To use solar power to heat your house, you will need to install collector panels on the south side of your building. The best type of panel to use is a perforated-plate solar collector, which is a metal panel with evenly-spaced holes spread across its surface and mounted away from the wall, creating an air gap between the panel and the wall. The number of panels will depend on a number of conditions, such as how large is your building, and how much heat which you will need the collectors to generate. As air rises through the panels, it is heated by solar rays, and is vented into the buildings when it reaches the top of the collectors. In addition, the panels recapture much of the heat that flows out of the wall, and redirects this heat back into the collectors. This type of heat generating system has become fairly inexpensive. In Canada, a four panel system can cost as less as $300!

One question that is often asked when it comes to using solar power to heat air or water is “Will it work on cloudy days?” Another similar point that is often brought up is that during the winter, Canada tends to receive less solar power than other areas. Will solar power provide the same amount of heat during the winter? Just as solar electricity has battery storage systems to store electrical charges for the evening, solar heating systems have storage facilities for the heat to save it for days where there is less sun. Thermal energy is collected through the solar collectors and transferred to underground storage. This temperature increases through the summer months, and is released when necessary during the cloudy winter months. It goes without saying that bright sunny winter days pose no problem for solar heating systems.