Whether it’s the rising cost of energy, a desire to go green, or a little bit of both, consider installing solar panels in your home. Good for you. The advantages and savings can be significant and quickly offset the installation cost. With the planet suffering from the side effects of years of nonrenewable energy consumption, it’s never been a better time to go solar!
Let’s take a look at five ways to leverage solar energy to reduce your electric bill:
- Solar Powered Transportation
An innovative practice to effectively make use of the sunshine is with transportation powered by photovoltaic (PV) energy. Railroads, subways, buses, planes, cars and even roads can all be powered by solar, and solar transit is becoming a popular offering in the renewable energy sector.
Finally, solar cars are starting to play a role in racing competitions around the world, especially in Australia where the SolarSpirit model has gained major recognition. With these advances and more, there’s no question that solar power is the transforming transportation sector around the world. Meanwhile, solar buses are helping China reduce its carbon footprint while simultaneously maintaining efficient mass transit in densely populated cities like Beijing.
- Wearable Solar Tech
As the world moves away from fossil fuels and seeks renewable sources for everyday electronics, there’s no doubt that solar will continue to be adopted by the masses for any product that can be exposed to sunlight. The ultimate goal: use solar products to reinvent the way we think about power usage, and reverse the expectation for how devices should be charged. And as the conversion efficiency of solar continues to improve, this trend will expand into new markets and new products!
There are even solar-powered flashlights that can be charged by being exposed to sunlight. A personal way to use solar power for example, wearable solar could soon make Apple Watches and Fitbits much more appealing to consumers. Solar powered smartwatches, tablets, music speakers, cell phones don’t need to be plugged in to recharge every night.
- Solar Space Heaters
A major benefit of solar thermal technology is the ability to heat your pool at a more cost-effective rate than conventional alternatives such as oil and gas pumps. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, “Solar pool heating is the most cost-effective use of solar energy in many climates.” Solar space heaters harness sunlight and convert it into thermal energy with the use of liquid or air as a medium, while solar water heaters use water as a method for thermal transfer.
Wondering how solar heated pools work? At its simplest, the technology uses a solar collector that harnesses sunlight and converts it into heat. Water is then drawn through the collector as a means of heating the pool. This technology can also be used to cool the water at night (typically necessary only in hotter climates). Solar heating systems range between $3,000 and $4,000 and can provide a payback period as short as one and a half years.
- Solar Rooftop
As you consider the various ways to go solar, make sure to first estimate your potential solar savings and see what a solar investment could do for your household finances. It’s easy to overlook the most important use of solar energy: rooftop solar.
While solar energy can be used to fly an aircraft and charge a battery, it can also be used to save homeowners thousands of dollars every year by cutting their energy use, carbon footprint and utility bills. Utilizing smaller products and home improvements to improve the efficiency of one’s home is a great practice, but at the end of the day, the ultimate opportunity to improve one’s carbon footprint and electric bill is with a home solar panel installation.
- Solar Lighting
Solar energy uses captured sunlight to create photovoltaic power (PV) or concentrated solar power (CSP) for solar heating. Unlike traditional exterior lights, solar lighting requires no complicated setup as the lights are wireless and harness sunlight during the day to circumvent the need for grid-supplied electricity at night. The great thing about solar power is that the price is set at your initial investment. If the price of oil fluctuates, that has absolutely no bearing on your electricity costs.
As popular as this example for solar energy use is, modern solar lighting can also significantly improve the outdoor decor of a property like LED light bulbs, lamps and etc. For charging and keeping your outdoor lightened up you can also use a guide to best solar panels and charge controllers to take a look at with compendium of useful information there up to your needs!