U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
A Consumer's Guide to Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Passive Solar Home Design
Your
home's windows, walls, and floors can be designed to collect, store,
and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter and
reject solar heat in the summer. This is called passive solar design or
climatic design. Unlike active solar heating systems,
passive solar design doesn't involve the use of mechanical and
electrical devices, such as pumps, fans, or electrical controls to move
the solar heat.
Passive solar homes range from those heated almost entirely by the
sun to those with south-facing windows that provide some fraction of
the heating load. The difference between a passive solar home and a
conventional home is design. The key is designing a passive solar home
to best take advantage of your local climate. For more information, see
how a passive solar home design works.
You can apply passive solar design techniques most easily when
designing a new home. However, existing buildings can be adapted or
"retrofitted" to passively collect and store solar heat.
To design a completely passive solar home, you need to incorporate what are considered the five elements of passive solar design. Other design elements include:
These design elements can be applied using one or more of the following passive solar design techniques:
When incorporating these design elements and techniques, you want to design for summer comfort, not just for winter heating.
Your home's landscaping can also be incorporated into your passive solar design.
Learn More
Evaluation Tools
Related Links
Reading List
- Crosbie, M.J., ed. (1997). The Passive Solar Design and Construction Handbook. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
- Passive Solar Design (PDF 233 KB).
(December 2000). DOE/GO102000-0790. Work Performed by the NAHB Research
Center, Southface Energy Institute, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Energy.
- Kachadorian, J. (1997). The Passive Solar House. White River Jct., VT: Chelsea Green Publishing Co.
- Van Dresser, P. (1996). Passive Solar House Basics. Santa Fe, NM: Ancient City Press.
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