PV Gap

Andy Said:

How to Build A Solar House?

We Answered:

The key to temperature control in a passive solar house is moveable insulation.

Your best bet would be to have a large thermal mass (water is pretty good, and cheap), so that the house won't heat or cool very quickly. This is a realistic feature.

Second, you want to put as much insulation around the sides of the house as you can. This would be unrealistic in an actual house, where you would want windows and doors.

Third, is the moveable insulation. In a real house, the people would open the drapes, or slide the covers off the skylights during the day.

Assuming you're in the USA, I'm guessing that the outdoor temperature will be below 72 degrees most of the time. If this is true, what you want to do is open the skylight during the day until the temperature inside goes a little above 72 degrees, then cover the skylight again.

So to sum up, here's a minimalist design: get a foam ice chest. Fill it with gallon jugs of water, or pint bottles, or whatever you can get. Put it out in the sun. When the temperature reaches 72 degrees, put the lid on. If you have a window in the lid with a sliding cover, you might be able to figure out just the right opening so that the temperature maintains close to 72 degrees all day. At night, you cover the skylight completely with a piece of styrofoam for insulation.

You might also decide to wrap the whole thing in aluminum foil, to reflect away additional unwanted heat.

Rosemary Said:

i have to build a solar house which has to be cold inside for science, i dont know what to make it out of?

We Answered:

you need to have a way to cool the house. can you run an a/c on solar panels or not
if not then evaporative cooling.
concrete white building coated with waterproof paint. install mist system over roof. windows only on north side of building.
concrete walls 5 ft thick with an insualted core, and double roof (attic)
in attic if temp is hotter than outside run fan or open windows for sucking hot air out.
concrete floor. deep well under house, circulate cold water in coper tubes buried lke a net in walls and floor from well and back into a second well connected the first well, for circulating cold water to the house and warm water out of the house.

Sally Said:

What materials do you need for a school solar house project?

We Answered:

Try this website... http://www.solarschoolhouse.org/ssh.html They have a PDF file that has an on-line catalog. Good luck! We did this way back in the 70's (ages ago) and spent an entire week in our "house." We included a hydroponic garden as well... mmm... memories.

Mike Said:

Is there a way to install solar panels for one appliance in my home rather than the whole house?

We Answered:

Not very practical if you ask me. the way the solar system works in a nutshell. Panels turn sunlight into DC electricity, think the battery in your car. then an inverter is installed, which turns the DC into AC, which is what is used in your house. The system feeds your needs when the sun is out, and any excess produced during the day turns your meter backward, and at night you draw from your power company. To do for a single outlet, it would work during the day, but at night or if it got cloudy you would have to move the power cord,to the other outlet hooked to your regular power. If you put solar on your house it might make a great selling point, when you show the new potential owners your electricity bills, depending where you live, it could be close to ZERO for the year.

Denise Said:

What do i need to get to make a solar house for a project in science? please help.!?

We Answered:

like a scale model? Glass on the south side, solar cells on the south roof, insulate the north and west with soil mounds and concrete/stone/tile floors.

Kristina Said:

What are some ways of storing energy for a solar house?

We Answered:

As most solar energy in a house is heat then anything with large thermal mass

eg find some old night-storage radiators and use the "bricks from them as teh back wall (north) of the concervatory or as a solar wall http://www.cat.org.uk, used in Ladakh http://www.tew.org/development/solar.gre…

or fill oil barrels with water, or old tyres with earth http://www.earthship.org/learn/brighton-…
or loads of rubble - whatever you have available locally...

use a photovoltaic solar panel to drive a fan to blow air through the storage medium, and operate a heat exchangeer to get waste heat

traditional Moorish heat management used chimneys to create an air flow and draw fresh air in over a humidifying courtyard fountain...

Darrell Said:

What things do you need to build a solar house?

We Answered:

Solar panels, DIY kits and Nuts and bolts to connect to your grid