Do Solar Panels Help to Cool Your Home?
It may sound weird. Do solar panels help cool your home? Most people believe in the common misconception that solar panels generate heat. That’s inaccurate, as solar panels absorb heat while converting abundant sunlight into energy.
This means that all the sunlight once beaming on your roof is now blocked. Your roof is now shaded and protected from sunlight with the solar PV system covered on top, making your roof cooler and lessening the amount of heat in your home.
Your attic is considered an “unconditioned” space, which means the elements control their temperature. You are not paying to heat or cool it, so you are not paying to “condition” it. However, this unconditioned space’s temperature impacts the conditioned part of your home that you pay to heat and cool with your HVAC system.
The home solar panels keeping the unconditioned space in your attic cooler than usual means your HVAC will not work as hard to cool everything down. How? Science!
Science Behind The Reason Of Your Solar Panels Cool Down Your Home
Heat travels through materials due to the heat transfer method called conduction. Once in an open space, it transfers through the process known as convection. HVAC systems and construction materials operate with these principles to maintain your home's temperature.
- By the unconditioned area in your home being cooler, there is less heat to penetrate your home’s building envelope.
- Second, since your roof and attic area are now cooler, any excess heat in your home is free to travel up and out. Remember, heat always transfers from hot to cold. The cooler temperatures will act as a magnet for the excess heat, leaving your home cooler and your solar system to keep producing energy for your home.
Read more:
Do Solar Panels Increase Home Value?
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Top 10 Solar Panel Benefits – Reasons to Go Solar
Proof in the Research
Now that science class is over; some research points back us up. You save money all around because the panels produce energy, and your home now needs less energy to be cooled. Therefore, you save money by increasing your home’s total energy efficiency.
Second, according to a UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering study, solar panels reduce the amount of heat absorbed by your roof by 38%.
This decrease equates to your roof being five degrees cooler than other portions exposed to sunlight directly. The researchers determined that equates to an additional 5% discount on your solar system due to the reduction in energy needed to cool your home.
Science and math are coming together to save you money. Let Option One Solar be the one to get you set up and save money!
