Solar Technology Could Come Into Orbit for those Weighing the Cost
Going green – something a good many would love to do.
The expense of going green – something few are willing to absorb.
The future of going green – possibly feasible?
When a new home is on the drawing board, how it acquires energy is fully explored. Said another way: everybody asks about going green.
The question is asked early in the consultative process, and it frequently arises in Lindal webinars.
Preliminary Considerations
The U.S. Department of Energy says that “Before you add solar features to your new home design or existing house, remember that energy efficiency is the most cost-effective strategy for reducing heating and cooling bills.”
With regard to energy efficiency, the design team will first strive to determine how the structure can be situated relative to the sun for maximized cooling, heating, and lighting.
Aris Georges, who now heads Lindal’s OM Studio after 30 years instructing at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, considers orienting the house for optimal energy efficiency on his passions.
Georges uses 3-dimensional modeling software during the design process to calibrate the sun’s beam onto your planned home at various times and seasons. The software’s findings help determine window placement, material options, insulation, adjustable blinds, exterior overhangs and all the conventional factors that impact energy consumption.
“If your home isn’t in perfect harmony with its site – considering and responding to the location’s natural environmental characteristics – you’re not getting the best green home you can get,” pointed out Michael Harris, former Lindal CEO and now a Lindal consultant, at a recent webinar.
Utilizing Thermal Mass
Concrete, brick, and stone are high density materials that have the ability to store and release enrgy. Floors and walls constructed of these materials can thus help heat and cool a home, reducing energy costs.
In winter, solar energy is stored during the day and release when the air temperature drops – which occurs at night. This is because extended rooflines and overhangs block summer sunlight. But when the sun is lower in the sky during winter, sunlight beams in under the overhang and penetrates floors or walls of concrete.
If that’s confusing, Solar Schoolhouse on Youtube will help you understand, as will an architect who explains the design considrations.
“By taking design measures to bring the sun’s energy into your home during the cold winter season and keep out excessive solar energy during hot and humid summer days, you can dramatically increase the overall comfort of your home and save considerably on your monthly energy bill,” Harris added.
Solar Technology
The prerequisite of an energy conserving home, of course, is a rooftop blanketed in solar panels. These photovoltaic cells capture the sun’s energizing rays for deposit into either a battery or an inverter to switch direct current into alternating current. Micro inverters can be attached under each panel, or you can station one string inverter within the house, probably in the garage.
You can also choose whether to wire your panels parallel or in series: series wiring enables the panels to operate independently while parallel wiring means that if something blocks the sun from reaching one panel, they all go down – kind of like Christmas tree lights.
Are you going to connect your solar energy to the power grid at the breaker box or at the power meter supplied by the power company? Another decision.
Cost:Benefit
Capitalizing on free sunlight:
- Reduces use of fossil fuels
- Provides some tax savings or possible rebates
- Shrinks energy bills now and hedges against rising cost of power in the future
- May increase the resale value of your home
All of those factors combined are likely to produce a payback period measured not in years but in decades.
A power outage, however, will make you thankful for investing in solar power, especially if you don’t have a generator. Not to be political, but how does the power grid hold up if more and more Americans are plugging in electric cars for charging each night?
What’s on the Horizon?
If sticker shock is an issue, you could wait for the cost of solar panels to fall (hopefully), or production of a more efficient semi-conductor.
Perovskite solar cells, a thin-film technology, have demonstrated a better power-to-weight performance compared to the crystalline silicon-based solar panels now in use. You can spend a lot of interesting hours on Youtube learning about this emerging technology. The speed of commercialization, however, may depend on cell lifespan once it moves from indoor testing to the elements encountered year after year upon a rooftop.
If solar is not now budget friendly, you might nonetheless prepare for it becoming feasible.
“If you plan on doing this eventually, but not initially, we need to know that the roof is going to have a little bit more load on it,” Michael Harris advised. “So we add that to the required code amount and we make sure you have an all-electric house. Then any system you have can tie into your all-electric house.”