Photovoltaics in Buildings: A Handbook for Architects and Engineers

Author(s): Friedrich Sick and Thomas Erge

Publisher: Earthscan Publications Ltd.; No Edition Stated edition (January 1996)

Hardcover: 296 pages

ISBN: 1873936591

ISBN-13: 978-1873936597

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Photovoltaics provides the means to go beyond saving energy in buildings to a point where buildings become energy producers. There are already numerous successful examples, and this design option is now available to all building planners, not only PV specialists. This book aims to enable architects and engineers without special knowledge to integrate photovoltaic systems into their designs. The chapters provide details of:

components
architectural integration
system design
installation and maintenance
the relationship of PV with other elements of the building’s energy system
how to maximize the overall solar contribution to the building and how to optimize the economics

The handbook forms a thorough design guide enabling all building designers to make photovoltaics an architecturally appealing and energy efficient option. The experienced PV designer will find this book of value for the significant, recent achievements and advances which are incorporated in the text.

This handbook is the outcome of the five year effort within the Solar Heating and Cooling Program of the International Energy Agency. Architects and solar experts from 13 countries around the world took part.

296 pages, 1996, Hardcover

The Solar Electric House: Energy for the Environmentally-Responsive, Energy-Independent Home

Author(s): Steven J. Strong.

Publisher: Sustainability Press (January 1, 1994)

ISBN-10: 0963738321

ISBN-13: 978-0963738325

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The Solar Electric House by Steven J. Strong.

Excellent introduction to photovoltaic-powered houses, including design, wiring, and energy management by one of the design pioneers. Covers both stand-alone and grid-connected PV houses,

Solar electricity is the direct conversion of sunlight into electricity by solar photovoltaic cells. It is a truly elegant means of producing electricity on site, allowing you to take control of your energy destiny and create your own lifestyle without concern for energy supply or environmental harm. No pollution, no by-products, no depletion of resources, these solid-state devices simply make electricity out of sunlight. Solar electricity is the ideal source of power for an environmentally-responsive home where it’s a luxury residence or a rustic vacation retreat. With the right design, the sunlight that falls on your homesite will power your home. Your solar electric system can also be easily configured to provide on-site recharging of solar/electric vehicles allowing you to meet your transportation needs with renewable energy.

288 pages, paperback, graphs, charts, index

Practical Photovoltaics: Electricity from Solar Cells

Author: Richard J. Komp, Ph.D

Publisher: Aatec Publications; 3 Sub edition (February 2002)

Paperback: 197 pages

ISBN: 093794811X

ISBN-13: 978-0937948118

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Practical Photovoltaics, the now-classic reference on solar electricity, offers a unique combination of technical discussion and practical advice. Physicist, lecturer, and solar-home dweller Richard Komp explains the “how” and the “how-to” of PV, while providing valuable information on the industry, new developments, and the future. The book is a comprehensive guide to the theory and reality of solar electricity, as well as a detailed installation and maintenance manual. A well-illustrated appendix offers step-by-step instructions for constructing your own solar module, a creative approach to demystifying the technology. Presented in a clear, concise, and understandable style, Dr. Komp’s contribution to PV literature has been called the “best single reference available,” “the easiest and most complete education on photovoltaics,” “one of the best basic books on PV,” and “the best of the books.”

Your Home Cooling Energy Guide

Author(s): John T. Krigger

Publisher: Saturn Resource Management (June 1991)

ISBN: 1880120046

ISBN-13: 978-1880120040

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This manual explores all the cooling alternatives, including shading, ventilation and air-conditioning. In addition to basic cooling principles, the book describes equipment maintenance. Although targeted at consumers, it’s also a good training tool for energy specialists and contractors. 80 pages, 1991

The Electric Connection: Its Effects on Mind and Body

Author(s): Michael Shallis

Publisher: New Amsterdam Books

Hardcover: 287 pages

ISBN: 0941533581

ISBN-13: 978-0941533584

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In this controversial, wide-ranging book, Michael Shallis explores the nature of a form of energy that is a feature of the life force itself. Electricity can be found in every animate and inanimate thing on earth. The electric fields surrounding rocks, trees, ourselves, are measurable and can be monitored. And there are clear correspondences between the character of such fields and our moods and our state of health. Natural electricity is generally a beneficent force, controlled as it is by magnetism. But the electricity that now pulses through the cables in our homes, offices, and factories, beneath our feet and above our heads, has been unleashed from magnetic bonds; even the electrical industries acknowledge that prolonged exposure to it is harmful. In our everyday lives it can make us ill; we can develop severe allergies to it. And in its purest, strongest form, in the computer world, it can influence our minds, alter our characters, and markedly affect our health—already physicians have recognized a painful and dangerous physical syndrome that attends intense and protracted work with a computer. And as computer applications proliferate, and still greater numbers of people deal with computers at work and have recourse to them at home, computer syndrome may well become endemic. And something even more threatening may happen: a change in consciousness and character that has already been observed may come to affect an important segment of humanity.

Tracing EMFs in Building Wiring and Grounding

Author(s): Karl Riley

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Magnetic Sciences International HCR-2, Box 850-295 Tucson, AZ 85735 (800) 749-9873 (602) 822-2355

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Tracing EMFs in Building Wiring and Grounding by Karl Riley is a very good source to understand where and when simple (and somewhat common) wiring errors cause high-strength fields. –John Bower, The Healthy House Institut.

Cross Currents: The Promise of Electromedicine, the Perils of Electropollution

Author(s): Robert O. Becker

Publisher: J P Tarcher

Paperback: 352 pages

ISBN: 0874776090

ISBN-13: 978-0874776096

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Dr. Becker tells of the emergence of electromagnetic medicine, which promises to unlock the secrets of healing, and the growth of electromagnetic pollution, which poses a clear environmental danger. He explains the effectiveness of alternative healing methods that use parts of the body’s innate electrical healing systems, and warns that our bodies are being adversely affected by power lines, computers, microwaves and satellite dishes.