SOLAR REHABILITATION

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by Earle E. Morris, Jr. Alcohol

The Earle E. Morris, Jr. Alcohol anti Drug Addiction Center's new sun-heated greenhouse provides . . a

Now that folks everywhere are discovering-and utilizing-the advantages of solar power, it's not unusual to find the sun being used to heat everything from doghouses to office buildings. Even the South Carolina Department of Mental Health got into the act last year, when it installed a solar collection system at one of its agencies . . . the Earle E. Morris, Jr. Alcohol and Drug Addiction Center in Columbia, South Carolina.

A three-year-old greenhouse at the Morris Village was converted-in January 1979-from No. 2 fuel oil to solar heat, as a demonstration project designed to reduce energy costs. The active system, which was built in only two weeks at an initial expense of $3,000, has proved to be more cost-effective (and more dependable) than the oil furnace that was used previously.

Unfortunately, exact figures aren't yet available for the savings in fuel expense over the structure's first full winter of "going solar". But an administrator reports that, between the new system's installation on January 15 and April 1, the greenhouse used "no oil of any consequence".

And, although the folks at Morris Village need their solar system mainly during the winter months, they're planning to modify it to obtain summer energy savings as well. Soon, two nearby residence cottages will have the water in their 120gallon heater tanks prewarmed by energy captured in the solar collection panels.