Solar

One of the things that Southern California offers is a lot of sunny days, and in most cases all of that solar energy just ends up super heating the surface of a roof, which in turn can heat up the interior of the building.  Everyone in the greater Los Angeles area knows that the cost of energy is going up all over, so why not take advantage of all the bright sunny days with solar panels?

Everyone has seen homes and commercial buildings in their community with solar panels on their roofs, but their use has grown over the years as many of the solar systems have benefited from improved technologies.

There are several types of solar systems that can be installed on both commercial and residential homes; the most common types are used to heat a liquid medium.  Standard solar panels installed on a roof just lower the monthly electricity costs associated with heating, but in some cases these lowered utility costs can also mean lower gas bills.

Solar power can be used to help heat water, which can lower the gas bills on homes with gas hot water heaters.  There are even some systems that can both heat water and supplement electricity.  With enough solar panels, a homeowner could end up never having to pay another utility bill again.

For those that feel that solar panels are unattractive but want to use some type of solar system to help with the rising cost of their utilities, there are other options.  The latest innovation in solar power technology is solar roof tiles.

Solar roof tiles look a lot like standard roof tiles.  These tiles take advantage of new photovoltaic technologies that allow for better solar absorption from smaller collectors.  There are now even several different types of solar shingles that have the look of a standard three-tab asphalt shingles and are installed in much the same way.