Solar Power & Energy

Solar heating by convection is a natural process which involves trapping air and letting it warm up before releasing it back into a given space.

Convection heating is often used as a solar heating source because the two naturally go hand in hand. By trapping air into a confined space which has sunlight hitting it, the trapped air is heated up naturally by the solar power of the sun. This same type of natural heat transfer is also used for solar water heating too.

Now you may or may not already know that hot air rises, and this is a key component to solar heating with convection. Inside your home, the coldest air is closest to the floor and the warmest is up high along the ceiling. As the warm air at the top of the room cools it drops lower, and as the cooler air is warmed up, it rises.

Now, …

Solar water heating works simply by allowing the sun to warm up your water naturally. Now that sounds simple and it actually is, but there are many different ways to create homemade solar water heating systems yourself, and you can buy commercial solar hot water systems too.

The simplest way to get hot water from the sun is to put it in a glass jar and sit that jar in the sun. Have you ever heard of “sun tea”? Sun tea is a popular way to make iced tea in the hot desert areas of the United States. Instead of boiling water on a stove, you put water in a glass tea jar. Then add your tea bags and sit the jar in the sun for a short while. Depending on what time of year it is, you’ll find the tea in that jar is hot enough to scald you in …

I’ve been interested in solar power and energy for many, many years. The technology can still be a bit expensive for residential solar panel systems, but that is not the only way you can take advantage of the sun’s free natural energy. The following are some experiments in solar energy I’ve done over the years, and simple little tricks and tips I’ve learned along the way…

Getting Started With Solar Energy In Your Home

I live in the desert Southwestern areas of the United States, and solar power is something I’ve been heavily interested in for years. Since this area of the country tends to have 300+ days of sunshine each and every year, it makes sense for me to take advantage of that in my home.

Putting in a full solar powered home energy system can be expensive though, particularly if you have a large family. It took me a couple of …