Annualized geo solar
Encyclopedia
Annualized Geo-Solar enables passive solar heating
in even cold, foggy north temperate areas. It uses the ground under or around a building
as thermal mass
to heat and cool the building. After a designed, conductive thermal lag of 6 months the heat is returned to, or removed from, the inhabited spaces of the building. In hot climates, exposing the collector to the frigid night sky in winter can cool the building in summer.
The six month thermal lag is provided by about three meters (ten feet) of dirt. A six-meter-wide (20 ft) buried skirt of insulation around the building keeps rain and snow melt out of the dirt, which is usually under the building. The dirt does radiant heating
and cooling through the floor or walls. A thermal siphon
moves the heat between the dirt and the solar collector. The solar collector may be a sheet-metal compartment in the roof
, or a wide flat box on the side of a building or hill. The siphons may be made from plastic pipe and carry air. Using air prevents water leaks and water-caused corrosion. Plastic pipe doesn't corrode in damp earth, as metal ducts can.
AGS heating systems typically consist of:
Usually it requires several years for the storage earth-mass to fully preheat from the local at-depth soil temperature (which varies widely by region and site-orientation) to an optimum Fall level at which it can provide up to 100% of the heating requirements of the living space through the winter. This technology continues to evolve, with a range of variations (including active-return devices) being explored. The listserve where this innovation is most often discussed is "Organic Architecture" at Yahoo.
This system is almost exclusively deployed in northern Europe. One system has been built at Drake Landing in North America.
Passive solar building design
In passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are made to collect, store, and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer...
in even cold, foggy north temperate areas. It uses the ground under or around a building
Building
In architecture, construction, engineering, real estate development and technology the word building may refer to one of the following:...
as thermal mass
Thermal mass
Thermal mass is a concept in building design which describes how the mass of the building provides "inertia" against temperature fluctuations, sometimes known as the thermal flywheel effect...
to heat and cool the building. After a designed, conductive thermal lag of 6 months the heat is returned to, or removed from, the inhabited spaces of the building. In hot climates, exposing the collector to the frigid night sky in winter can cool the building in summer.
The six month thermal lag is provided by about three meters (ten feet) of dirt. A six-meter-wide (20 ft) buried skirt of insulation around the building keeps rain and snow melt out of the dirt, which is usually under the building. The dirt does radiant heating
Radiant heating
Radiant heating is a technology for heating indoor and outdoor areas. Heating by radiant energy is observed everyday, the warmth of the sunshine being probably the most commonly observed example. Radiant heating as a technology is typically more narrowly defined...
and cooling through the floor or walls. A thermal siphon
Siphon
The word siphon is sometimes used to refer to a wide variety of devices that involve the flow of liquids through tubes. But in the English language today, the word siphon usually refers to a tube in an inverted U shape which causes a liquid to flow uphill, above the surface of the reservoir,...
moves the heat between the dirt and the solar collector. The solar collector may be a sheet-metal compartment in the roof
Roof
A roof is the covering on the uppermost part of a building. A roof protects the building and its contents from the effects of weather. Structures that require roofs range from a letter box to a cathedral or stadium, dwellings being the most numerous....
, or a wide flat box on the side of a building or hill. The siphons may be made from plastic pipe and carry air. Using air prevents water leaks and water-caused corrosion. Plastic pipe doesn't corrode in damp earth, as metal ducts can.
AGS heating systems typically consist of:
- A very well-insulated, energy efficient, eco-friendly living space;
- Heat captured in the summer months from a sun-warmed sub-roof or attic space, a sunspace or greenhouseGreenhouseA greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...
, a ground-based, flat-plate, thermosyphon collector, or other solar-heat collection device; - Heat transported from the collection source into (typically) the earth mass under the living space (for storage), this mass surrounded by a sub-surface perimeter "cape" or "umbrella" providing both insulation from easy heat-loss back up to the outdoors air and a barrier against moisture migration through that heat-storage mass;
- A high-density floor whose thermal properties are designed to radiate heat back into the living space, but only after the proper sub-floor-insulation-regulated time-lag;
- A control-scheme or system which activates (often PV-powered) fans and dampers, when the warm-season air is sensed to be hotter in the collection area(s) than in the storage mass, or allows the heat to be moved into the storage-zone by passive convection (often using a solar chimneySolar chimneyA solar chimney — often referred to as a thermal chimney — is a way of improving the natural ventilation of buildings by using convection of air heated by passive solar energy...
and thermally-activated damperDamperA damper is a device that deadens, restrains, or depresses.Damper may refer to:* Dashpot, a type of hydraulic or mechanical damper,* Shock absorber , a mechanical device designed to dissipate kinetic energy...
s.)
Usually it requires several years for the storage earth-mass to fully preheat from the local at-depth soil temperature (which varies widely by region and site-orientation) to an optimum Fall level at which it can provide up to 100% of the heating requirements of the living space through the winter. This technology continues to evolve, with a range of variations (including active-return devices) being explored. The listserve where this innovation is most often discussed is "Organic Architecture" at Yahoo.
This system is almost exclusively deployed in northern Europe. One system has been built at Drake Landing in North America.
See also
- Geosolar
- http://www.sunnyjohn.com/indexpages/shcs.htm sunnyjohn.com/indexpages/shcs.htm