PV Gap

Tyrone Said:

Solar house?

We Answered:

Have you looked into the possibility of strawbale? It is an amazing insulator and if you have your windows oriented correctly and at least a 18 inch overhanging roof, you will have passive heating and cooling. Use either a packed earth or concrete slab foundation to absorb thermal heat for the winter and the overhangs will cool the air in the summer before it enters the open windows in the summer. Very efficient and inexpensive to build. And it uses very renewable resources in construction.

A small group of about 10 people can build it from start to finish in about 3 weeks. Most of that time is to allow the curing of the concrete and the mud plaster for the walls.

Marsha Said:

Is it possible to have a solar house without giving up anything?

We Answered:

You CAN install enough solar panels in a grid tied system to be a net zero consumer, or even a net producer, averaged over time. That is only averaged over time because you will of course be a net user of grid power at night, and maybe on some cloudy winter days. The only problem is that even in a very sunny area of the country you will probably need at least $50,000 worth of solar panels and inverters to make that much power. More if your home is not highly energy efficient.

Corey Said:

Help solar house Kwh?

We Answered:

Look at your electric bills to determine your kw-hr usage. Get summer and winter numbers.

You can count on spending US$30k to 50k. Or more.


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Jimmie Said:

What variables can I change when making a Home Made Solar Cooker for an experiment?

We Answered:

You can test it when it is newly made.

Then you can see how well it works if the reflectors are dirty (just sprinkle a small amount of something like flour on them).

You can see what happens if you don't get as much sun as you'd like - put a windowscreen in front of the cooker to block a small amount of the sun.

You can move the food from the exact center to 1/2" off center and then to 1" off center.

You can see how well it works with an insulated or covered pot in the middle, as opposed to an open pot.

How much better does it work if you build it on a lazy susan and rotate the cooker ever 1/2 hour?