Rays of sunshine smile down on my house and I scoop them up by the basket full and put them to full use while they’re here. It’s amazing to me the power of the sun and the good it does in my life.
One of the best things about building a home from the ground up is being able to design it to take advantage of the sun. Our house is situated perfectly solar south to take full advantage of the rays of both light and heat. But that doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of the sun you’ve got shining on your house and yard. There’s plenty to go around.
The first thing we did was put solar panels on the porch roof to power up the house with electricity. We’ve got a 3kwh grid-tied system. Although it’s a relatively small system, with just 18 panels, it provides enough power for our house, plus provides power back to the grid. It helps tremendously that the house has a lower power draw because we don’t need to heat or cool the house thanks to the in the walls. Additionally, we designed the house with a powerful passive design as well.
It may seem strange to think of powerfully passive, but the passive solar design helps modify the heating and lighting needs. The design includes large overhangs for the porch to provide shade in the summer, but as the sun drops lower in the sky during the winter, light and heat pour in to the windows directly. This simple addition compliments our super insulation, keeping heating and cooling costs to a minimum. Additionally, two dormer shaped “light wells” bring light in, even on foggy days, eliminating the need for lights inside on all but the darkest of days.
As long as I’ve got some sunshine I can cook in our solar oven. The temp can get up to 300 degrees and can cook just about anything. I’ve cooked pizza, bread, cake, pie, cookies, rice, beans, chili and even tandoori chicken. It’s wonderful to just put the oven out, rotate it every quarter hour or so and have a whole meal cooked without burning any fossil fuels of any kind. Keeping the house cool in the summer while whipping up a batch of cookies is a nice bonus.
And while I’ve got those rays, I put them to work drying our laundry. Because I hang it on the porch, it dries even if it’s a little rainy. In the fog however, there’s really not getting anything dry. Foggy days are difficult.
Along the south side of the house we have planted our vegetable garden behind the picket fence. We’ve grown tomatoes, corn, beans, lettuce, pumpkins, cilantro and peppers. The sunny south side is just right for growing most veggies, if only the deer, rabbits, cattle would let us eat some of it.
Cooking, laundry, heating, lighting, gardening, all from harvesting the sun. Shine on!
