Solar energy to run your home

Himanshu Yadav

Electricity is the most vital form of energy that is constantly used in our homes and offices.  But its prohibitive cost as well as increasing carbon footprint have opened a huge window for alternate sources of energy. With a one-time investment scenario and being the cleanest way of producing electricity, solar energy offers a constant supply adding ease to your electricity bills and keeping the environment clean. Over the years several types of solar-energy powered equipment have entered our homes. Here are some of the ways in which a modern energy-efficient home can benefit from ‘solar power:  

Store electricity: You can fulfil electricity needs at your home by using a storage. The implementation is pretty much easy and most of the time the equipment & service provider installs the systems and connect to the main system securely.     

Pool and hot tubs: Solar power units use solar energy to heat the water and clean pools. The implementation of this system will be same as that of heating the homes. A skilled professional is required to install this system.

Energy for charging: All sort of battery operated devices and appliances  like cell phones, inverter batteries, video games, reserve battery bank, etc. can be charged through the solar energy. This is very important and useful for high terrain, hilly or remote areas where the supply of electricity is not continuous. The implementation is very easy as it is just like using a battery bank and being portable is another huge plus point.

Power the pumps: This application is useful for irrigation and farming, and where there is dependency on electricity for pumping out water. The implementation is easy and is provided by the system provider. Once connected its very easy to use. This ends the dependency on electricity and/or any other fossil-fule run system like diesel pumping system. 

You can use trash and recycling compactors: Solar-powered compaction garbage bins have been designed to reduce the need to empty waste receptacles in public areas.  The bin holds more than six times the volume of the average mobile garbage bin, leading to the elimination of at least three out of every four collection trips. Being a new application and technology the implementation has to be executed by experts and the system has to be used as per directions. The application is suitable for big units like housing societies, small community, Municipal Commission, small neighbourhood,  etc. 

— The writer is director, Ultimate Sun Systems