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Seven Sexy Solar Homes: a Slideshow

#7 – The Auckland Solar Energy House

auckland home

Image credit: Solar Energy House in Auckland Photo Gallery

Perhaps the biggest of the big solar homes, the designers of the Auckland Solar Energy House in New Zealand more than tripled the size of an old, inefficient 2,000 square-foot home and still managed to create a 6,555 sq. ft. structure that provides its own electricity, heat and hot water (including collecting its own water supply) for only $50 per month. It took two years of planning before renovation could even begin, but the results are simply amazing.

Walls, floors and ceilings have the highest possible R-value insulation stuffed tightly into them, the most energy efficient appliances are utilized, a fireplace and solar-heated radiators heat space, and bountiful rainwater in the coastal town provides all the water three adults and two teenagers could want. 4.42-kW of solar electricity powers the home, and a 158-gallon water tank is heated by the sun. These are just a few of the myriad energy efficient and green building features that make it possible to heat and power such a large home with primarily solar energy in a city that receives so much rain. Learn more here.

These are just seven homes in a global culture of architects, engineers, inventors and everyday families taking otherwise frumpy homes and converting (or designing) them into pure solar sexiness.

Dan Harding is a well-versed veteran of solar critique, commentary and reporting. CalFinder Residential Solar Power is proud to tout Dan as their solar expert. He has published over 1,000 articles on a wide variety of solar industry topics, ranging from cutting-edge technology and gadgetry to political satire and powerful editorials.

Want to turn your own house into a sexy solar home? Check out our current listings for solar panels, grid tie solar systems, and solar generators.

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