Solar Power for Home

Solar power for home use is becoming popular nowadays because it is Green technology. What that means is that, once you have paid for your solar power system, it saves on greenhouse gases and continues to give you free power for many years into the future.

Many solar panels are guaranteed by the manufacturer for 20 years. That is a lot longer than anything else you might buy that I can think of. In fact I'm willing to bet that you cannot think of anything that is guaranteed for a longer period. So that says a lot for the quality of today's solar technology. Can you imagine a car that might be guaranteed to perform for 20 years?

The other components of home solar power systems are not guaranteed for such a long time because they tend to wear out. Solar batteries, for example, need to be replaced every few years, lights may die on you and switches eventually break. Modern charge controllers are delicate electronics "black boxes", and are warranted for shorter periods, such as three months. But they last a lot longer than that.

But when all is said and done, a good solar power system will still save you money in the long run.

The amount of solar power required for the average home depends on how many appliances you plan on running off it. Try running your household off pure solar power for a week or so and you will be shocked at how much electricity you have taken for granted in your life.

Electric lighting doesn't consume too much electricity, but air-conditioners, large color televisions, heaters, refrigerators and deep freezers are very power-hungry. Power tools, such as electric drills and power saws use heaps of power, and so do washing machines, laundry drying machines and even vacuum cleaners. Desktop PCs are moderately heavy users of power, but laptop PCs use much less.

So, solar power for home lighting is simple and inexpensive. But solar power for home appliances needs more solar panels, more battery storage and everything else. It needs careful planning to ensure you have enough power, but that you don't waste money by providing more than you are going to need. To do that, you are going to have to carry out a power audit.