Solar Power Your Home for Dummies (For Dummies (Lifestyles Paperback))

This friendly, hands-on guide is packed with tips for making your home more energy-efficient though solar power—and helping the planet at the same time. You’ll see how to survey your home to determine your current household energy efficiency and use, and evaluate where solar power would best benefit you. You’ll also calculate what the return on your investment will be before you make any decisions. Once you’ve decided on a project, you’ll see whether it’s best to hire a contractor or do it yourself. We leave no stone unturned—you’ll also discover how to:

• Choose and install your best solar system
• Handle small to large solar projects
• Heat and cool your house with solar energy
• Install exterior solar lighting
• Handle swimming pool, water heater, or ventilation solar projects
• Create greenhouses or solar rooms
• Build, buy, or sell a solar home
• Finance your solar investments
• Take advantage of tax rebates and incentives associated with solar power
• Avoid the worst solar mistakes

Featuring ten of the easiest and cheapest do-it-yourself solar projects, Solar Power For Dummies is the fun and easy way to meet your energy needs with this clean power source!

Make your home energy efficient and put solar power to work for you!

Want to take advantage of solar power? This friendly, hands-on guide takes the mystery out of this energy source and shows you how to do everything from adding small components to your home to building a solar-powered house from the ground up. You'll see how to heat and cool your home, create solar rooms, install solar lighting, and much more.

Discover how to:

• Choose the best solar system for your needs

• Handle small to large solar projects

• Build, buy, or sell a solar home

• Finance your solar investments

• Avoid the worst solar mistakes

Part I: Playing the Energy Game.

Chapter 1: Helping the World through Solar Power.

Chapter 2: Surveying Your Household Energy Efficiency and Use.

Chapter 3: Making Your Home Energy Efficient.

Part II: Understanding Solar — Just the Facts, Ma’am.

Chapter 4: Working with Solar Basics.

Chapter 5: Evaluating Your Solar Potential.

Chapter 6: Calculating Payback on Your Solar Investment.

Chapter 7: Installing Your Solar System.

Part III: Doing It Yourself: Smalland Medium-Sized Projects.

Chapter 8: Digging In to Landscape Projects.

Chapter 9: Jumping In to Small Projects with Big Results.

Chapter 10: Heating and Purifying Water.

Chapter 11: Diving In to Swimming Pool Projects.

Chapter 12: Supplementing Your Domestic Water Heater.

Chapter 13: Breezeway: Directing Wind within Your House.

Chapter 14: Solar Pumps, Wind Power, Hydro Power, and Batteries in Applications.

Part IV: Home Solar Projects: Getting a Little Help from Your Friends.

Chapter 15: Deciding between Doing It Yourself and Contracting.

Chapter 16: Glass Houses (and Plastic, Too): Greenhouses and Sunrooms.

Chapter 17: Plugging In to the Grid with a Full-Scale PV System.

Chapter 18: Divorcing the Grid: Going Solo with Solar Power Systems.

Part V: Buying, Selling, and Building a Solar Home.

Chapter 19: Building a Solar Home from the Ground Up.

Chapter 20: Buying and Selling a Solar Home.

Part VI: Finding the Moolah to Do the Job.

Chapter 21: Subsidizing Your Solar Projects with Other People’s Money.

Chapter 22: Financing Your Solar Investments.

Part VII: The Part of Tens.

Chapter 23: Ten Best Solar Investments.

Chapter 24: Ten or So Best Do-It-Yourself Projects.

Chapter 25: Ten Cheap Solar Projects and Devices.

Chapter 26: Ten or So Worst Solar Mistakes.

Index.