Solar Energy For Your Home

by Darren

In the last few posts about solar energy, we’ve taken a look at the theoretical applications of energy derived from the Sun. Now let’s look at a practical issue. What is the viability of using solar energy for your home? As solar energy is such a big part of the Obama Energy Plan, what will it take to install solar energy in people’s houses?

Efficient home design is the key to building solar energy friendly homes

One of the most obvious areas where homes can use solar energy is if they’re designed with the Sun in mind. New or existing homes can also have solar energy collectors installed which helps store the Sun’s natural energy. A combination of natural lighting and energy collectors can generally sufficiently supply a home’s energy needs.

In areas that receive a lot of sunlight, excess energy can be collected and stored for use on a daily basis. A typical solar energy system can run from $10,000 to $40,000. Depending on your electrical budget, this could be paid off by you living in the house long enough.

“Although the up-front costs of conversion are not insignificant (a typical household system can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $40,000), the energy generated will meet all or part of your future energy needs, lowering your utility bills and helping to pay for the initial cost of the system over time. In fact, homes that generate more power than they need and remain connected to the energy grid may actually put that extra energy into the grid and receive a rebate from the local electric company”

Certainly that’s the best case scenario and the one you should be looking for if you’re considering making a large investment into the solar energy for your home arena. If you live in an area where sunlight is abundant and your local utility company will pay you for excess electricity than you produce, installation of a solar energy system might be extremely attractive.

Obama Energy Plan hopes lower cost of solar energy will encourage widescale adoption

Electrical production from solar energy is a big part of the Obama Energy Plan, so you can expect that homeowner’s will be looking at a large range of incentives in the next few years to convert their homes to solar energy production.

Check out the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency to see what incentives your state has. When the final details of the Obama Energy Plan are finally worked out, a combination of tax rebates and incentives that make solar energy installations extremely affordable are likely.

Lower prices should serve as the catalyst to put solar energy production into overdrive. Obama has touted several figures of potential employment created by the surge in the solar power industry, but mainly he appears to be speculating. In any event, a large scale deployment of technology like this one will spark an increase in demand as well as increased hiring.

The push towards wind and solar energy will also serve to lower greenhouse gas emissions which are contributing to global warming. Obama hopes to decrease greenhouse gas emissions by ensuring that 10% of all US energy consumption comes from renewable sources by 2012.

If you have been considering solar energy for your home, now is an excellent time to begin your search in earnest. Technology is advancing, prices are becoming more affordable, and the government is offering plans to make such an installation pay off in the form of a long term investment.