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 Solar Space Heating: The use of solar collectors for space heating is an excellent way to heat your home while minimizing the use of fossil fuels. It is best to tie a solar space heating system into a radiant heating system since they require lower water temperatures. A Hydro-Air system also works well with solar space heating systems. All solar space heating systems require a back-up system for cloudy days in the winter. The solar collectors can either be flat plate collectors or evacuated collectors. The solar collectors want to be racked to 60 degrees to maximize solar collection in the winter and minimize summer overheating. A typical solar space heating system in new construction may do over 50% of the homes heating requirements.
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 Isolated Solar Spaces: Isolated passive solar sunspaces are an excellent way to utilize solar energy to heat your home. These are not the glass sunrooms that have been so popular but rather a sunspace that is closed off from the house with insulated walls, windows and doors. These sunspaces utilize south-facing glazing with a high solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) to maximize the amount of solar energy that enters the sunspace and can be used to provide heat for the home. A properly designed solar sunspace can easily provide 25% of the heating requirements for a typical home.
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The basic design principles of an isolated passive solar sunspace are:
- Make the sunspace at least 10’ deep and at least 16’ wide.
- Minimize East and West glass or doors but have at least one opening (window or door) on each gable end to maximize cross ventilation.
- Maximize the south glazing, utilizing low-iron insulated, uncoated glass to maximize solar gain. Each pane of low-iron glass has a Solar Heat Gain Coefficient of .91 so you maximize solar gain.
- South glass sloped at 60 degrees is the most efficient angle for solar gain but requires great skill in order to eliminate leaks and to avoid seal failure of the insulated glass units. Use the best dual sealed insulated glass units available to prevent premature seal failure that causes fogged glass.
- Vertical glass is a good choice for less skilled tradespeople and still gives good solar gain as long as either uncoated low-iron insulated glass units or regular insulated glass units are used.
- Use awning windows under the south glass to maximize summer ventilation
- Use venting skylights placed in front of any windows and doors of the house to maximize natural daylighting into the sunspace and the home. Use an exterior solar shade to minimize solar gain in the summer.
- The more energy efficient the home is, the more you need to store heat in the sunspace for use after the sun goes down.
- The use of dark, unglazed quarry tile on the floor is the best surface to maximize solar heating. The use of a masonry back wall is an excellent absorber and provided for additional solar thermal storage.
- Consider using an exterior shade cloth to block the summer sun form coming into the sunspace.
- An insulated slab on grade foundation is a great option for solar sunspaces. If the sunspace has a wood framed floor, use a _” T&G AdvanTech subfloor with a cement board (Wonderboard or equilavant) underlayment under the tile. Properly insulate the floor to minimize heat loss. Radiant heating is a good option if you are planning on heating the sunspace during cloudy days or at night.
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SolarWrights is a factory-direct dealer for Viessmann, Sandia Evacuated Solar Collectors, and Heliodyne Flat Plate Collectors.
To find out what incentives are available for photovoltaic systems in your state, visit www.dsireusa.org. |
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Design
