How Arizonan homeowners can harness the sun’s power
Jul 18, 2024, 3:00 PM

Why not take advantage of Arizona's famously strong sunshine? (Pexels file photo)
(Pexels file photo)
When we mention solar, most people immediately think of “energy source.” While true, we use the sun’s power in many different ways.
Before we get started, it might be a good idea to refresh our knowledge about how the seasons affect how we use the sun.
Since Galileo, we know that earth orbits the sun. We also know the earth’s rotational axis is on an angle of 23.5 degrees. That angle means that as the earth orbits the sun, the northern and southern hemispheres are either tilting toward the sun or away from it. This tilt, as it moves between its extreme points in the orbit, determines the seasons, and the angle that sunlight comes through our windows. When winter in Arizona arrives, the sun is lower in the sky and falls more deeply inside our home. In the summertime, the sun is higher as the earth’s northern hemisphere leans into the sun, cutting off the light entering our homes.
This is why many of our homes have eaves or overhangs. The deeper the overhang, the more sunlight stays out of our window in the summer months. There are many ways we can control the sun’s ability to assist us. From overhangs, to landscaping there are tools to help us best use the sun.
Much of the sun’s power comes from its light
Since the first buildings, we have had these devices we call windows. The primary function of these inventions is to let in light from the sun and air. Windows have improved exponentially over the past five thousand or so years, but they help us light our homes, at least during the daytime. We can choose the locations of our windows based on how we want a room to be lit at different times of the year. By planting deciduous trees, the right distance from our home, we can get the best of both worlds. Leaves for shade in summer, no leaves for sunlight to reach us in the winter.
How to take advantage of shade
We can passively control how we use the sun. Shade structures allow us to block out the direct rays of the sun.
Let’s look at some uses of shade.
- Shaded areas still benefit from indirect light of the sun without the direct glare of sunlight.
- The eaves on our homes help us benefit from appropriate seasonal use of sunlight. We all know the sun is higher in the sky during the summer months and lower in the winter. The depth of the eave will dictate when the direct sunlight hits our outside walls and enters through our windows and doors.
- Shade structures over our outdoor areas are very popular in Arizona and afford us the ability to be outside without the often harsh Arizona sun.
- Window shades are another simple tool we use to control the direct rays of the in our homes. The “Rosie Right” way to do this is to cover the entire window frame as well as the glass area. Window frames can be as heat conductive, or even more so, than the glass surface. The screen should be installed with an air gap between it and the window. You never want any part of the screen fabric or its frame to be in contact with the window glass surface or its frame.
- See our take on trees above.
Those are some of the low-tech or passive ways we use the sun.
Our pets are skilled at taking advantage of the sun. A cat lying on a window ledge drinking up the sunlight or a dog finding a special patch on the floor will change positions as the sun moves and the patch relocates.
Who among us recall the solar clothes dryers our Mom’s used to use? That actually is a question we would love to get your answer to. Email us at info@rosieonthehouse.com!
Technology to the rescue
Technology allows us to utilize the sun in many new ways. The early years of solar collection just allowed us to get hot water for indoor use and transfer heat for warming our homes. The roof-mounted collectors were a bit clunky and prone to leaks. The piping has been greatly improved and thus, a better heat transfer.
By and large, heating a liquid with sunlight and transferring that heat has given way to photovoltaics. That is harnessing the sun’s light to produce electricity. Perhaps today this is the most common application of solar technology.
We have come a long way from ancient methods of manipulating direct sunlight to using rooftop photovoltaic panels and a sophisticated battery storage system in our garage to harness the power of the sun. However, we shouldn’t forget about simpler solar technologies that led us to where we are today.