solar ENERGY ARTICLES

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Articles by Paul Shippee

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ACTIVE SOLAR SYSTEMS for Space Heating and Hot Water 

Using today’s sun today for home heating is an alternative to using up the last hours of ancient sunlight - also known as fossil fuels. These fuels –coal, oil, and gas- are reaching their end-times due to pollution, climate change, peak oil, security risks, and rising prices. Cheap fuel will ...  Read the rest »

The 100% Solar Heated Home   

On a clear sunny day in Southern Colorado the sky is turquoise and there is enough solar radiation falling on your home to supply all your domestic energy needs.
To examine the feasibility of a 100% solar heated home, we’ll focus here on how to achieve that for your space heating needs and hot water ........  Read the rest » (pdf)

A Frost-Free Community Solar Greenhouse 

In these days of peak oil, resource depletion and wars, and worries about the economy a community needs to learn how to grow its own food, especially in winter. The San Luis Valley is an agricultural community that exports and sells elsewhere most of the food grown here. Mosca and Crestone and a few other areas have organic food growing ........  Read the rest »

A Simple Elegant Solar Hot Water Drain-Back System

We live in a climate perfectly suited for solar heating of homes: cold winters with lots of sunshine. Yet most of us, including new homes, still use propane or electric for home heating and hot water needs. That large propane tank sitting in the yard must soon give way to a heating source that is more stable, cheaper in the long run, and less vulnerable ........  Read the rest»

The Sustainability Buzz or What Is Sustainability

On a warm Tuesday in May, Alice was sitting on the patio under a large green umbrella. We were talking about how difficult it is to make an observation instead of a judgment. Out of the blue the term sustainability popped up. Alice paused for a thoughtful moment, then said, “Sustainability is a beautiful word, but I don’t know what it means. It seems to mean ........ Read the rest»

Thermal Mass For Passive Solar Heat Storage

Passive solar heating of homes is usually thought to be simple enough: just let the sunshine in through south-facing windows on winter days. Everyone knows that this technique works. Many people have enjoyed cost-free warmth and comfort from the sun in their homes on cold days.
However, during winter nights, which are much colder ........ Read the rest »

Insulation for Passive Solar Buildings

House insulation is a rather mundane subject. But it is also generally understood as the most effective means of energy conservation. Therefore, your first green dollars spent to “save home heat” are best spent on additional insulation before you even consider solar heating. Let’s take a look here at a special application of insulation. ........ Read the rest »

Building Awareness with Solar

Has this ever happened to you? One day, out of the blue, my friend Alice asked me, "How can you live a life that has meaning?" I began thinking about that -about what the world needs, what do I need, where does my life connect with the world. 
That seemed like a good start. Today, as the bonfires of fossil fuel ........ Read the rest »

Solar Heating Design Options

There are two main types of solar heating systems for homes and buildings: passive systems and active systems. Passive systems utilize some of the actual building components, such as glass walls and thick slabs, to collect solar heat during the day and store it for nighttime use. Active systems typically use a number of flat plate solar collectors, exterior to the ........ Read the rest »

Passive Solar Home Heating

The design of passive solar buildings is an imaginative art. It is a process that brings together knowledge from many fields, demands a common sense approach, and quietly resists complication. It tries to create a living space that is comfortable, attractive, and genuinely responsive to climate while eliminating most of the need for heating ........ Read the rest »

Good House Bad House

“Sustainability means living without driving,” Alice quipped during a recent Baca conversation. We were standing on white snow under a blue Colorado sky. I happened to look up and notice a heart-shaped gray cloud moving in to block the sun when Alice corrected herself. “Come to think of it,” she said, “there’s nothing wrong with driving. It’s what you put in the gas tank ........ Read the rest»

Peak Oil

What is peak oil? Peak oil refers to the point in time when the global production of oil and gas begins to decline. Picture a bell curve; we are now at the top of that curve. According to a 2005 United States Department of Energy report, “World oil peaking represents a problem like no other. The political, economic, and social stakes are ........ Read the rest »

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Articles by Others

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Home Energy Perspective   -by Douglas Korty-  

Homeowners can work for the larger social goals of energy conservation and environmental protection while they save substantially on their energy bills. Conservation measures can cut home energy costs by 50% with a modest ........ Read the rest » (pdf)

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Spring Snow - Sangre de Cristo mountains - Colorado

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Crestone Solar School - P.O.Box 73 - Crestone, CO 81131 - (719) 256-4656 paulshippee@fairpoint.net
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