Solar Explorer

To buy a solar home, or not?

When I was younger I always dreamed about having a solar mansion. I never understood why this technology wasn’t being utilized. It seems simple, if we can have homes powered by the sun, why don’t we? Well, there are many more factors that contribute to solar homes.

This is Tom Brady's Solar Mansion. Mine will be better (just kidding).

This is Tom Brady’s Solar Mansion. Mine will be better. (just kidding)

First off, solar homes might not be as good for the environment as we think. This is because the shade from trees effects how well the homes work. According to howstuffworks, “a poly-crystalline panel will substantially reduce its output if any part of the panel is shaded, a mono-crystalline panel will stop producing electricity entirely.” This means that shade can completely stop your home from working. If there is a solar home in a wooded area, the owner would have to cut the trees down in order to get there home to work. This seems counterintuitive. Also, if the homes stop working in the shade, that means they cannot work at night. If you needed to use power during the night time, you’d have to either tap into another power source or into a solar reserve.

Solar homes are also expensive to create; however, they would eventually save you about $20,000 a year on bills according to CleanTechnica. Solar energy is also never going to run out in our lifetime. If solar energy did run out, it wouldn’t matter because we would no longer be able to sustain life. According to the same article, solar energy can also help decrease global warming and create energy reliability. Instead of having to rely on gasoline for cars, oil for heating in the winter, and electricity to run our appliances, all we would need is the sun.

If we can develop a way to make solar-powered products more convenient, we would undoubtably go solar. There are more benefits than disadvantages and it is a renewable energy source. Hopefully by the time I’m ready to purchase a home, solar-powered houses are easy to find and maintain.

3 thoughts on “Solar Explorer

  1. Erica Brooke Plaener

    i dont understand how it it not already law that each home is powered by solar panels. theres an obvious constant waste of energy and more than enough evidence of global warming. While we know solar power is not only beneficial , it is also the future of how we will consume energy in our homes. Not only is it cheaper than an electric bill each month and increases its property value, but just one solar home, especially the mansion shown above saves a ridiculous amount energy, that would most likely be wasted otherwise.

    http://www.trinity-solar.com/financial-benefits

  2. Michael I Barrett

    I feel like solar energy should be way bigger than it already is. It’s the sun. The ultimate source of energy for all life. Also, it would be pretty sick if everybody’s house was powered by the sun. And I feel like the solution to the shade problem isn’t that difficult either… just raise the solar panels high enough so that nothing blocks it. Everything I’m saying sounds very easy on paper, but I’m sure there’s a lot of complications that come with making an entire country or planet solar energy-dependent. Good post.

  3. Rachel M Arndt

    Solar homes seemed to be the solution to an energy problem. They sounded safe and simple to use. Now with talk of having a “solar reserve” for the night time, I wonder if that will make people stray away from this technology. However, I imagine that homes near wooded areas would not be building solar panels to solely rely on. It is rather ironic that people might cut down trees to have these solar panels, which is supposed to be good for the environment, while they are cutting bits of it down. Advances in this technology seem to be a good idea for sustainability, I agree!

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