The sun is extremely powerful. Obviously, it is the basis of all life on our planet. Most people don’t realize how much energy is contained in sunlight. When it comes to passive solar heating in a home, it can work to well. Regardless of whether you are intentionally or unintentionally pursuing passive solar, you know how hot a home can get. During the summer, it can be downright brutal. There are, however, simple steps you can take to mitigate this problem. The first problem has to do with intrusion. Simply put, too much sun is penetrating into your home. You already know the answer from a common sense perspective – shading. In this case, you need to pull the shades over windows on the south facing side of the house.

If you are intentionally designing for passive solar, there is a landscaping trick you can do to maximize passive solar production in winter, but limit it in summer. In this case, we are talking about trees. Specifically, you should plant trees that grow a heavy leaf canopy in the summer, but lose all their leaves in the winter. Put in front of large windows, these trees will act as a natural temperature regulator for your passive solar system. Ultimately, the key to beating too much heat in your house during the summer is to simply understand where it is coming from. If you can block the ingress of the sunlight, you can cut the heat to manageable levels.