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Passive Solar Heating, Cooling and Daylighting Buildings designed for passive solar and daylighting incorporate design features such as large south-facing windows and building materials that absorb and slowly release the sun's heat. No mechanical means are employed in passive solar heating. Incorporating passive solar designs can reduce heating bills as much as 50 percent. Passive solar designs can also include natural ventilation for cooling. Windows are an important aspect of passive solar design—for information on window technologies, see the Building Envelope section of the EREN Buildings page.

Solar Water Heater The circulation of the heat carrying fluid in the SWH described here is effected by the difference of density between the warmer liquid in the solar panel and the colder liquid in the storage tank. Therefore, no electrical pumps or control equipment are needed.

Solar Hot Water Annoying page design, gratifying information. Most everyone has experience with passive solar water heating. How many times have you turned on the hose in the yard and nearly burnt yourself with hot water? While you weren't looking, old Sol was quietly working to give you hot water, even if you didn't want it. Well if it's that easy, imagine what you can do if you're actually trying to make hot water.

Passive Solar House Design In this chapter, we describe the passive solar design features of the Florida Solar Cracker House. An effective solar house design must be tailored to the local climate and environment. In the first section, The Cracker heritage, we look to local history for guidance in simple and effective design and describe in some detail the local climate in northern Florida. The next section, Basic psychrometrics, delves into some basic properties of air: water content, temperature and speed, and how they affect human comfort.

DOE Building Technologies Program: Passive Solar Design  New construction offers the greatest opportunity for incorporating passive solar design features, as demonstrated by the design of the Solar Energy Research Facility in Golden, Colorado. For retrofit projects, consider daylighting strategies, heat control techniques, and using passive solar heating strategies to allow modification of HVAC systems. In most U.S. climates, passive solar design techniques can significantly reduce heating requirements for residential and small commercial buildings. For more on passive solar design for homes, see the Passive Solar Design Technology Fact Sheet (PDF 233 KB).

NREL: High Performance Buildings Research - Trombe WallsSince ancient times, people have used thick walls of adobe or stone to trap the sun's heat during the day and release it slowly and evenly at night. Today's passive solar buildings often improve on this ancient technique...

Trombe Walls in Low-Energy Buildings- Practical Experiences; Preprint [PDF]

Solar Planning Program. Written at UCLA, this sophisticated program allows you to model the energy performance of a house and its interaction with the local climate. Designed for architecture students, it is easy to use and comes with good documentation. You can add varying amounts of windows or thermal mass, for example, and see the result output as a stunning graphical "data landscape" that shows you how these factors will influence indoor temperature and energy consumption. An extremely valuable "what-if" tool for anyone designing a house and wondering about passive solar and thermal mass. Don't speculate - simulate!

Sustainable design, passive solar house HTM holistic housing ... This seems to be a "Caveat" page which rails against many popular designs - but reads coherently enough that it might just be true. Then again, since I couldn't stand the formatting, I didn't follow it to the end. Maybe he/she is just trying to sell you THEIR book, design, service or product. Best way to sell something complex(sometimes) is to throw monkey wrenches into the mix and then show up with a big magnet... Caveat Emptor!

SOLAR MAP OF THE U.S.

Two sets of solar radiation resource maps are available on the RReDC. Both are derived form the National Solar Radiation Data Base (NSRDB). They are:

The Atlas for The Solar Radiation Data Manual For Flat-Plate and Concentrating Collectors

The Atlas for The Solar Radiation Data Manual For Buildings

Passive Solar Home Plans Not really plans, but some interesting ideas.

Introduction to passive solar heating and daylighting. Step outside on a hot and sunny summer day, and you'll feel the power of solar heat and light. Today, many buildings are designed to take advantage of this natural resource through the use of passive solar heating and daylighting.

NREL's Solar Radiation Data Manual for Buildings provides information on solar radiation and illuminance values for windows in many areas across the United States.

Passive Solar Heating presents the most cost effective means of providing heat to buildings. Generally, the amount of solar energy that falls on the roof of a house is more than the total energy consumed within the house. Passive solar applications, when included in initial building design, adds little or nothing to the cost of a building, yet has the effect of realizing a reduction in operational costs and reduced equipment demand. It is reliable, mechanically simple, and is a viable asset to a home. The following are rules of thumb and an explanation of the essentials of passive solar design.

Sourcebook Passive Solar Guidelines1-2 Solar energy is a radiant heat source that causes natural processes upon which all life depends. Some of the natural processes can be managed through building design in a manner that helps heat and cool the building. The basic natural processes that are used in passive solar energy are the thermal energy flows associated with radiation, conduction, and natural convection. When sunlight strikes a building, the building materials can reflect, transmit, or absorb the solar radiation. Additionally, the heat produced by the sun causes air movement that can be predictable in designed spaces. These basic responses to solar heat lead to design elements, material choices and placements that can provide heating and cooling effects in a home.

Natural Cooling Passive cooling techniques can be used to reduce, and in some cases eliminate, mechanical air conditioning requirements in areas where cooling is a dominant problem. The cost and energy effectiveness of these options are both worth considering by homeowner and builders. Contained within this section are rules of thumb and an explanation or the essentials of passive cooling systems.

American Solar Energy Society Has publications on passive solar design and daylighting, and information on its National Tour of Solar Homes, which is held every October in many communities throughout the United States.

CADDET: Energy-Efficient Farming and Forestry in Norway, which explains a farm's use of biomass energy, hydroelectric power, and solar energy to significantly reduce energy costs.

U.S. Department of Agriculture 2002 Farm Bill: Section 9006 A grant and loan program to help farmers, ranchers, and rural small businesses invest in energy-efficient and renewable energy technologies.

U.S. Department of Energy Financial Opportunities Offers financial assistance opportunities for the development and demonstration of energy-efficient and renewable energy technologies.

Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy Provides information on state, local, utility, and selected federal incentives that promote renewable energy.

The Borrowers Guide to Financing Solar Energy Systems(PDF 501 KB) .

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