Passive Solar
Home & Design

What Is A Passive Solar Home, and How Does It Differ From Regular Solar?

Solar energy is one of the primary ways that individuals can adjust the nature of energy usage and work to combat climate change. Not to mention, solar energy is a whole lot cheaper than traditional energy sources. 

It’s important to know the different ways in which we can use solar energy, though. We’re going to take a look at the difference between passive solar energy and regular solar energy today. 

Hopefully, the ideas below can give you some direction on how to create a passive solar home. Let’s get started. 

What Is Regular Solar Energy?

The term “regular” isn’t an exact fit in this instance because passive solar energy is the oldest way that humans have used the sun to heat their homes. that said, it’s useful to think of regular solar energy as the kind that comes from solar panels. 

It’s what we see most often, so it’s the “regular” version. In these cases, solar panels are installed on a home, run through a converter, and transferred into the home’s energy system. 

The individual sits up their panels and the converter to the power box in their home. It’s a cheap way to offset the energy that you use from the grid with power that comes right to your home from the sun. 

This company is an excellent resource for products and ideas on installing a regular system. 

What Is Passive Solar Energy?

Passive solar homes collect energy through the natural interaction with sunlight. Sunlight comes through the windows and that heat gets stored in materials that contain what’s called “thermal mass.”

Thermal mass is simply the heat stored in sunlight, which is then stored in different objects that manage it through conduction or convection. Conduction refers to the process of a transfer of heat through two physical objects.

Convection, on the other hand, occurs when that heat is transferred through liquid or gasses. Air is a gas, so many passive solar homes rely on convection when they don’t have objects in place to gather heat. 

How Do Passive Solar Homes Work?

Naturally, just pulling your shades up isn’t enough to keep your house warm. 

To have an effective passive solar home, you have to arrange your windows in positions that will receive sunlight. Depending on your climate and the season you’re experiencing, you have to manipulate the shades to keep your house cool or heat it up. 

You can also distribute heat throughout the house with small fans to get warmth throughout the entire house. If you situate your windows correctly and have the right systems in place to harness warmth, your main issue will be keeping the place cool. 

The beautiful thing about passive solar is that, aside from the installation of windows, it’s totally free. 

Want to Create a Passive Solar Home?

Situating your passive solar home might be a challenge at first. Never fear, though, because there are a lot of ideas and resources on how to optimize your home to harness the most heat. 

We’re here to help with more information. Explore our site for more insight into solar energy, passive solar homes, and much more.

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