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Solar thermal for Eden House
We told you in a previous post about Eden House that the green roof wouldn't be limited to vegetation. As promised, the home now has a brand new Apricus solar thermal panel installed. Technically it's wall-mounted, but high enough to be part of the roof line. Architect David Butler also made sure the panel does double-duty as an awning over one of the windows, so it blocks the sun's summer azimuth and prevents solar gain inside the house.
The Apricus system uses evacuated tube technology mounted in an array on the southfacing wall to capture much of the day's sun as it tracks across the sky. The tubes have a liquid in them that is heated by the sun and transferred to the water heater in a continuous loop. In this fashion a significant portion of the home's energy requirements for hot water heating is off-set -- typically in the 50% - 80% range.
After HVAC, water heaters are the second largest consumers of energy in the home. And since sunshine is still free, the owners can enjoy protection from future energy shortages and/or price hikes.
Here's some pics of the installation with more views of the vegetative roof at no extra cost.
Posted on Tuesday, August 4, 2009 at 08:45PM
by
Burke Sisco
in Eden House, Eden House, LEED, solar hot water, solar thermal
|
8 Comments
Burke Sisco
in Eden House, Eden House, LEED, solar hot water, solar thermal
|
8 Comments
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Reader Comments (8)
1st This is not a panel.Its 30 individual round evacuated glass tubes.(which passivly track the sun all day. . 2nd The tubes have heat pipes in them not liquid.
I have printed out 10 of your email postings for hand outs for tommorow's SART (sustainible Atlanta Round Tble meeting) AIA.This is my installation. I hope we can get our names and our beliefs out to the AIA, so they can include Solar or other alternatives into their building designs. By the way, great article. Paul Wood,
Thanks,
Kayla
This is David, architect for the project. We chose an evacuated tube collector because, based on initial cost and energy savings, it seemed like the kind of technology that would not only pay for itself but start to pay the purchaser. Dr Jay brought samples of the Apricus system to the office and made a convincing presentation. Paul, with Solar Smarts, carefully installed the system and returned to test and adjust it for optimum efficiency. Apricus is also certified for the tax rebates. I like the glassy black look of the tubes and the fact that each tube is a vacuum which, like a thermos, does a super job of keeping heat inside.
Just wanted to say great job. I write an ecohomeblog out here in California, and just learned that Edison and First Solar are planning on building several Solar Farms out here in the desert. Everyone is starting to wake up to what needs to be done to make our world a cleaner place. Keep up the good work!