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Going Solar: Understanding and Using the Warmth in Sunlight contains everything that a budding or experienced solar enthusiast could wish for. By distilling thousands of years of history and knowledge into one book, Tomm Stanley brings together the work of pioneering solar designers, some of the greatest scientists that the world has known and a range of modern, practical applications for hands-on people to create a delicious brew of thought provoking, solar thermal discussion.
Enthusiastically coaxing readers through the essential concepts at work in fields of study as diverse as history, geography, nuclear physics, thermodynamics and astronomy, Going Solar reveals the "how's" and "why's" behind the solar heating phenomenon. When the subject matter turns to a study of devices that use solar heat, readers have a firm grasp of the natural forces at work and an appreciation of how the technology might be applied in their own lives.
Written in easy-to-understand language for everyday people and the scientifically challenged, Going Solar contains a delightful blend of humor, fact and function that continually guides readers back to the purpose of its making; understanding and effectively using the warmth found in sunlight for our day-to-day lives.
From the Introduction
Luckily for us the Sun shines every single moment of every single day, and every minute of every day there is sunshine somewhere in the world. Lots of sunshine reaches our planet every day. Consider for a moment that sunshine contains useable energy, lots of useable energy. Science tells us that over four zillion kilowatt-hours of energy comes to Earth from the Sun each day. That's enough energy to run entire cities on.
In my opinion and that of many other people looking for a sustainable future, this world needs a source of energy that will last until humans no longer exist and will keep our planet a pleasant place to live in the meantime. It would be great too if people didn't have to pay for the energy that they need to survive on a day-to-day basis; staying warm, cooking food and having a generally happy existence. Fossil fuels, our world's current main source of power, just don't make the grade. From a polluting point of view we know they are a disaster on a global scale. I am not suggesting that people reject the use of petrochemicals full stop; where would we be without oil-based lubricants, plastics and all the other synthetic products produced from them? My objections come when there are reasonable alternatives that meet the needs of people as well as petrochemicals, in a nonpolluting fashion. Interestingly, fossil fuels are the remnants of sunlight from days gone past, the remains of forests and animals from the prehistoric era. The reality is, there are alternatives to consuming fossilised heat to create heat. Enter solar thermal design; the practice of designing devices to collect heat from the Sun.
For a bit of background on how this book evolved, my interest in most things includes having a deeper understanding of how they work and why they are the way they are. When exploring solar designing, one of my early questions about sunlight was "yes, it's warm, but why is it warm?"
And in regard to the way materials warm when contacted by sunlight: again, "Why?" and also "How?"
While most every solar designing book that I have come across tells readers to put a dark surface in front of sunlight to make it warm, the reasons for this phenomenon - the science involved and the physical properties of sunlight and materials - do not seem to be an area very well explored in the world of practical, everyday, hands-on people. I had to spend quite a lot of time searching through physics books to find the answers I was looking for and while I think that science is an awkward topic for a lot of people, I find that the way in which science is written about doesn't usually help that issue.
I consider myself fortunate to have among my friends scientists and researchers whose interests range over a variety of studies. The science content that I have written about here had to be reviewed (several times) by these individuals before I could consider it finished. Condensing miles of information into a few feet of printed pages has presented its challenges and the goal with the science was to make it enjoyable to read and still pass on the relevant information. It seems that while reviews from some hands-on people indicate that portions of the science content contained here is a little "heavy," the scientists think it's too condensed. I suspect that means I've struck a reasonable balance.
By covering basic solar designing principles, some history in the field of solar thermal devices, getting into the science involved in the solar heating phenomenon and then wrapping up with some practical applications, with this book I am attempting to bridge the gap between scientific theories and practical, everyday, hands-on people. Hopefully it will help people to design devices that can take advantage of solar heat and assist them in truly understanding the "why" and the "how" of what's going on in that warm light and the materials that they are working with.
Solar thermal design's simplest manifestation, passive solar design, is hardly an earth shattering revelation. No intervention is required by people or machines, hence the term passive. Stand in the sunlight and you will feel warmer than when you are standing in the shade. Place an object so that the Sun can shine upon it and it will become warm; this is passive solar. The Sun has been used by humans to keep warm for longer than we have kept records and it is speculated that the origins of life on this planet would not have risen from the primordial soup if the Sun was any more than 5% closer or farther away than its current position. I think we should take a cue from that ancient slime pool and make good use of this amazing resource to create something useful for us today, and keep a beautiful planet for those following us tomorrow.
About the Author
Tomm Stanley is an American that has been living in New Zealand since 1995 and this is his second book on the subjects of eco-living and sustainability for the planet. His book, Stone House - A Guide to Self Building with Slipforms, highlights the efforts of he and his partner Sabrina at owner-built, passive solar construction using locally sourced materials. On his New Zealand property Tomm has created an environmentally friendly, off-the-grid lifestyle and his web-based business, ww.heartbeatnursery.co.nz, assists in funding his personal mission of restoring the former hillside farm, now infested with an imported plant weed, to its natural, forested state. |
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