This solar resource is the maximum available to be captured and used for energy. A solar collector captures only a portion of this, depending on its efficiency. For example, a one square meter solar electric panel that has an efficiency of 15 percent would produce about one kilowatt-hour of electricity per day in Arizona. Solar Design for Buildings One simple, obvious use of sunlight is to light our buildings. If properly designed, buildings can capture the sun's heat in the winter and avoid it in the summer, while using daylight year round.
Buildings designed with the sun in mind can be comfortable and beautiful places to live and work.
Residential and commercial buildings account for one-third of US energy use, including the energy used to make the electricity used in buildings. Solar design, better insulation, and more efficient appliances could reduce this demand by 60 to 80 percent. There are more than 250,000 passive solar homes in America, but there should be many more. Simple design features, such as properly orienting a house toward the south, putting most windows on the south side of the building, and allowing for cooling breezes in the summer, are inexpensive yet improve the comfort and efficiency of a home. Besides using design features to maximize use of the sun, some buildings have active systems to gather and store solar energy.