What is Passive Solar energy?
WHAT IS PASSIVE SOLAR ENERGY?
Passive Solar is not a new idea. Socrates described passive solar home design more than 2000 years ago. Cliff dwellers in the american southwest lived in passive solar "apartments" centuries ago (picture).
In the time of the roman empire it was illegal to build a structure blocking sunlight to another solarium.
There are two ways of using the energy of the sun to heat a building; passive and active solar systems. With active solar energy, mechanical systems requiring instrumentation and equipment (most commonly water collectors or photovoltaic cells) are used to collect the heat of the sun. Separate heat storage units (such as water or rock bin storage) are employed to store the energy collected. Many of these active systems are experimental and most require materials and techniques uncommon to suppliers and the construcion trades; therefore more expensive.
On a more basic level, passive solar energy heats and cools a building by natural nonmechanical means. In essence the building itself is the system. Energy is collected through south facing windows, greenhouses, and clerestorys. Mass to store this energy is integrated into the design so that structural and functional walls and floors are used to capture, store, and distriute the energy of the sun. Windows are additionally placed to make full use of naural lighting and cross ventilation for summer cooling. Full advantage is also taken of such natural cooling and heating techniques as earth berms and the chimney effect when applicable.
There are two final principles that must be followed for successful solar construction. First the house should be designed for its site, taking into account prevailing weather patterns and other factors of the microclimate of that particular place on earth. Second the building must be well insulated which not only means adding more insulation, but also how well the insulation is applied throughout the constrction period.
As you have seen, passive solar heating and cooling are not abstract theories but a practical, realistic science. Accurate calculation of energy savings can be mathematicaly shown during the design phase.
Passive solar design is practicle and cost effective now!