The 100% Solar Heated Home

Is the 100% solar heated home possible? Many solar experts would say that it is not economically practical; sure it is possible, but there’s just no money in it. Well solar expert Paul Shippee, in an article for The Crestone Eagle, has something to say about that.

First of all, since when is money the driving ideal behind going solar? Secondly, the solar home, while not easy or cheap up front, is most certainly feasible. All it takes, according to Shippee, is to “approach solar design as an innovative art, to design with an expansive mind and practical skills applied to architecture.”

Not Just About Panels

The key to the 100% solar home is not just solar panels and more solar panels, as traditional economics assumes when figuring cost and feasibility. The true heart of the solar home is in its passive design; to get most of the work done with design and then incorporate active systems to seal the deal.

Shippee explains that a totally solar heated home will be an intense collaboration between active and passive solar techniques. Large windows should be placed on the long, south facing side of the house for direct gain solar heat. Furthermore, thermal mass and insulation are the two most important considerations.

As Shippee puts it, “You can’t have too much thermal mass.” Thermal mass walls (Trombe wall or water wall) absorb solar heat and release it into the home over time, providing a steady heat flow. The most common form of thermal mass is concrete and it is also used in radiant floor heating, which incorporates active solar thermal heating into the equation.

Insulation is also very important. Night insulation — foam boards, shutters, thermal shades, bubble wrap, and more — will help keep the solar heat gained during the day from escaping after dark. Beadwall, or styrofoam beads blown in between window panes, is a heavier duty way to insulate — with an R-value up to 20.

It’s Not Going to Be Cheap

Even whilst breaking down some successful full-home solar heating techniques, Shippee does not hide the high cost of going solar. For example, all that necessary thermal mass is not cheap, but he also points out that solar has always been an upfront investment and achieving a 100% solar home means free energy for life, plus the elimination of fossil-fuel energy use in your life and another step closer to eradicating it worldwide.

Read Paul Shippee’s complete article on the 100% solar heated home.

Posted on December 22nd in Going Solar by Dan.