High Performance Homes
Heating and Cooling: Solar
Solar heating and cooling have been around for many years, thus have had the advantage of a great deal of research. Solar can be approached in two ways: passive and active.
Passive solar is a design issue. It must be part of the planning early on. There are no mechanical means or devices used. Passive solar incorporates such features as large south-facing windows. Today's adaptations have more to do with how the sun's bounty is best captured and stored. Added glazing and thermal mass will reduce and may even eliminate the need for mechanical heating and cooling with the additional benefit of reducing daytime artificial lighting. Design to accommodate solar alternatives isn't complex, but does require and understanding of solar geometry, local climate and window technology.
Active solar heating, while using the concepts of passive solar, uses specially designed mechanical systems but can generate significantly greater heating results. Solar collectors are at the base of active solar options. The collector absorbs the energy from the sun by heating air or a liquid then either uses it directly or delivers it to a thermal mass for distribution later, or over a longer period of time.
