Anyone planning to build a new house that uses solar power to meet the household’s energy needs should consider the building location carefully. Aside from all the other factors that make good building lots, lots for solar homes have special requirements.
A solar home needs exposure to the sun
A solar home may use active solar technology to generate power with solar panels or shingles, or passive solar house design to store the sun’s heat. In either case, the amount of sunlight that actually strikes the property will be a deciding factor in how much benefit is achieved.
Ideally, solar homes have good exposure in the direction of the equator (the southern exposure in the northern hemisphere, and the northern exposure south of the equator). There should be no tall trees or buildings on that side of the house. Hills, mountains, cliffs, etc. will also block the sun. For maximum benefit, a solar building should receive direct sunlight from 9AM to 3PM daily.
Solar home design and the building lot
Having a great exposure for sunlight may not be enough to ensure a solar home design will work. Typically, solar homes are built with the rooms that are occupied the most facing the sunny side. In the north, a solar home will likely have the kitchen, the living room, perhaps a solarium, and most of the windows facing southeast, south and southwest. This not only brings light into the house where it’s needed the most, it allows for maximum use of passive solar heating.
A solar home with its back to the beautiful view of the valley and all its windows facing the railway track, or even just a close neighbor, will not provide as much pleasure as it might in another location. Not every lot will be perfect for building a solar home of course, and one never knows what will happen next door in the future, but it’s worth taking the time to search for vacant land that has good potential in this respect.
Assessing a location for solar building
In a broad geographical sense, obviously, some places are better for solar building than others. Some areas don’t get a lot of sun; others do. Thus, even if the house is oriented correctly, there is nothing blocking sunlight, and the design is good, the building still may not gain much from the sun. The local climate needs to be considered.
Internet sites like Solar Rating Online, can help to assess the viability of a particular location from this point of view, as well as a more focused one. Using data from the weather station nearest to the address provided, combined with information about the specific building plan and lot, the program can calculate an average benefit of adding solar technology.
Orienting a Solar Home
It’s important to remember that solar south is true south, not magnetic south. Build it Solar explains several ways to determine the exact direction of true south (or true north). While southeast and southwest can also be used to take advantage of energy from the sun in the northern hemisphere, the closer the building is to facing true south, the more solar gain.
Sources
Alternative Energy Primer. alternativeenergyprimer.com Accessed Jan 2011
- Passive Solar Design Rules of Thumb
- Passive Solar Home Heating
Build it Solar “Which Way is South?” builditsolar.com Accessed Jan 2011
Passive Solar Design “Passive Solar Design.” passivesolar.sustainablesources.com Accessed Jan 2011
Solar Rating Online, solarrating.ca Accessed Jan 2011
Rosemary Drisdelle - Rosemary Drisdelle has been published many times as a nonfiction writer and several times as a poet. Her first book, Parasites: Tales of ...
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