Old Solar: 1881

Edward Sylvester Morse patented his air heater in 1881. It is still a great design with a versatile vent system.

A simple glazed box on the south wall with a dark absorber, an air space, and two sets of vents at top and bottom, to the outside air and the inside of the house, this is a basic air heater that can be modified for wall or window.

Edward Sylvester Morse built at least three of these. One was at the Peabody Museum in Salem, MA and used an iron absorber panel. The second had a slate absorber and was on his own home, also in Salem. The last was at the Boston Athenaeum. He also lectured on the topic at MIT and published a pamphlet on his solar air heater findings.

ES Morse was a remarkable gentleman. Not only did he teach at the Essex Institute in Salem, MA but he lived and taught in Japan and traveled to China. His book, _Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings_, is still in print and a great primer on traditional Japanese culture. He was a president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and wrote wonderful reports on topics as diverse as noise pollution, archaeology, and natural science. I especially enjoyed "Fireflies Flashing in Unison."

SolarWall is a modern adaptation of Morse's idea. It is an unglazed perforated absorber. A fan draws outside air through the absorber and into the heated space. It gets up to 75% thermal efficiency they say.

Solarwall uses the air flow pattern shown in the leftmost illustration of Morse's patent. The TAP (Thermosiphon Air Panel) is an example of the middle illustration, cycling room air past the absorber in a closed loop, full heating mode. The third illustration shows an air chimney from the floor of the room to the top of the absorber, a cooling technique.

I'd like to see a Morse collector with modern materials, PV fan assist, and controls that monitor and maximize the vent system. Could be interesting.

Old Solar: Eames Solar Do-Nothing Machine

Old Solar: 1980 Barnraised Solar AIr Heater

Old Solar: Keck and Keck Twentieth Century Modern Old Solar: Venetian Vernacular
More on simple solar devices:
A South-Facing Window Is Already a Solar Collector

Solar Video

I did some video of my solar projects with Werner Grundl of VideoSphere and http://energyvision.blogspot.com. He's is adding to his video blog (vlog) all the time, most recently with some important statements from the NE Sustainable Energy Association's "Building Energy" conference.

This video is about my solar reading lights which I wrote about in My Solar Bedroom in December, 2005.

This video is about my solar bike lights and back pack.

Click on picture This is a video of a solar/dynamo flashlight/radio modified to charge AA batteries thus becoming the flashlight, radio, and extra set of batteries recommended to have on hand in case of emergency as well as a permanent source of low voltage DC power day or night.

Solar is civil defense.

Update 3/21/07:

Here is the schematic that Richard Komp of Maine Solar Energy Association and Grupo Fenix drew for me when he modified one of my solar/dynamo flashlight/radios to charge AA batteries.



Solar is civil defense.

My Solar Bedroom

My bedroom is now basically off-grid.

For years my bedside radio has been a solar/dynamo flashlight/radio. This particular one has been modified to charge AA batteries besides the hard-wired internal battery it was designed to charge. It gives me about two months of radio for an hour or more a day before running down. Then I place it next to the window for two days and have the use of a radio for another two months. In a pinch, a minute of turning the crank gives me about ten minutes of radio.

Of course, since I have been experimenting with these things, I have a few solar/dynamo flashlight/radios so I always have one charging in front of the window. You can see an example of a solar/dynamo flashlight/radio at http://www.modernoutpost.com/gear/details/om_sdradio.html. It's not the one I'm using but it looks to be much the same, without the ability to charge AA batteries in the battery bay, and is close to half of what I paid.

Now I've installed two solar powered LED lights above my bed so that my reading light is off the grid as well. Came in handy just the other day when we had a black-out for a couple of hours. The lights are attached to solar electric panels I place in the window and have batteries in the base of the lamps that provide power for up to 24 hours on a full charge. You can see the specs and order them at http://www.kansaswindpower.net/portable_led_lights.htm

This system is still a work in progress but for about $150 I've got one room that is independent of the grid, that provides me with radio and reading light for the foreseeable future without the use of coal, oil, gas, or nuclear energy. I have one room running on sunlight. 

Now on to the next.

Update: Take your spare room off-grid! (http://www.off-grid.net/index.php?p=294) describes a solar electric system that powers two lamps, TV, Stereo, satellite box, dvd, vcr, and XBox, and a battery charger for the rechargeables in the battery powered clock.

This 600 watt hour system includes solar panels, batteries, and inverter and prices out at $1300.

I think that's a little pricey. A few years ago I assembled the parts for a one window solar electric system. It consisted of a 2 foot by 2 foot Kyocera panel, peak wattage around 64 kw, a power controller, battery, and wiring. The cost for those pieces was around $500, but I have yet to built the frame, hang the panel, and connect the system. In fact, I've since given the pieces to a friend in the hopes that he can finish the project before I would probably get around to it.