Author(s): Mike Reynolds
Publisher: Solar Survival Press
ISBN: 0962676721
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Earthship : Evolution Beyond Economics Volume 3 Paperback Publication date: September 1993
Category Archives: Solar
Affordable Passive Solar Homes
Author(s): Richard Crowther
Publisher: American Solar Energy Society
ISBN: 0916653005
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Affordable Passive Solar Homes
Richard Crowther
Publication date: June 1984
Low-cost, compact designs.
Understanding and Installing Your Own Solar Electric System
Author(s): Dale Robinson
Publisher: Hat Creek Publishing
Order From: Hat Creek Publishing
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Understanding and Installing Your Own Solar Electric System is an electronic book that provides the average home owner with the basic knowledge of how solar powered electric systems work and the relationship the various components have to each other.
With this e-book, any person with average handyman skills should have no problems installing and maintaining their own solar electric system.
Even if you plan to have someone else install your system, at the very least this e-book will give you the necessary background and understanding of solar electric systems so that you will gave a good idea what your installer is doing and whether he is doing a competent job.
Once your system is installed, this e-book will continue to be invaluable as you go about the day to day maintenance of your system.
Just some of the areas that are covered in this e-book are:
- System Design and Sizing
- Electricity Basics
- System Components
- Photovoltaics
- Batteries
- Charge Controllers
- Inverters
- Wiring and Safety
- Installation and Maintenance
- Grid Intertie
- Appliances
The New Solar Electric Home : The Photovoltaics How-To Handbook
Author(s): Joel Davidson
Publisher: Aatec Pubns
ISBN: 0937948098
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Rev/Expdd Edition
Paperback
Publication date: July 1987
Good basics, somewhat outdated, but probably best available. This book has been around for a long time. When it first came out, in 1987, it was the best book available. Unfortunately, it has not been updated since then, even though it has been reprinted several times. It has excellent basics for planning and designing a system, but much of the technology illustrated is outdated. With an update, this could be the best book in the field.
Living Spaces: Ecological Building and Design
Author(s): L. Abraham and T. Fisher
ISBN: 3895089257
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Living Spaces: Ecological Building and Design adapted from Germany by L. Abraham. T., Fisher .
This dense, spectacular, full color edition covers everything including stone, clay, cob, timberframe, brick and other natural techniques. Discusses sustainability, the basics of design, materials, solar, thermal, acoustical, moisture, cost effectiveness, repair, energy efficiency, and so much more.
(Natural pigments from plants, water systems, recycling old doors, windows, modern electrical products, materials in bedding, insulation composting, fuel, and facade design. Over 480 pages with unique photos of European and other houses throughout, bibliography, resources, index.
(I especially liked the reed matting and clay daub photos indicating how very old styles can be used today (pgs 93-95). Hardbound, oversize,
More Other Homes and Garbage: Designs for Self-Sufficient Living, Complete Revised, Expanded, and Updated
Author(s): Jim Leckie
Publisher: Sierra Club Books
ISBN: 087156274X
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By
“daphage” (Ithaca, NY)
While ageless classics exist, I must deduct one star per 25 year for technical manuals. This however is a library of practical knowledge in one book. This book from ’75 found the perfect balance between techno-engineering texts that no one could read and the books that told you to conserve energy without any real direction or practicality. This book gives practical design tips and easy to use formulas for everything from designing passive solar collectors to generating your own electricity to methane digesters and other waste handling techniques. Water supplies, photovoltaics, house insulation and even placing windbreaks around your house to both cool in the summer and protect in the winter are covered!
I used this book as a text in my Renewable Energy Systems course and learned more practical knowledge from it than I think I have in my 4 years at Cornell! Highly recommended and I hope people will buy it so we can get it back in print!
Passive Solar Buildings (Solar Heat Technologies : Fundamentals and Applications, Vol 7)
Author(s): J. Douglas Balcomb (Editor)
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262023415
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Passive Solar Buildings (Solar Heat Technologies : Fundamentals and Applications, Vol 7)
Hardcover, 534 pages
Publication date: August 1992
Booknews, Inc, 12/01/92:
This companion to Passive cooling and Solar building architecture covers passive solar heating of residential and commercial buildings. The information is primarily analytical and quantitative. About half the volume is devoted to quantitative methods for modeling, simulation, and design analysis of passive buildings; the other half summarizes the quantitative results of testing and monitoring of models and buildings. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.
