Where to find good information on solar power for new home construction

winders and doors with high R values. Put gaskets on your exterior wall outlets. Solar thermal water heating is pretty affordable and is quite effective. There are folks here on PC who use them in the Seattle area to good effect! If you're designing the house try to minimize the distance from the water heater to the faucets. Our tri-level does a really good job of that, though I doubt that ever entered the architect's mind when designing the model.

Check out the Real Goods site http://www.realgoods.com/.

You might get a good idea of what products are available there.

 

There was a really long thread here on solar. You might do a search to try and find it.

Have you looked into photovoltaic roof shingles? It's not a unit but each shingle is a mini-photovoltaic panel. If you're in the woods, will the trees shade your house?

And have you considered wind?

 

Consider also your overhangs to make sure you get sun in the windows in the winter, but that they are shaded in the summer. Solar thermal for hot water and heating is good too. Make sure you keep an eye on them as they build to be sure everything is as well insulated and sealed as possible. I'm considering an energy recovery ventilator. It brings fresh air into the house, but transfers the heat and humidity so that your heat pump doesn't have to work as hard.


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Try to avoid "can" or recessed lighting, as these units are difficult to insulate around. Consider track lighting or other lighting instead.

 

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Another one to consider is micro hydro. If you've got a small stream and some elevation change on the property it may well work for you. Micro-hydro is also generally the cheapest of the alt energy options.

BIPV (building integrated photovoltaic) is pretty pricey as I recall. As with any PV scheme you'll want to make sure that there is no shade on the panels or your output will be horrible. You don't have to mount the panels on your roof. You can also put them on their own rack, somewhere near the house where the light quality is optimal.

Oh, one other thing. Go with a light colored roof if you can.

 

Hi from another Doug. I recommend Home Power magazine.

http://www.homepower.com/

 

It all depends on where you live to determine what is viable. In Florida contact the Florida Solar Power Institute. Check with your power company to see if they or the state have incentive programs. Building your house right for your environment is one of the best things to do. Check out:

http://www.buildingscience.com/ and read Joe's Top Ten. John Bower's books are good if you live in the north.

Find local solar contractors, if any. Always talk to a couple of them because there are widely different opinions on what's viable.

Good luck and thanks for going this route.

 

Home Power and Real Goods are both excellent sources. Home Power is available on CD. Be sure to visit Rocky Mountain Institute (www.rmi.org). Bottom line: whatever your construct should be climate appropriate (latitude, heating and cooling degree days, elevation, aspect, soils) with the atttitude that it is cheaper to hold onto what you have than always going and getting more. Examples include large thermal mass (helps the house "hold" temperature), triple-pane windows (light, quiet, minimal loss or gain of heat). In essence, take every advantage of what the home site offers.

See James Dulley (www.dulley.com) and complete an energy audit of an existing home in the area to get a feel for the Energy Efficiency Index (EEI) of existing homes in the area. Aim for an EEI less than 1.0.