Q: Based on our water bills, my family uses lots of water and much of it is probably hot water. Is there a simple solar hot water system design that I could build myself? A: Heating water can account ...

Plug-in solar has remained in the shadows because of a lack of safety standards and often costly requirements imposed by ...

Learn how to make solar water heater panels by building this thermosiphon outdoor shower system that can even water your greenhouse. A few years back, a friend donated a Sunvelope solar hot water ...

What if you could harness the power of the sun to generate your own energy—right in your backyard? Imagine a system so efficient it could heat water, power small appliances, or even serve as a backup ...

A passive solar-heated home needs no solar panels to heat or cool it. Rather, the energy used to heat and cool a house comes directly from the sun through skylights and windows. Some of that energy is ...

As a former realtor, general contractor and greenhouse operator, Kristi has touched nearly all aspects of homeownership, from the foundation up. Today, Kristi is a full-time investing and real estate ...

Since ancient times, people have found ways to use the sun’s heat to stay warm or keep cool. They built homes from clay and other materials that hold heat well, and they placed them in ways that ...

Some or all of the mortgage lenders featured on our site are advertising partners of NerdWallet, but this does not influence our evaluations, lender star ratings or the order in which lenders are ...

Solar thermal energy is the process of concentrating sunlight to generate heat, which can be used to generate electricity or heat a home, its water supply and more. Solar thermal energy can be used as ...