Solar
energy is our birthright like the air we breathe or the water we drink. Solar
Home Plans
and affordable
Solar Hot Water Plans are the gateway into
a "Solar Age" of energy independence. Fossil fuels are no longer
necessary to keep the wheels of civilization turning. Build your own solar
heating system with an MTD Solar Collector Kit.
Explore the Strawberry Fields Book Store
for more information. Alternative energies like
solar energy will increase in value as fossil fuel prices escalate. Solar
collectors, solar hot water systems, heat storage vaults, photovoltaic
electricity, solar panels, solar
greenhouses and solar house plans will become more important in this century.
According to Buckminster
Fuller "We have wondered too far from the roots." An energy crisis can
only be avoided only if we learn to rely on a diffuse, sustainable resource like the sun. .
Do-it-yourself solar thermal projects
can make us more energy independent. The greenhouse effect is a miracle
of nature that makes trapping heat possible. Without this method of
trapping heat our tiny planet would be a frozen waste land like the
Moon. A conscious effort to make better use of this miracle of nature can
free us from dependence on non renewable resources and allow us to at last live
in a sustainable economy unfettered by the restraints of big business and big
government. Thegreenhouse effect
is something that all domestic solar thermal systems have in common.
Passive Solar
Homes may use a Modified Trombe Wall
to to trap hot air for heating a home.
The vertical glazing of a Trombe wall traps heated air like the solar greenhouse
and occupies less space. Thermal mass inside the house is used to store
heat and moderate temperature swings, but storage capability and temperature
regulation is limited by this simple passive air heating design.
Solar collectors
also use the greenhouse effect to capture
the sun's energy. Both solar collectors and solar greenhouses are able to harvest
the suns energy in the form of heat. Greenhouses and Trombe Walls use air to
transfer heat and Collectors use water or a combination of water and antifreeze.
Two of my collectors cover a surface area 60 square feet.
The glazing is more durable than glass and much lighter.
See what people are saying about "How to Build a Solar Hot Water
System" and this do-it-yourself collector design on my Testimonial
page
Solar Panels
are very much different than solar collectors. They use selective wavelengths of light to produce
electricity and they work best
in direct sunlight at a low temperature. Large PV systems are still quite costly.
They use inverters to
convert DC panel power to compatible AC power. This AC power is often interfaced
with the grid so that solar energy may be shared with others.
Most solar hot water systems
are designed to preheat water for standard fossil fuel hot water systems. Building
plans for solar collectors, heat storage vaults and entire solar hot water system are available from the Strawberry Fields Solar Book Store
. Energy Independent Housing
plans are also available here. All my books come with at least one set of multi
media shows. If you have difficulty with the Solar IQ quiz a multimedia
show may be your cup of tea. If the energy crises continues to escalate we
may all soon be living in different kinds of houses.
There's no chimney
on this house, but Santa will still find a way to get inside. This simple one
story hexagonal solar home is 32 ft in diameter, has a full basement, a
1000 gallon heat storage vault and a 250 sq. ft. solar thermal roof. Solar applications are only limited by our imagination.
Join the Solar Thermal Energy Group
and discover the kind of solar home that's right for your taste. Become part of part of the new age of energy independence and take a stand
against global warming and big business.
This house is a bit more
conventional.
It's based on a Harry E Thompson's Trickle Down solar thermal roof system but
it's been modified to for easy installation on top of an existing roof.
I call this new concept Modified
Trickle Down solar
heating or MTD Solar Heating
Click on the house for a streaming video show.
NEXT allow a streaming video player
download.
Do-it-yourself solar thermal projects
can make us more energy independent. The greenhouse effect is a miracle
of nature that makes trapping heat possible. Without this method of
trapping heat our tiny planet would be a frozen waste land like the
Moon. A conscious effort to make better use of this miracle of nature can
free us from dependence on non renewable resources and allow us to at last live
in a sustainable economy unfettered by the restraints of big business and big
government. The greenhouse effect
is something that all domestic solar thermal systems have in common. 
