A view of the apartments in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, which are equipped with solar heating panels to generate power. (Photo: LH)

Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) will install a solar heating facilities at long-term lease apartments to be built from the second half of this year, totaling some 20,275 units around the country, the company said on June 6.
Each apartment will have the solar enough heating facilities to generate 130 watts for heat and 2,635 kw for total apt. units. Each apt. will be able to save 2,500 won per month on average in the power bills, LH said.
The measure is part of the Renewable Energy 3020 Implementation Plan, the government announced in December, last year. LH will install solar heating facilities at all the rental apartments across the country in the days ahead including 64,000 apartments that it got the approvals for installation. All of the apartments that had solar heating panels installed will be able to generate 10.8 GW in power annually just like a solar power plant, saving some 1.9 billion won in energy bills every year.
The company also decided to promote diverse housing projects to help the government’s housing welfare roadmap. The company said on June 5 that it signed a mutual survival business agreement with the Central Self-Support Center to help low-income people get back on their feet.
The self-support enterprise is a social economic organization designed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to promote the self-survival of the poor income and economically isolated people. Under the agreement signed with the ministry, LH will let self-support enterprises participate in the projects that it has been promoting under the Housing Welfare Roadmap pushed by the government. As of the end of 2017, 1,269 business firms were listed as the Self-support Enterprises with 214 of them to be designated by the Central Self-Support Center to engage in the projects being pushed by LH.
Solar power is undoubtedly the wave of the future. Because solar panels are coming way down in price, you’ll see more and more homeowners proudly sporting shiny energy-saving devices on their roofs, hoping to make a dent in their power bills.
But what about renters Large-scale solar solutions, like rooftop panels, are designed for people who own their own homes. You can’t very well install your own solar panels on top of an apartment building.
Fortunately, for apartment dwellers who want to go solar because it’s green, or even if it’s just to save a few bucks on energy bills, there are some solutions out there. You probably won’t be able to go totally off the grid, but that’s OK – every little bit helps. You just have to think smaller.
Portable appliances, such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, cameras and e-readers, are a big part of our lives now. Because they’re so small and efficient, it doesn’t take much juice to charge them, which is why they’re perfect for solar energy. This iPad is being charged up with solar power.
There are plenty of solar chargers for small appliances on the market, ranging in price from about $13 all the way up to nearly $2,000. They’re easily found at electronics stores and online. Just place the charger in a sunny spot and connect your small appliance to it – you’ll be all charged up in no time, and your energy bill won’t get any bigger.
You might see apps for your smartphone claiming to charge your phone just by placing it on a windowsill, but don’t fall for them – those apps are hoaxes. You need a separate device if you want to charge by solar.