Can a house survive on solar power alone?
Image by Jamais Cascio
Question by 1Dlover: Can a house survive on solar power alone?
I have to come up with a proactive research question for school and i decided to do
“Can a house survive on solar power alone?” the solar power being generated from solar panels. I need help with the answer since I’m having trouble finding it on google.
Can you help? Leave your own answer in the comments!
9 Responses to Can a house survive on solar power alone?
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Google is almost worthless- seriously.
Your question is a little vague, but if you mean if you can power a house completely off grid, yes, this is one of the requirements of the “Solar Decathalon.”
You can see some products at Powerfilm’s website, they make laminated solar panel film, http://www.powerfilmsolar.com. They introduced not too long ago standing seam roofing laminated with their product. There are other panel manufacturers as well, but Powerfilm is USA Made.
You can find other additional information at http://www.builditsolar.com
J.
February 22, 2013 at 4:05 am
Solar panels can only go so far right now. Most of them could probably provide 15 to 20% of the total energy needed to power a home.
Eduardo
February 22, 2013 at 5:03 am
Unfotuneatly, no. And, the pollution from all the needs to fit a home with sloar power is worse than the cure.
the tree guy
February 22, 2013 at 5:03 am
Yes. You would need to lower your electrical demand to a bare minimum have enough area in solar panels to meet that demand and enough batteries to carry you over those cloudy days. In short it wouldn’t be cheap.
Ed Smurf
February 22, 2013 at 5:27 am
Hey Nisha, take a good read at your current answers, and you can easily see why even Google does not have the information you’re after. In my 12 years using solar power, the one thing we have in good supply is misinformation. I’m betting that most of the people answering these questions do not own a solar panel, yet everyone is willing to pontificate on the solution.
The short answer is yes, it is possible, there are homes built as models that do just that. Most of them are in ideal climates for solar power, like the Southwest, or along the southeastern coast, like South Carolina. We live in a solar powered home now, but it works because we have a limitless amount of battery storage, the grid. In the summer, our home makes more energy than it uses, and the excess is sold back to the power company, who basically sells it to the house next door to ours. In the winter, we have a shortage, and draw back out of the grid what the solar array can’t produce for us. The questions is, does this support your definition of a completely solar powered home?
In most areas, solar and wind are very complimentary, meaning when you have one, you generally don’t have the other, and vice versa. Our home also has a small wind turbine to help out in the winter when the days are short, the weather cloudy, and windy. So the two technologies make sense if you use them together. This would constitute a renewable powered home, but not a solar powered one by definition. So you can build a house on just solar power, and it can survive, but the added expense of the extra panels and storage to get through those few cloudy/rainy weeks would add tremendous cost to the home for solar resources you would only need a few weeks each year. The real goal of using renewable energy is sustainability, not independence. I would rather see each new home with a small solar array connected to the grid to offset some of their loads, rather than a few homes that can make it on their own. Then there are the myths, such as all the toxic chemicals used to manufacture the panels. Panels are made from acrylic, silicone and aluminum. If we can make acrylic paints, aluminum beer cans and silicone breast implants without wrecking the environment, we can make panels too. My favorite one is the myth that a solar panel will never produce enough energy in its lifetime to offset how much was used to produce it. This is false by the way, but consider a coal plant. Once you build one of those things with energy, you now have to continue feeding it coal the rest of its life, so it clealy never gets “even” environmentally, yet that never bothers anyone. My suggestion is don’t waste your time asking hacks like me online for your information, and reach outside of google and wikipedia when you’re looking for technical data. Most anything being done in this world that is worth the bother will have at least one good non profit group following it. Renewable energy has several, I’ll list a few below. Good luck with your research, and take care, Rudydoo
Rudydoo
February 22, 2013 at 5:35 am
Absolutely yes. It’s usually called “living off-grid”, meaning you are not connected to the electric company’s electric grid. You need to make sure you are not wasting electricity, since you have to make everything you use, so you would need an energy efficient home.
Here’s some solar kits for off-grid homes, http://www.altestore.com/store/Kits-Package-Deals/Off-Grid-Residential-Systems/c567/ . You can learn more about it at our Learn section, including free videos that explain the basics. http://www.altestore.com/store/Books-Classes-Educational-Videos/Educational-Videos/c1138/
Here’s a whole bunch of information that may be helpful to you. http://www.altestore.com/howto/Getting-Started-Renewable-Energy-Sustainable-Living/c10/
Amy
February 22, 2013 at 5:46 am
Absolutely yes. In fact, in remote areas, only sun is their source of energy. In midlands or in mountains, solar power is one of their ways to survive. Solar energy is a practical, viable means to power and heat your home. Off-grid or stand alone system are not connected to the grid.
Ana Nevada
February 22, 2013 at 5:47 am
Yes,you can a house survive on solar power alone.
Ramila Dhungel
February 22, 2013 at 5:52 am
It depends on the solar panels and how much electricity you will need.
http://www.organicmechanic.com/products/solar OrganicMechanic.com has solar panels. http://www.organicmechanic.com/product/solar-energy-system This explains what wattage you would need and how many watts a day the average American household uses.
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February 22, 2013 at 6:17 am