WESTERN MARYLAND COLLEGE I JULY· AUGUST I VOL. LXI NO.4 Seeking OUf Place in the Sun Published for friends of Western Maryland College. Westminster. Maryland
Cross Seeks Our Place In the Sun By Cindy O'Neal Keefer We have no choice but to go solar," insists Dave Cross, professor of chemistry. "At least we must make the step - we have to. Even if it only contributes a small amount of energy before the year 2000 it will cut back on the use of other energy sources." Cross, who has always been interested in light's interaction with matter, cites practical reasons for joining the solar school (which includes use of wind or ocean thermal current power) as he ticks off the more conventional energy methods. He explains that nuclear power means radioactive waste problems for which we have no good answers. And though coal and fossil fuels arc much more readily available than we arc led to believe, their use is contributing to the acid rains (detrimental to the inanimate and animate alike) and the ever growing CO 2 atmospheric problem which could result in an increasingly serious Greenhouse Effect and lead in time to the theoretical melting down of the polar ice caps, (Acid rain refers to the bonding of water particles with harmful oxides of sulfur and nitrogen in the atmosphere, bringing them back down to earth in the rain. Greenhouse Effect refers to the Irapping of solar heat between the earth and the CO2 layer thus raising the temperature of the earth.) Although the current interest in solar energy may sound revolutionary. "A Primer on Passive Solar Heating" in the January 1980 issue of Life states, "there is nothing new under the sun," Going solar in the 1980's is a matter of harking back to a simpler lime when practicality and common sense had to prevail over the lack of modern conveniences -_"Ir--I'~:-ff~n~:~~~~edescribes Plincy the Younger heat his villas: th ), Who used solar energy to heat-absorin~ n:o;~a~~~h~O~t;n:~Jl~a~~~. ~~~k the ~~~~ar VIctorian sunporches of the 1920:s and , s. There are many other examples of man's ;rai;~e use of solar energy including the early sod ~dobe st~ctures d'u~! ~:~~se p;~::~~~:; ~~~i~h~~.kIt rs only with the advent of umncrer h"b.ting and cooling methods and sealed buildings that we hav" abandoned our ultimate energy source. "I don't want to be cynical," says Cross of the oil companies and oil lobbyists, "but nobody wants to believe we have a problem," He reiterates that the very serious problem is not the supposed lack of fuel as much as the effects of its pollution. He explains that lobbyists convinced Congress as early as 1945 that nuclear energy would be the wave of the future by stressing its cheapness. At that point in history monies poured into nuclear development to the near exclusion of solar and other alternate energy sources. The strength of such lobbies all but silenced such persons as Ferrington Daniels who, originally a nuclear proponent. recognized the advantages of solar energy compared 10 the dangers of nuclear power. Now, easily 30 years too late, the value of solar energy is re-emerging, "They are each for their own interests," explains Cross of the lobbyists and big oil companies, saying the government has always been to some degree at the mercy of such interests. He recognizes Carter's concern and efforts toward a far-reaching energy policy. Yet he is frustrated at the discouraging minimum of official movement toward solar power because of claims by the big interests that solar energy cannot be developed rapidly enough to be of immediate, significant use. Actually, current studies by NASA are beginning to indicate that significant energy needs could be met, economically, and within six years. Interestingly, the large energy concerns are softly slipping into the solar market and whether this will be economically advantageous to the consumer and ecologically advisable for the environment remains to be seen According to articles in the September 1979 issue of Solar Age, "Standard Oil. has purchased a minority interest in Solarex Corp. of Rockville, Md., the world's leading manufacturer of photovoltaic cell (a device that interacts directly with sunlight 10 produce electricity at about 15% conversion yields) energy systems." According to Solarex , the investment will permit construction of a facility which will produce solar panels at prices significantly under the current levels. The publication lists other solar-oil links including ARCQ Solar: Photon Power and Compagnie Francoise des Perroles: SES, lnc.. and Shell Oil Co.: Solar Power Corp. and Exxon Enterprises; and Shell Oil of Australia