Passive Solar Heating System

Passive systems do not use mechanical devices such as fans blowers or pumps to distribute solar heat from a collector.

Passive solar heating system.

Instead they take advantage of natural heat flow to distribute warmth. Passive solar design takes advantage of a building s site climate and materials to minimize energy use. This is called passive solar design because unlike active solar heating systems it does not involve the use of mechanical and electrical devices. In passive solar building design windows walls and floors are made to collect store reflect and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer.

Passive solar heating is using the sun s rays to heat a living space by exposing the area to sunlight. These basic responses to solar heat lead to design. Because of the small heating loads of modern homes it is very important to avoid oversizing south facing. Each day during the heating season.

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. An example of a passive system for space heating is a sunspace or solar greenhouse. In a passive solar heating system the aperture collector is a large glass window area through which sunlight enters the building. 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 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. When sunlight strikes a building the building materials can reflect transmit or absorb the solar radiation.