Solar Cooling

When you consider that solar cooling is largely brought about by overcoming the effects of unwanted solar heating, you can begin to appreciate that many factors come into play when we search for ways to regulate the temperature of a building, a house, or even a person through solar means. Avoiding heat buildup means that less energy needs to be used to lower the internal temperature of a structure.

When we go out on a hot summer day we wear lighter-colored clothing because dark clothes absorb the heat of the sun. The same is true of houses. Houses painted a dark color absorb much more of the sun's radiant energy than light-colored homes, and this heat works its way into the interior of the house.

As the sun shines onto a house, solar heating and cooling are occurring in various ways, not just based on the color the house is painted. An effective way to turn part of the house into a solar cooler is to install awnings on east-facing windows; this can reduce heat gain at that window by over 75%. Also, Spanish tiles on the roof allow air to circulate more freely at the top of the house where as much as 2/3 of summer heat gain comes through the roof.

There may come a time when some form of a solar powered cooling system must come into use. Perhaps what is needed is a solar powered evaporative cooler. Among the various solar heating and cooling systems on the market, ETA Engineering's solar powered evaporative cooler costs 70% less to operate than a conventionally powered unit, and a full 90% less than an air conditioner.

When you research solar air condition cooling and heating you find that conventional air conditioners are energy guzzlers. The Las Vegas school district is trying a system that achieves a result like an air conditioner without the expensive drawbacks. Much like conventional solar panel heating and cooling, it relies on a device called a chiller to convert warm water into cold. It is one of the newest innovations in solar efficient heating and cooling systems.

Oh yes, remember when we talked about how to cool a person using the color of their clothes? Let's go beyond that to the top of the head! Yes, solar cooling hats and solar cooling caps are available to keep you breezy on those hot sunny days. Greenever makes a solar powered cool cap that will make you the envy of the ballpark in July, and Hammacher Schlemmer is offering a safari pith helmet with a fan built in. How long until you see your mail carrier in one of those?