How to Create a Passive Solar Home
Installing solar electric panel systems in a home can be quite expensive. However, more economical "passive solar" techniques can be incorporated into the design of a new home or added to an existing home. "Active solar" energy technology generally refers to electrical or mechanical devices required to take advantage of the sun's energy. "Passive solar" techniques require few or no such devices, and are usually easier and less expensive to implement. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Solar hot water collector
- Large energy-efficient windows
- Masonry flooring
- Deciduous trees
Instructions
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Passive Solar Techniques
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Heat things up: Windows play a valuable part in the collection of solar heat. Large windows on the south-facing side of a house can allow more sunlight to enter rooms. Larger windows also give more daylight, thus reducing the need for lighting. These windows should have low-emissivity glazing to prevent loss of room heating. Heavy drapes and window treatments can also be used to keep heat in after sundown. Windows on the north-facing side of a house should be small to minimize heat loss. North-oriented windows collect little heat from the sun.
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Keep it cool: While heat is desired during cold winter months, it is unwelcome in the hot summer. South-facing windows should have a low "solar heat gain coefficient" (greater than 0.6). A roof overhang is another technique for reducing summer heat. The sun is higher in the sky in the summer than in the winter. Take advantage of this change in position by extending the south-facing roof overhang. The summer sun will be shaded and kept from shining in the windows, but the low angle of the sun in winter will allow it's rays to enter. A retractable awning is another way to allow the sun's warming rays in during the winter, but keep them out during the summer.
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Plant deciduous trees that shade the house in the summer (when the trees have leaves), but let the winter sun's rays through (when the trees have no leaves). These can be planted so their summer shade covers south-facing windows.
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Capture the heat entering south-facing windows with dark masonry flooring to absorb and store energy. The same idea applies to any interior walls that the sun falls on. After sundown, these materials will give up their stored thermal energy, radiating it back into the room. According to a government Web site (http://www.energysavers.gov), water stores twice as much heat as masonry materials per cubic foot of volume, so some creative homeowners have constructed water-filled containers to capture and store solar heat.
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Connect a home's incoming cold water supply to a solar collector on a roof before the water is sent to the home's standard water heater. Solar energy preheats the water, thus reducing the energy needed by the water heater to raise water temperature to the desired level. No pump is needed, since water pressure in the line is sufficient to circulate the water through the system. The homeowner may choose to install a temperature sensor and automatic valves so that the panels would be bypassed when the temperature in the collector is cold, as it would be on a cold evening. Companies such as Evosolar (http://www.Evosolar.us) sell complete solar water heater systems.
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Build a Trombe wall. A Trombe wall is an 8- to 16-inch thick masonry wall placed on the south-facing wall. A layer of glass is placed up to 6 inches away from the masonry wall to create a small airspace, which is heated by the sun. Heat slowly conducts through the wall, and by late afternoon begins to release heat to the interior room.
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