GREEN BUILDING

Energy & Atmosphere

Material Conservation

Sustainable Building

Water Conservation

Indoor Air Quality

Third-Party Raters

Photovoltaic Arrays and Solar Hot Water Heating

Solar panels currently produce electricity at an end price that is about 3-4 times the price of metered electricity, with the vast majority of costs being upfront. Arrays large enough to power a house can be quite expensive to install. The price for solar panels continues to drop, however, and as more people begin to make this long-term investment, the price will drop further. There is also a continued evolution of methods to install solar arrays, and they can now even be installed as shingles on a house. By lowering the electrical needs of a building through daylighting, high efficiency electrical fixtures and appliances, and good design, it is possible to significantly lower the power requirements of a building.

Solar hot water heating is becoming a popular choice for homeowners. While significantly more expensive than a standard hot water heater, the entry price is also not prohibitive. Solar hot water heating uses solar collectors which circulate water or other heat transfer fluids through tubes on the collector. This energy is then imparted to a water tank, which heats the water, and is usually highly insulated to save the heat energy of the water. On cloudy winter Michigan days, a solar hot water heater will still continue to produce warm water, but a back-up electrical heat source would be required to boost the temperature to hot. Even in our climate, however, these units work quite well and produce hot water for a fraction of the cost of a gas-fired or electric hot water heater.