Solar Energy

People have been trying to capture Solar energy and use this reservior of energy since the dawn of history.

Some of our most modern solar technology has its roots in the past. Functional solar systems were producing domestic hot water in 30 percent of the homes in Pasadena, California, before 1900, and by 1940 Miami had 60,000 of them.

A flat plate solar collector array built in 1907 used a sheet iron absorber plate topped by glass. By 1914 solar collectors using copper tubes soldered to copper sheets were heating homes in California. Today, solar energy systems for home heating are working almost everywhere in the country, not only in the Sun Belt but in the North too. Wherever local codes permit, you can save money and fuel with a do it yourself solar installation.

The energy crisis has spawned a kaleidoscope of dreams and schemes in solar home design. Some are solidly practical, some are innovative and radical, and a few resemble Rube Goldberg contraptions.

Among the most simple contrivances is a hot water system for a beach house. Tap water is run through 100 feet of black plastic hose coiled on the roof. the sun warmed water feed into an attic tank that is tapped as needed for showers or dishwashing. Almost as simple is a supplementary heating system that is not much more than a box sloping from the ground to the bottom of a south facing first floor window. A black painted divider of foam insulation suspended down the box's center permits cool air from the house to slip down the channel beneath the foam panel and up its sun warmed topside.

At the other end of the technological scale are houses with towering glass walls and ingenious devices for trapping and storing the sun's heat. One New Hampshire home has two story double glazed plastic panels covering a black foot thick concrete wall. During the day sun pouring through the panels heats the concrete. Ports at floor and ceiling allow cool interior air to circulate by convection up the wall and then reenter the building at the top after being warmed. At night and on cloudy days bushels of tiny plastic beads are blown into the space between the double glazing to prevent excape of stored heat. Come morning, the beads are sucked out by a vacuum pump to canisters in the garage until needed again. Another unique solar home in New Mexico has south facing walls of water filled drums stacked in racks like wine bottles. Ends facing outward are black to soak up sun and warm the water. At night windowless walls of insulating material hinge upward to seal in the heat.

As far as the future is concerned, many technological improvements are on the way, including vacuum collectors and cells that can convert sunlight into electricity. Engineers in New Mexico have built a "power tower", topped by a boiler located at the focus of almost 2,000 mirrors, which has produced temperatures of 3,000 degrees.

Solar Power in Your Home?

Most successful systems take over part, not all, of the heating load. Such systems are cheaper to build and will usually pay for themselves sooner than those that rely exclusively on the sun.

For solar energy heating to be effective a house must have a large surface, typically a roof, facing within 10 degrees of true south. The building should also be well insulated (10 or more inches of high quality insulation in the attic and 4 inches in the walls for northern parts of the nation).

Heating ducts or pipes should be wrapped with insulation. Storm doors and storm windows are important. All outside joints should be caulked and fireplace dampers snugly fitted and closed when not in use.

As a rule of thumb, solar heating makes good economic sense if it amortizes, or pays for itself, within 10 years. In other words, your 10 year savings in home fuel consumption should equal or exceed the cost of installing a solar energy system.

Generally speaking, solar energy heating will provide the biggest savings in homes with high fuel bills: if your fuel bills run more than $3000 a year, a $15,000 solar system can be easily amortized in 10 years by cutting fuel consumption in half.

Note: Earth4Energy is an e-book (electronic book) so you will receive it by e-mail as soon as you order.

When I first skimmed the sales page for the book, I have to admit I almost didn't buy it because the copy looked a little hyped up and pitchy. It sounded like all the rest.

But what drew me in was that the author kept emphasizing the same points I talk about on this site when it comes to alternative energy, so I became intrigued.

Still a bit skeptical, I purchased it for $49.97 and got Earth4Energy manual anyway. However, I'm happy to tell you I was pleasantly surprised with its contents.

From the best about solar energy...it's all in Earth4Energy.

If you buy one book this year and you actually apply it, make it this one. It was definitely money well spent for me.

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