Passive Home Solar Power
Harnessing the power of the sun is not a new concept but as today’s technologies increase in sophistication and power, new means and methods of bringing the energy provided by the sun to all of us are attracting attention in the media.
The beauty of home solar power is that architects can incorporate home solar power solutions into their original plans for buildings. Solar power, however, isn’t just being used for an energy source. Although many buildings are including a so-called ‘Active Solar’ concept; technologies that are used to turn common sunlight, or solar energy, into tangible and usable heat or electricity.
Active Solar systems, however, do require electronic or mechanical mechanisms to drive their functionality. In turn, this requires some form of energy which is more than likely to consume the ‘conventional’ energy sources of oil, gas or coal. An alternative to ‘Active Solar’ is the complete opposite, ‘Passive Solar’. A ‘Passive Solar’ system will incorporate technologies that will turn sunlight into usable energy but with a limitation on the amount of active mechanical systems required to drive the passive solar system. This will, virtually, eliminate the need for any conventional energy consumption at all, although it is still rare to find an entirely independent passive solar system available. The common image that is created when passive solar energy is described are solar panels on the roof of a house in a sun drenched country. This isn’t always the case. A ‘passive solar’ system can even include a solarium, or glass room built to ‘trap’ the sunlight, attached onto a house. The clear benefit of passive systems is of course the almost non-existent operating costs and the incredibly reduced emission of ‘greenhouse gases’.
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