How Does Solar Energy Fit in with the Smart Home Concept?

Smart homes have become extremely popular in recent times, with increasingly more people looking at different ways to integrate technology into their lives. What is a smart home though? The modern smart home consists of various devices all connected in a way that improves the lives of those who live in the home. Smart devices can be controlled by voice commands or through apps on a mobile device, providing comfort, security, and convenience for the residents.

As well as being convenient, the smart home is also better for the environment because it uses less electricity than a standard house. Most smart devices are powered by LEDs that use a very small amount of energy. If helping the environment is your motivation for having a smart home, what better way to power it all than with a renewable source of energy? The experts at Vivint Solar say that powering your smart home with a solar panels system just makes sense. Especially, considering that one of the main goals of the smart home is to reduce waste and conserve energy.

What Makes a Home Smart?

Source: techcrunch.com

Having control of a variety of devices at your fingertips is the essence of a smart home. No matter where you are, you can control different devices in the house by connecting to an app on a mobile device. This might mean you can switch on the exterior lights just before you get home late at night, or you can turn your heating on half an hour before arriving to ensure that the house is nice and warm when you get in. Provided you have an internet connection, you can control all your devices remotely.

There are so many ways to make a home smart. It is possible to spend thousands of dollars having everything from lighting to music speakers all integrated throughout the rooms in the home. You can even buy smart appliances such as refrigerators, which maintain the perfect humidity levels to keep food fresher for longer, or dishwashers, which can adjust the pressure of the water for the top and bottom racks, helping to ensure your fragile dishes are protected.

However, you don’t have to spend a small fortune making your home smarter as there are things you can do like changing to smart lightbulbs, using smart plugs, and installing a smart doorbell. All of this is affordable and can be done without the need for professional installation.

Why is Solar Energy a Good Choice?

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There are two particularly good reasons to choose solar energy to power your home. The first is that solar panel systems will help you to save money. How, you might ask, considering the cost of a good quality system can run into thousands of dollars. This is true, but because you will begin saving money on your energy bills immediately, a solar panel system is worth the initial outlay. Furthermore, most solar companies offer payment plans to make a solar panel home system more affordable. You can then offset the savings you make on your energy bills against the monthly cost of the solar panels. If you’re looking for an alternative to installing solar panels, Gexa Energy offers solar energy and the best Gexa Energy plans.

Considering the rising cost of energy, installing a solar panel system just make more sense for homeowners throughout the country. The systems work by absorbing light from the sun and converting it into electricity, which can then be used in the home. While they do only generate electricity during daylight hours, they do not need full sunlight; they can even work on cloudy days. It is worth noting though that solar panels should not be placed in shaded locations.

To make the most of a solar panel system, it is worth installing a solar panel battery system at the same time. This will let you store any excess energy that your system generates. Remember, without a battery, you can power your home during the day, but at night you will need to draw electricity from the grid, for which you will have to pay.

If you install a solar battery storage system, you can power your home during the day and night. Any excess electricity that your home has generated during the day will be stored in the battery and can then be used when the panels are not generating power. This can help you to make substantial savings on your energy bill, ensuring your solar panels pay for themselves over the course of just a few years.

The second reason to consider solar panels is because of the low impact they have on the environment. Cutting down on the amount of electricity that you are drawing from the grid is absolutely better for the environment. Furthermore, with a battery system in place, your reliance on the grid will be exceptionally low.

Solar energy does not produce greenhouse gas emissions, which means your carbon footprint will be dramatically reduced. Solar energy is a renewable energy source and solar panel systems are designed to last for a minimum of 25 to 30 years. The more people who make the switch to solar, the better it will generally be for the planet.

Source: nrdc.org

Working with Smart Devices

Solar power is the perfect choice for a smart home. Smart devices use far less electricity than standard devices, meaning your home will require less energy over the course of a month/year. The less power your home requires, the more electricity you can store on a battery for use when the sun goes down. You could, in theory, eliminate your dependence on the grid entirely.

You can also use smart devices to monitor your solar panel system with apps that allow you to check how much power your system is generating and see where that power is being utilized in the home. You can also make sure that you are not using more than you are generating by comparing how much your panels are generating and how much power your home is using, and then never using energy-hungry appliances such as washing machines and tumble dryers at the same time.

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