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A solar shed differs from a common or garden shed in much the same way that power walking to a power lunch wearing a power suit differs from walking to lunch dressed in regular suit. The operative word is power; solar power to be precise.

A major problem with the average garden shed though is that little prefix: garden. Sheds are usually situated, well, in the garden and nowhere close to an existing power supply. So, getting power to a shed conventionally means running a power supply cable.

Of course, this then means digging up great swathes of your garden in order to bury and safely shield the supply cable from whoever might next decide to stick a spade in the ground. Any anyway, once you get the cable to the shed you then have a huge potential fire risk on your hands (wooden buildings burn really well).

Then there’s question of what exactly are you planning on doing in your shed that actually needs 220 volts (or a more wimpy 110v for US residents)? Of course, the number of different answers you might get to this question is proportional to the number of people you might ask.

Some folk simply want a basic workshop or a place to pot up plants and store tender specimens in cold weather. Others seek a peaceful respite from the world where they may shelter from whatever the weather brings and quietly enjoy a book or the newspaper. Then there are those who can spot an opportunity to easily and cheaply kit out a serviceable study or office in which to work.

Regardless of the purpose though, if you want to use your shed for various activities and not simply as an outdoor storeroom then you are going to need certain things. The first of which is light; no can see, no can do – its as simple as that. Then you might want to install various devices and tools. Lastly, depending on your climate and time of year, you may also want some form of heating or ventilation.

That’s where you’re going to need some power. But luckily all sheds share a useful characteristic, which is a large amount of otherwise wasted surface area (namely the roof) which is ideal as a platform for a solar panel or several.

Modern solar panels are remarkably effective and will relentlessly convert sunlight into electricity day after day, even when it’s not especially sunny. All that is required is to rig up some means of storing all this free electricity, and for that you may offer your thanks to Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta who thoughtfully invented the voltaic pile, otherwise known as the battery.

Now, a fortuitous feature of solar panels is that for the most part they generate electricity at 12 volts (its that man again) DC which just so happens to also exactly match what almost all low-voltage appliances (including lights) and power packs require. This means that all your equipment can be kept permanently fully charged during the day and any surplus routed to a deep cycle storage battery that can take over at night.

Of course this pattern of collecting, storing and using solar generated electricity repeats more or less endlessly without ever costing anything to maintain or harming the environment. So whether you harbour ambitions to kit out a home office, pen a best seller, or simply have a den to lounge about in peace and comfort, a solar shed could be just the thing.