Home Owners Seek Solar Solutions to Increase Resale Value

Solar Technology has exploded onto the scene of America’s economic landscape recently and the applications are seemingly endless. So much talk is heard of plastering the entire Southwest region of the United States with solar panels to supply electricity to “brown out” areas. Other ideas are floating around where technologies such as wind power can be proliferated throughout the country to supply a substantial percentage of the United State’s energy demands. These seemingly lofty, yet entirely achievable goals have made themselves almost too big for the average American consumer to believe in. There are, however, many options for homeowners to use zero-emission, renewable technology such as solar power to their advantage.

In the 1970’s, there were large pushes for consumers to use solar energy in their home heating and electricity systems. The high fuel prices which spurred this push for solar energy eventually receded slightly and consumers went back to their usual, wasteful habits. Fast-forward 20-plus years, gasoline prices nation wide are well over $4.00 a gallon and every citizen is feeling the economic pinch.

Home renovators who are looking for ways to lessen the effects of home heating oil or natural gas on their utility payments can find solace in solar solutions for their hot water needs. There are hot water panel systems that are customizable to accommodate all of your hot water needs. The heating systems are custom made from expert solar system engineers and can be completely customized to a home’s specifications. Matched with a low-flow system of toilets and water faucets, this sort of solar home improvement provides real benefits to the monthly water heating needs of home-owners.

If having free heating of hot water doesn’t seem like a bit enough benefit to using solar energy, there are examples of households becoming completely “off grid” through creative solutions including solar energy and storage. A larger section of solar grid compared to hot-water heating will need to be used for keeping an entire home with electricity, but there are plenty of examples existing to use as a model. Chief Operations Officer of Borrego Solar, Chris Anderson has brought his home in New Hampshire completely off-grid borrowing technology from his own company of solar panel installers and some unique strategizing. The large, traditional New England styled home utilizes a large surface area on the roof with over 200 solar modules and two large battery packs to store the collected energy. Additionally there is a heat recycling system which is integrated into the heating system of the house.

When searching for a home, potential home buyers, whether first-time buyers or affluent, will appreciate and covet a home that is energy efficient. A home should be a family’s biggest investment and with features of a house that pay for themselves over the long term, the value of a home lies more in its energy efficiency than its location or aesthetic.

The use of solar power, given its virtual limitless supply potential is clearly the next step in the evolution of energy production. These ideas can be translated into every-day homeowner situations without many problems and it saves both the environment and the homeowner from immeasurable future costs.