Simple Solar - Parts 1, 2, and 3

I presented a workshop on Simple Solar at the Boston Skill Share on a windy Sunday, April 19, outside the Stata Center at MIT. Werner and Julie of Videosphere recorded me and I finally got around to doing a rough edit of the first part, the simplest solar devices that anyone can make to disinfect and heat water and cook food.

It's six and a half minutes long, I have the sniffles and say "All right?" a lot but the rest of the information is good. After all, solar heating is remarkably simple:
dark heats up
light reflects
clear keeps out the wind



Boiling water and cooking with the Simple Solar principles and using the basic geometry of the parabolic curve to focus light in a line and a circle with a parabolic trough and parabolic dish.



The late Tim Harkness made the parabolic dish used in the video on that windy April day. There is a Tim Harkness Fund for Invention at Hampshire College which awards grants for innovative work in applied design and invention, especially in areas of sustainability and renewable energy. Students and alumni from the Five Colleges are eligible.

How to Draw a Parabola

Draw a Parabola with pencil and string



Simple solar windowbox air heater for supplemental heating of a single room. This device uses a solar electric fan assist and can be built full scale (2 feet x 4 feet) for about $100 worth of materials.

More on the Windowbox Solar Air Heater

More on simple solar devices:
A South-Facing Window Is Already a Solar Collector
Your Southernmost Window
Solar IS Civil Defense
Solar IS Civil Defense, Illustrated

Earlier Diaries:
Old Solar: 1980 Barnraised Solar Air Heater
Old Solar: Keck and Keck Twentieth Century Modern
Old Solar: Venetian Vernacular
Old Solar: 1881