The usual solar applications, photovoltaic cells that create electricity or solar hot water systems that heat water, often are expensive propositions.
But there is a new alternative: solar heaters.
Panels attached to exterior walls or roof take air from a building and use the sun's energy to heat it before pushing it back into the structure. It's simple and apparently effective.
"Free heat, what's better than that," said local builder Peter Scott Lord, whose family company is now a dealer and installer of one of several brands available.
Mr. Lord was searching for some way to beat utility bills and get his family company involved in new green technology. He found the Solarsheat company out of Canada, one of several manufacturers of the relatively inexpensive winter heating booster.
He liked the simplicity of their solar heater.
The heat is free, once the unit is paid for, that is. He estimates a double unit like one he installed on his own roof would run about $4,800.
But Mr. Lord is quick to point out several potential tax or other government incentives to reduce the cost.
"Between the county property tax break, the state solar program and possible federal tax breaks, you could almost pay for it," he said.
That might be a little bit of a stretch, but such incentives will defray costs.
The theory is pretty straightforward: A black box with glassed cover absorbs the heat of the sun. Air is pulled into the unit from inside the house and heated as it passes through the unit. The fan is powered by a photovoltaic panel on the unit and does not use any utility energy.
Solar thermal is the easiest and most cost-effective way to use renewable energy to displace fossil fuels and their harmful emissions, said the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Other models from other companies like Cansolair Inc. and DeSoto Solar have similar panels, but the Solarsheat model seems simpler.
Last week, Mr. Lord had a unit installed on his Cape St. Claire home. The double unit sits on the roof over his foyer and was able to heat his house, up to a point.
"We turned on our central heating system's fan, and it is recirculating the heat from the unit all over the house," he said. The house was pretty toasty, although the outside temperature was up in the 50s, without his home's heat on.
Installed on a wall in a normal residential space with an 8-foot ceiling, the panels are rated to heat up to 1,500 square feet. They are meant to apply to single spaces, but a homeowner, using more panels and a more complicated installation, can even feed the heat generated from the panels into regular home heating ducts.
Tomorrow, Mr. Lord is offering people a demonstration during an open house from 10 a.m. to noon at 718 Mount Alban Drive off of Green Holly Drive.
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