If you are designing a new home or considering an addition or renovations to your existing home, you may want to design the home considering a solar application, such as landscape lighting or indoor track lighting fixtures. With energy costs escalating, this type of energy-saving device is growing in popularity every day. When it comes to designing your home around solar panels, it starts with the placement of your home on the lot. One of the biggest mistakes made by many people is the failure to take into account all aspects of their home heating and cooling systems. Studies done of people who have designed homes using solar heat or cooling show that the wrong placement of your home on the lot can lead to a situation where you are producing far too much solar heat and the house becomes too hot, or not enough heat and it is too cold.

Here are a few tips to consider. One important consideration, even before you purchase the lot is to make sure that the southern side of the home is going to receive at least six hours of direct sunlight in the middle of the day. It is believed that there are certain parts of the United States that receive more sun exposure than others but this is false. There is sufficient sun exposure everywhere, although there are some areas that have fog and cloud cover more than others. Regardless of where your home is located, you must have the required amount of sunlight on a daily basis. Designing the yard for outdoor lighting fixtures and landscape lighting is all important.

Your home must be situated in such a way that your longest wall will receive the most sun exposure. The more surface you have facing the sun, the more heat and light you are going to be able to generate in your home. However, if you orient the short side of your home to the sun, it is going to produce less heat and be harder to circulate it throughout your home. To adequately produce heat, a large number of windows on the south side of your home is essential. Unless you have solar panels built into a wall, it simply makes sense to orient your home correctly to take advantage of the sun's rays. You also should minimize the use of windows on the north side of the home to keep your valuable heat from escaping. Keep this balance in mind when you're considering the placement of the structure on its lot. Without careful thought and planning to combat excessive heat or cooling, your home will be uncomfortable and it could prove to be one of the most costly mistakes you ever make!