAE Manual J must be run by a competent professional.  The calculation takes into account construction details like location, windows, insulation, and solar orientation to determine the 'right' size for air conditioning and heating and duct work.  Outside air make-up requirements are determined to meet health guidelines.  The newest high efficiency AC systems featuring multi-speed compressors, variable-speed fans, and 'smart' humidity-sensing thermostats will run only as hard as requred to maintain air comfort. The total AC tonnage of a 'right'-sized system will probably be lower than you are used to seeing, but will be more effective.  A small amount of conditioned air continuously moving is more comfortable than a system that comes on full blast and doesn't run long enough to remove the air's humidity.

Existing Home:  Existing homes can also be retrofitted with the more efficient units. Home testing and evaluation by a HERS professional will set the stage.  It is best to get a diagnosis before having a major operation.

4) Solar Water Heating
New Home:  Consult with us on location and space required for the water heating system.  It may make more sense to locate the water heaters in an enclosure outside the envelope.  This will free up valuable living space.

Existing Home: Give us a call to look at your situation.  We will work with you to find the best arrangement for installing a system.  

5) Energy Efficient Lighting and Appliances
New and Existing Homes:  Compact flourescent and LED lighting and Energy-Star rated appliances all use substantially less power than older technologies.  Our approach is to use them to reduce your power demand so that you don't need to buy or generate as much.   A rule of thumb is that every $1 you spend on reducing your power demand saves $5 spent on solar electric generation equipment.

6) Solar Electricity Generation
After you take action on all of the above items, you have minimized your electrical power usage and are in the best situation to consider PV.  The PV Electricity page gives details on the options available.  Contact us to discuss your situation and ideas.