Table of Contents
Series Foreword By Charles A. Bankston
1. Introduction By J. Douglas Balcomb
2. Building Solar Gain Modeling By Patrick J. Burns
3. Simulation Analysis By Philip W. B. Niles
4. Simplified Methods By G. F. Jones, William O. Wray
5. Materials and Components By Timothy E. Johnson
6. Analytical Results for Specific Systems By Robert W. Jones
7. Test Modules By Fuller Moore
8. Building Integration By Michael J. Holtz
9. Performance Monitoring and Results By Donald J. Frey
10. Design Tools By John S. Reynolds
Contributors
Index
Passive Solar House Basics
Author(s): Peter Van Dresser
Publisher: Ancient City Press
ISBN: 0941270904
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Lays out in plain language what an owner/builder or designer will need to know about siting, designing, constructing, and living in a solar adobe home. Van Dresser’s text and pictures provide a beginner’s course in adobe construction and passive solar heat collection, including suggestions for natural heat circulation and heat storage in thermal mass. Included are sample house plans, ideas for solar hot water heaters, and plans-to-scale for solar crop dryers.
From the Back Cover
How-To House Construction Solar Anyone who has been in a solar house, on a cold winter day has felt the warmth and comfort of its natural radiant heat. In 1958, solar pioneer Peter van Dresser built his first solor-heated house, one of the two oldest in the United States. In Passive Solar House Basics, van Dresser lats out in text and illustrations the principles an owner builder will need to know in siting, designing, building, and living in their solar house. Several sample house plans, ideas for solar hot water heaters, and plans for solar crop dryers give the solar enthusiast the basic information they will need to begin plans on their energy efficient home. In this book van Dresser shows that solar energy can be economically harnessed by simple means. Means that are within the grasp of the average homeowner and builder. “…an everyman’s guide that could easily become the textbook for the beginning professional in the arts and sciences of buildings.” -Jeffrey Cook, College of Architecture Arizone State University
136 pages Publication date: April 1996
Passive Solar Commercial and Institutional Buildings: A Sourcebook of Examples and Design Insights
Author(s): Paris, France International Energy Agency, S.R. Hastings
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0471939439
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Paperback, 464 pages
Publication date: March 1994
The publisher, John Wiley & Sons:
Collected results of research performed by solar experts from 12 countries during 1986-1991. Features 45 building case studies and expands their findings through parametric studies using computer models. Encourages the design of buildings adapted to and profiting from their environmental climate. Covers effective passive solar concepts in residential and commercial design. Discusses both the energy-saving and aesthetic effects of daylighting design.
Booknews, Inc., 06/01/94:
Presents the results of research carried out by solar experts from 12 countries between 1986 and 1991, featuring 45 case studies of buildings–both commercial and institutional–that range from a large university complex with multiple atria in Norway to a sports hall employing a mass wall in Spain. Insights gained from these projects have been expanded by conducting parametric studies using computer models, some of which were developed specifically for this International Energy Agency research. Practically rather than aesthetically illustrated with b&w charts, drawings, photographs, and plans. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.
Table of Contents
Parts of the Book
Chapters
Integration of Strategies
References
SOLAR USABILITY
Introduction
Internal Gains
Simulation Studies with an Ideal Heating System
Simulation Studies with Actual Heating Systems
Conclusions
References
SOLAR HEATING
Introduction
Direct Gain Systems
Air Collector Systems
Air Flow
Windows
Mass Wall Systems
Transparent Insulation Systems
Absorber Walls
Storage Systems
DAYLIGHTING
Introduction
Classification of Strategies
Examples
Detailed Results
Analysis
Tools
Conclusions
Recommended Reading
COOLING
Introduction
Strategies
Examples
Analysis
Tools
Conclusions
Recommended Reading
ATRIA
Introduction
Typology
Case Studies
Examples
Design Insights
Atrium Analysis
Tools
Conclusions
Recommended Reading
Appendices
Index.
Author(s): Don Booth, Jonathan Booth, Peg Boyles
Publisher: Community Builders Publication
ISBN: 0960442235
ISBN-13: 978-0960442232
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Back in 1983 Don Booth’s company, Community Builders was one of the premier developers of energy efficient homes in New England. This privately published book was probably written to help prospective customers understand the technology and boost sales. No matter what his reason, Don’s book became a classic of the genre. Calling upon his experience, he goes step-by-step through the theory and practice of building super insulated and passive solar/geothermal homes. The explanations are clear, the examples are informative and it provides just the right amount of technical detail. If you are planning to build a new home, read this book first. The principles you learn here will save you thousands of heating and cooling dollars. It has already saved me from a very expensive mistake.
Unlike most books on this topic, you can actually read this book without stunning your brain. Instead of bulking up the book with endless pages of sun elevation charts or conversion tables, Don includes twenty ‘reviews’ of solar/geothermal homes by their owners, designers and builders. These vary from the comic to the insane as the early pioneers struggle to build their dream homes. Some of these stories would make good movies. My personal favorite is the lady who lives in a tent on the site while her home is built. We watch with dismay as construction delays move completion deep into the cold New England winter. Finally, she moves gleefully into the shell while waiting for the windows, only to have her children complain that the tent was warmer. Who says we can’t learn from the mistakes of others.