The three major solar power house applications are solar hot water, solar home heating and solar power electricity. Development of a solar power implementation strategy will of necessity require an examination and evaluation of numerous critical solar energy facts.
Of first importance is an assessment of macro geographic and site specific factors, and current power usage quantities and local utility rates. House orientation to the sun, shading of the site, area seasonal temperature ranges, and conventional utility cost are all examples of the critical factors that influence the feasibility of different solar power alternatives. Also, if the house to be evaluated for solar already exists, this will most often limit the solar alternatives that are feasible.
These considerations form the foundation of current costs, the potentialities of alternative solar applications, and the basis for calculating the cost-benefit for the alternative solar possibilities. And of course, solar project financial and time availabilities and limitations must also be taken into consideration when developing a solar plan of action.
If all three of the major solar power house applications are feasible and one wanted to implement a staged plan in order of increasing cost and complexity, and in decreasing order of cost benefit; it will usually be solar hot water first. The orders of the other two will more than likely be technology driven rather than cost or cost-benefit driven.
If the type of heat is to be electric, the next solar application will of necessity be electricity. If the type of solar heat is to be liquid or air based, then the decision can be made on a cost and cost-benefit basis. However, it is important to determine what heating alternative is most likely to be used before installing a domestic hot water system. If the solar home heating is to be liquid based, cost savings are possible by sizing some of the basic hot water infrastructure in order to accommodate the home heating application when it is added.
For a solar hot water system the fundamental decision is whether a passive or active system is to be built. Subsequent decisions are refinements of this fundamental decision which are detailed in solar hot water panels.
With solar home heating, there are three fundamental decisions: whether a water, air or electric heating system is to be used. If the system is to be water or air, there are two subsequent fundamental decisions to be answered for this choice: whether to build a passive or active air or water system. Additional details on these alternatives are in solar home heating.
There is also a fundamental decision to be made on a solar power electricity system that has significant cost ramifications. One possibility is to generate solar electricity and dump all excess electricity onto the electric grid and use the grid when the solar generation is insufficient for the house load (i.e., no storage). The other approach is to have a battery system to store excess solar generation for later use when house load exceeds the solar generation. This subject is covered in greater detail at solar power electricity.
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