Solar power houses are making a comeback with the increased cost of energy and loss of fossil fuels in the horizon. Solar has always been around but we are just now in the past 60 years or so gaining technology that will aid in the ability and the increasing efficiency of capturing it. Solar energy is endless, clean, quiet, and renewable. Once solar energy collection becomes more efficient we will be able power everything from cars to boats. Imagine a train that ran off of solar panels placed along the tracks. Food preparation and home cooling could all be done with solar power. Passive solar systems are based on home design; some examples are large windows, special tiles for heat radiation, and holes or tunnels in walls for air circulation. Active solar systems use photovoltaic cells to turn sunlight into electricity. A photovoltaic (PV) system in a solar power houses will take energy from the sun and convert it into DC electricity. This will then go to a power inverter that takes DC and converts it to AC which can then be used by the home. Usually during the day when a person is gone they are not using allot of electricity and the on grid system (tied into a power grid from a utility company) will either slow your power meter or turn it backwards depending on demand and consumption. Any energy that is turning the meter backwards will be credited to your electric bill. If you don’t have a grid tie system you probably will have an off grid system with batteries. Batteries store energy made during the day to be used during the evening hours or night. The major problem with an off grid system is a person could use more energy than is stored and have a blackout, and batteries need maintenance and replacement from time to time.