Passive Solar Home Heating
Sep 13th, 2008 by Mr.Burton
Passive solar design is very popular in warm to mild climates because it is more or less a free method for warming a home. Whereas an active solar design may be more efficent in colder climates due to the few sun hours available to provide heat. Currently there are two methods to use passive solar energy, water heating and home heating.
The concept behind the passive solar water system is as easy as it sounds. On a hot summer day, if you collect a pitcher of cold tap water, let’s say 60 degrees or more, and allow the pitcher to sit in the sun for a few hours, you have hot water. If you put water in a black pitcher, the process would happen even faster. This is the concept behind passive solar heating of water!
A variety of variations exsist for home heating using passive solar. They are based on 2 simple designs, trombe walls or a green house (some refer to this as a sun room). As for water heating you could use a direct heating method or an indirect method. The indirect method will preheat the water before entering your installed water heater. The other method is using solar panels directly to heat the water and provide a seperate storage tank painted flat black. This will absorb more heat energy and reflect very little. The flat black painted tank will also provide as a hot water resivor.
Read as much as possible on passive solar water heating in your area before determining what type of solar hot water system is for you. Many hot springs use passive solar design systems that are available without charge. You can also look at your local library, the Internet, and local water company.
I think it is an ok technology. Certainly better than fossil fuels but I think geothermal technology is far more practical.