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The
2005 Tour of Solar Homes showed some interesting new ideas are
coming onto the market.
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One
home used an easy to install solar laminate from Uni-Solar.
It's a photovoltaic system in the form of a thin flexible
material that is rolled out onto the roof surface. It's self
adhesive so the normal costs associated with metal frames are
avoided. It must be applied to a metal roof, so it's suitable
for some porch roofs and commercial buildings with metal
roofs. This laminate took the homeowner about an hour to
install. It produces about .5 kW (500 watts). Uni-solar also makes roofing shingles with PV
capabilities.
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A new
type of collector for heating water is showing up. They're
called evacuated-tube collectors.
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Also in use was a fuel cell
system that can produce up to 5 kW (kilowatts) from Plug
Power. The only emissions these have are water. Four hydrogen
canisters (similar to regular propane tanks in size) supply
hydrogen to the unit. There's no noise. While these
units are very expensive, hopefully they will come down in
price.
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Another interesting piece of
technology is a very intelligent battery backup system from
GridPoint. There's no messy batteries exposed; everything's
in a high tech looking steel case. The system is self
monitoring, so if the unit stops working properly, it "phones
home" to the GridPoint company, and the problem should be
fixed before the next power failure occurs. These aren't
cheap, but are top of the line in battery backup.
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Several homes used passive solar
design. The owners' utility bills tend to be quite low due to a
thoughtful home design. Some designs used include, very thick
outer walls, a southern exposure, lots of large windows on the
south facing wall with minimal use of windows on north walls,
and overhangs above windows to let direct sun in during the
winter, but block it in the summer. Some of these homes tended
to be a little smaller, so there was less space to heat and
cool.
also:
Solar Decathlon on
the Mall, Oct. 7-16
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