Harry Thomason - Solar Energy
(Page 3 of 13)
November/December 1979
By Richard Freudenberger
PLOWBOY: So I take it your first attempt at solar heating was successful . . . for three years, at least!
RELATED CONTENT
A Plowboy Interview with an outspoken opponent of strip mining and a staunch supporter of Appalachi...
John Shuttleworth discusses his experiences living the self-reliant life that Mother Earth News is ...
A Plowboy Interview with Shuttleworth, who discusses everything from the business of the magazine i...
The Plowboy Interview with Amory Lovins, author of the 1976 essay, "Energy Strategy: The Road Not T...
THOMASON: I'll let you decide that: Our first heat bill came to $4.65 . . . we used only 31 gallons of oil for backup heat during the entire winter. When we finally left to move into Solaris No. 3, the total fuel bill for three winters of residence stood at $18.90. The house was never chilly, nor did we suffer any interruption of heating service. And by the way, that house is still in operation today, receiving the majority of its heat from the sun, and having undergone only minor routine maintenance and repair. In fact, I see no reason why it shouldn't be going strong . . . after a quarter of a century.
PLOWBOY: That's remarkable . . . but what about the initial cost of the system itself? Wasn't it prohibitive?
THOMASON: The cost of those original Solaris collectors was only about a dollar a square foot, including installation. The total system cost in the neighborhood of $2,500 . . . and that included backup heat, domestic hot water, installation, and even air conditioning. No, I wouldn't say that the cost was prohibitive.
PLOWBOY: I'd have to agree with you. But many things have changed since 1959 . . . I know the dollar-a-square-foot cost breakdown doesn't hold true anymore. What about the system itself . . . has it undergone modifications over the years?
THOMASON: Oh my heavens, yes. My son Jack-who holds a degree in mechanical engineering-and I are constantly seeking to improve the system. In 1976, for example, we patented a unique "trickle-flow" collector panel, and many other design features have been added or altered over the years . . . both to reduce costs and to improve the overall efficiency of the Solaris method.
PLOWBOY: I assume that the "trickle-flow" panel is so named because you utilize running water as a heat-collecting medium. But just how is your system different from any other active hot-water collection system?
THOMASON: That difference is going to require some explanation . . . I'll run through the basics of our Solaris setup so you can get an idea of exactly what we're talking about.
First, we have our collector panel . . . which is really nothing more than a sheet of heavy-gauge corrugated aluminum, coated black, backed with insulation, and mounted in a frame. A single layer of glass covers the aluminum. At the top of the panel a manifold pipe feeds water -at a trickle-onto the black metal sheet, and the liquid then runs down that solar-heated surface into a gutter. The collector heats up a lot of hot water that we've got to store in a hurry, so we pipe it into two steel tanks in the basement . . . one with a 275-gallon capacity and the main one, which holds 1,600 gallons.
Page:
<< Previous 1 |
2 | 3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
Next >>
