Passive Solar Heating System

When sunlight strikes a building the building materials can reflect transmit or absorb the solar radiation.

Passive solar heating system.

Passive systems do not use mechanical devices such as fans blowers or pumps to distribute solar heat from a collector. A well designed passive solar home first reduces heating and cooling loads through energy efficiency strategies and then meets those reduced loads in whole or part with solar energy. Passive solar design refers to the use of the sun s energy for the heating and cooling of living spaces by exposure to the sun. This is called passive solar design because unlike active solar heating systems it does not involve the use of mechanical and electrical devices.

Passive solar design takes advantage of a building s site climate and materials to minimize energy use. Each day during the heating season. Passive solar buildings take advantage of how the sun moves throughout the day with attention to seasonal changes in sunlight to warm living spaces without requiring any mechanical devices or fuel to do so. An example of a passive system for space heating is a sunspace or solar greenhouse.

Passive solar heating is using the sun s rays to heat a living space by exposing the area to sunlight. Because of the small heating loads of modern homes it is very important to avoid oversizing south facing. In a passive solar heating system the aperture collector is a large glass window area through which sunlight enters the building. Typically the aperture s should face within 30 of true south and should not be shaded by other buildings or trees from 9 a m.

These basic responses to solar heat lead to design. In addition the heat produced by the sun causes air movement that can be predictable in designed spaces.