Solar Tech

At our house, we've been experimenting with passive solar heat with great success. On a sunny day, we can heat our entire upstairs for free using a small 2x4 sun collecting panel. Normally, these would come in 4x8 size, but Clear Dome Solar has come out with an ultra efficient model. In my own test, 70 degree air goes in, and 106 degree air blows out. I'm just amazed that eight square feet of sunlight can produce that much heat. But the company says that the black collector material has a 95% efficiency. Anyway, in our two week trial, the house heater goes entirely quiet from 10am to about 7pm. And we have high ceilings.

These panels come in at a cost of about $450 each, and they can be hooked together in series. I just made a window panel with one intake and one outake hole to circulate indoor air out through the panel and back into the house (my soon-to-be-famous soup can duct design). Right now, the panel is just standing upright on the porch in front of the window - not affixed to anything. So it's portable and lightweight. The black collector has a thermostat switch that turns the circulating fan on when it exceeds 70 degrees and off when it dips below. Why not one of these on every house?