Home Renovation Toronto

By Art Gib

I”m no environmental expert, but I would say there are very few people out there that don”t want to help out the environment and “go green,” especially if it puts a little green back in their pockets.

With the United States having a continuous dialogue about developing new energy solutions, you may wonder how you can do your part while gathering the energy savings you dream about. Well, many choose to invest capital in the energy solutions they hope to see prosper, but there are ways to implement those same solutions in your own home–and watch your savings grow!

One of the most popular and viable sources we have for powering America is the sun! Solar energy is not only abundant, it is essentially unlimited in many regions across the country. Solar power is the source of life for virtually all life on earth (with few exceptions), so why shouldn”t it power our homes?

Scientists have equated all of our earth’’s reserves of terminal fuel supplies–oil, coal, and even natural gas–with the same amount of power we could receive from twenty days of natural sunshine.

Many homes utilize this potential power through solar heat collectors, which people usually just call solar panels. These are specifically designed to capture the warmth from the sun’’s rays, which is often transferred within the building (it doesn”t have to be a house) in order to provide space heating or even water heating.

However, the miracle of solar energy is that is can also be used to cool the building in the summer months. This works in part because a desiccant evaporator allows the warmth from the all-important solar panel to remove excessive humidity from the inside air, which in turn makes the atmosphere inside cooler.

Absorption chillers–which utilize the method of your typical refrigerator or air conditioner–can also take advantage of solar power. The heat from solar panels is used on a pressurized refrigerant. The air becomes cooled as the pressure is released, which allows the refrigerant to expand.

One thing you have to consider before diving into the use of solar energy is your climate. I grew up in one of America’’s largest deserts, so even in the winter, we always got enough sunshine to power our city and then some. But if you live in an area like Seattle, you might not be able to count on solar energy alone.

It can be somewhat expensive for the average citizen to set up enough solar panels to power their entire home throughout the year, though in recent years, the cost has come down. However, you can easily start small and gradually add on. Besides, if you consider long term savings, plus the benefit of using cleaner, greener energy, what have you got to lose?

About The Author

Solar One Solutions LLC (http://www.solar1solutions.com/) provides Solar Energy and Energy Efficiency solutions. Art Gib is a freelance writer.