Solar architecture is pretty much a distinctive type of construction. There are some main peculiarities adhered during projecting and erection periods. First of all, soon-to-be housing must be located in an area that is open to the sun and is well protected from the wind. Secondly, solar houses have embedded windproof walls, solar collectors and thermal devices, aimed to accumulate and preserve the sunlight in a best way. Thirdly, solar houses are marked with special finishing materials and shape. It is important that an inner surface of the walls could provide adequate concentration of the rays and their absorption in order to heat the thermal arrays. A windward side of the roof and walls can be transformed into a beautiful green hill. This ensures not only excellent protection against cold northern winds, but additional conservation of accumulated heat.
There are also some nice examples, which demonstrate a perfect implementation of solar house technologies and, by the way, contribute to modern urban landscape. Barcelona, a city of old-fashioned architecture, tremendous art masterpieces and incredible culture, can boast of solar houses too, which point out Spanish appreciation of green technologies. In fact, the Solar House 2.0 was constructed on quay of Barcelona. Its facade is made of extruded polystyrene panels, each containing a solar cell (battery). The key thing is that every panel is set at different angle to collect maximum solar radiation. It is impossible not to mention that the project of Barcelona solar house was much facilitated by digital technologies, which figured the best angles to collect sunlight, enabled computer-aided manufacturing of standard and non-standard (resembling architect’s ideas) details, and allowed their scaling due to project’s requirements. Rodrigo Rubio, chief architect of Solar House 2.0, compared its construction to completing a puzzle.
Since 2003 the solar house has been operated in Northern Hesse (Germany). It uses solar power solely, generated by solar collector (45 square meters), which heats hydraulic accumulator (its volume is 12 square meters). In contrast, the house is located in east-west direction in order to fit local residential area. Therefore, windows facing south are suitable for passive accumulation of solar energy, while solar battery roofing for a solar house collects the biggest share of sunlight. Berthelsdorf solar house (Free State of Saxony, Germany), does not use any advantages of passive solar houses, but totally depends on thermal accumulator, which is mounted in the central part of the building. The entire house is divided into zones, instead of rooms (residency, kitchen, and dining-room). The architect project of the solar house is designed considering a big size of thermal accumulator that is bigger than in any other solar house ever constructed.
Maria Kruk, an author for Patentsbase.com
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