Energy efficiency is a great goal for a variety of reasons. It lets you save resources, make running your home cheaper, and overall, better for the environment, especially if you mainly plan to use solar energy! It’s something you should try to practice in every part of your home, even if it seems like it would be hard to implement properly! So, let’s go over how to maximize solar energy efficiency in your garden.
Grow a hardy garden from the start
The first way to maximize solar energy efficiency in your garden is to grow hardy flowers or veggies in it. The logic behind this is simple: a hardy garden requires much less energy. You’ll need to spend less power on it to keep it in optimal condition. A sensitive garden might require much watering, proper light conditions, maintenance, etc. Of course, you can opt to have any anyway. Just remember that it will take a lot more time and energy investment on your part too! Not only will you not be taking advantage of the latest tech for solar energy, but you’ll also be much busier. And if keeping a garden is not something you want to do as a full-time commitment, that’s already a minus! So, it’s better to take your time and plan your garden around hardiness instead.
Keep your garden neat and tidy
Here’s a very annoying fact: to maximize solar energy efficiency in your garden, you must keep it extremely tidy. Why? Well, a messy and overgrown garden, especially if you have trees around it, means a lot of shade. And a lot of shade means that less sunlight will be reaching your solar panels. In turn, your energy efficiency will take a hit from slower and less powerful energy generation. However, this is not the only reason to trim your trees and garden bushes. As the solar panel cleaning and maintenance experts from peakservices.com point out, solar panels get very easily damaged by branches. If your tree’s branches can almost touch your solar panels when the wind whips it into motion, you can absolutely bet it’ll cause serious damage. And that’s a much greater hit to your solar energy efficiency than a bit of shade.
Consider getting solar-powered lights
Solar-powered lights are one of the best devices you can get to maximize your energy efficiency. First, they come with their own miniature solar panels, so you’ll never have to pay a cent to power them. Even during gloomier days, they’ll still be able to generate enough power to comfortably see you through your evening or night illumination. Second, they come in a variety of neat designs that make them appealing. Solar light stakes, for example, are an amazing way to mark out your pathways through your garden. They’re not just aesthetically pleasing and make your home more comfortable. They’re also very practical for evening gardening since they are closer to your plots and light them up better.
Get a solar pest-repellent solution
One of the roughest parts of gardening is keeping your plots free of pests. Whether they’re insects, rats, or ‘harmful’ birds. However, most solutions to this problem are poisons and other chemicals. And more permanent repellents are either expensive and short-lived or need to be plugged in constantly. Which, of course, is not very energy efficient. If you want to get pests out of your garden, your best solution is solar pest repellers! They, too, use solar energy to remain powered and have everything built into them already. They’re not just great for your garden, of course. If you’re looking to get birds off the porch but insist on a solution that isn’t harmful to the birds, they’re as useful! Other than occasionally cleaning the solar panels attached to them, they don’t even require maintenance. So, you can just install them and move on!
It’s possible to set up a solar-powered irrigation system
Yet another way to maximize solar energy efficiency in your garden is to set up a solar-powered irrigation system. Pumps equipped with solar cells and panels are an amazing investment! After all, water pumps consume a ton of power when working. And yet, if you want to set up a proper garden, watering it is a must. Even the hardiest of plants eventually need water. The fact that these pumps have their own solar panels makes them the same advantages as solar-powered lights and repellents. And it’s just another smart move when doing sustainable building design to make more of solar energy. Of course, if you live in an area with abundant rainfall, you won’t get much use out of the pumps. But, even just using them occasionally, you’d eventually save up enough by using solar energy to entirely offset their cost.
Hook up the devices that can’t generate energy into your solar power grid
The final way to maximize solar energy efficiency is to purchase devices that can be powered by plugging them into your solar grid. Here’s an excellent example of this in your garden: If you need a grass trimmer, do not buy one that works on gas or petrol. Buy an electric one instead! This way, you can make full use of the power generated by your solar panels. Since it’s very much possible to generate more power than your home uses, the only expense you’ll even have to pay for your grass trimmer is the initial purchase. Follow the same logic for your other gardening devices. You’ll be able to save a ton of money over time, not to mention that using electricity instead of various fuels means you are being way more environmentally friendly!
Working to maximize solar energy efficiency in your garden
Now that you know how to maximize solar energy efficiency in your garden, you can work on the project! Remember, however, that you don’t need to purchase and install everything at once. You can approach this as a long-term goal and slowly transform your garden into an energy-efficient paradise.