Solar House

Once a month we open an envelope from our power company that contains our monthly electric or gas bill. That's about the time that we invariably begin to dream of living in a home that isn't so pricey to power. You know, there is such a place; it's a solar house. And it's not in a Jetson's cartoon future, still faraway and only a dream. No, solar powered homes are real, they're here to stay, and there are more and more of them every year.

Home solar power has advanced significantly and today's solar house is more likely to save you money then ever before. While retrofitting a house to become a largely solar home is a doable option, the real savings will be realized when you design a new solar powered home from the get-go.

There is no shortage of innovation or exciting forward-looking thinking when you begin to examine the solar home plans that are available to you. So many solar homes have been built, so many solar houses have been constructed that there are reams of literature available at your local library about solar house plans. Solar house design is no longer the exclusive domain of gentle back-to-nature flower children, it is now an exciting field constantly growing and improving from the efforts of scientific engineers.

For instance, passive solar homes take advantage of the latest thinking and theoretical design available in physics. You'll be delighted to find that passive solar house plans are well thought-out and can be followed to construct amazingly energy-efficient structures.

As a brief side note here, we should explain a piece of our terminology. Just what makes a solar house “passive?” No, it's not a house that refuses to hit back, but it truly is a structure that is gentle on the environment. Passive solar homes are built in places where they can take maximum advantage of the light from the sun (a rectangular structure with a southern-orientation is ideal), they are generally designed to make extensive use of insulation and they often employ an open floor plan to allow heat to flow easily within the structure.

But back to the subject at hand, building your solar house (and kicking those power bills to the curb). When it comes to this endeavor, you're not alone. Many state and local governments have programs to assist you; check with your local power company for more information. Even in the midst of the devastation wrought by Katrina, we see programs like the TVA's Green Power Switch or the Energy Rated Homes of Mississippi Program that are offering help in bringing solar energy homes to Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. With rebuilding comes opportunity.