Subject: Re: Seek Passive Solar Design FAQ/Guide

From: William R Stewart <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 08 May 1996 08:14:25 -0400

george p swanton wrote:
> 
> Can anyone offer a pointer to a set of formulae for glazing/
> mass/temperature/etc calculations involved in passive solar
> design? I am interested primarily in direct gain residential
> space heating applications.
> 
> I've searched some of the web sites that claim 'passive solar'
> info but have only found pretty pictures and sweeping
> generalizations with no mathematical analysis.

These calculations are somewhat complex, if you are considering passive solar as your 
main heat source.  The Passive Solar Industries Council has a complete book and software 
program for this engineering problem.

     Passive Solar Industries Council
     1511 K St., #600
     Washington, DC 20005
     (202) 628-7400

You may have visited here already, but 
http://www.greenbuilder.com/Sourcebook/PassSolGuide1-2.html gives a lot of overall 
design clues.

Some of the variables involved in such a design include;

What is your heating profile and when does it occur?
In other words, how many degree-days of heating is required in your area?

What is the heat loss rate of your structure?  Even landscaping comes in to play here, 
such as berming, evergreens planted to the north to act as  nothern wind breakers, etc.

What is the solar insolation in your area and when does it occur?
http://solstice.crest.org/renewables/solrad/index.html

What are your backup systems (eg, masonry fireplace, ground-source heat-pump, etc)?

Do you plan to use a Trombe wall, free-standing thermal mass, floor mass, etc?  You'll 
find water is far and away the highest-capacity, non-phase change storage medium, in the 
form of freestanding tanks (wall-shaped or cylindrical).

How do you plan to provide for effective daylighting while preventing glare?  I'm 
presently looking for windows that block UV radiation but are not low-E (because of the 
amount of infrared radiation they block).  UV will fade furniture and increase skin 
cancer likelihood.

I am in the middle of a similar design effort myself, and a utilizing the designs of a 
modular home manufacturer that has participated with DOE on this subject (see Solar 
Today, Sept/Oct 1995).

If anybody has any additional info, I'd be interested as well.

Regards,

Will Stewart