and S.W. Hart Co.: and lists four companies not affiliated with oil corporations. "Exxon Enterprises," it goes on to describe, "has launched a major media and marketing campaign to publicize what its Solar Thermal Systems Division calls Energy Efficient Solar Homes." On the other hand the Solar Lobby has run an ad which sees the oil interests from another angle: "A funny thing happened on the way to the Solar Age. Big Oil got interested. Remember when they said solar was too costly and impractical to bother about That's what they're still saying. In public, In private, however, the same corporations making a fortune off fossil fuels and uranium are moving in on solar power. Arco. Mobil, Exxon and Shell have bought up their own photovcltaic companies. In fact, only one pioneering solar electricity firm remains independent. Domestic copper production is about sewn up, too. Oil companies now control 65 percent of the copper essential to the manufacture of solar collectors, For Big Oil. the sun is just another token on the energy monopoly board. For the rest of us, the sun represents our last chance for energy independence." What is solar energy for the lay homeowner prior 10 the advent of solar energy magnates Solar energy use can be passive or active or any combination of the IWO. Passive systems, according to The Passive Solar Energy Book, "are simple in concept and use, have few moving parts and require little or no maintenance." Actually, the building or facility is the passive system. Active solar systems include photovcltaic collectors, fans and other mechanized parts and can be applied independently of passive systems. Most homes constructed original1y with solar efficiency in mind make use of both systems, Referring once again to Life magazine, we can see several examples of totally passive solar homes which cut heating costs from 50 to 90 percent. Passive homes are intrinsically one with the environment and feature such characteristics as glass-filled south exposures with shutters to prevent heat loss at night greenhouse entrances on the south side; few or no windows on the north exposure which is built low and sunk substantially into the ground; various types of thick (14" or so) interior walls for heat storage-during the-day and radiation at night or in poor weather; and rock bed floors, also to store heat Existing homes can be retrofitted - supplied with active solar trappings such as solar panels to collect energy, fans for air circulation, etc. Cross, who taught a January Term class on solar energy and who anticipates teaching an evening continuing education course in solar energy this fall, says the family of one of his students has installed a solar-heated pool. Cross sees research eventually turning up a compact solar rechargeable battery with which to run motorized vehicles. Hoping to build a solar dwelling himself someday, Cross concludes, "you build a solar home not so much to save money, but to strike back [at the oil companies]. It gives you the satisfaction of doing something. It's an adventure." News From The HIll Solar Home Sotar IWIIII' cOIIII'(I('led by lile 1ollll,I'IoIIX Editors Note: Dr. Cros~' and students enrolled ill tile lcuuarv Term course o!, solar energy toured the sollir hOll1e, Copermca Farm, 011'/1- ed by Emily {IlldJack !o/mslO ll Emily Johnston, director of the can~pus computer center. and hcrhusba~d Jack built a solar home with the idea oflllakmg themselves independent to a ccrtain ex!ent from the power ~~e7~~~r~i~h~~:0~~~c~ats standards. fav:~c~~O~n~~~~~~ and except for the kilchen stove and the sun, uses only electric power This past winter, the average usagc of clccmcity in the coldest months was 60 kilowatthours per day. About 30 of that is accounted for by appliances and lights. Thc rest ran the fans and pumps that collect the sun's heat and redistribute it to heat the house and the household hot water. The Johnsrons' house was designed by them, engineered by arc<strong>hit</strong>ect John Corkill of Glenn Dale Heights. Md .. and constructed by local contractor Ed Armacost of Finksburg. There are two independent solar encrgy collcction systems in it. They installed a commercially available household hot water system, manufactured by Lennox. which uses a liquid heat collector, The household space heating uses an air system. designed hytheir arc<strong>hit</strong>ect. There are two banks of air collectors on the roof. totalling !OOO square fect of collector surface, in 25 separate collectors, Eachcollector is 20 feet long and two feet wide. Inside is a metal box with an air intake at the bOllom. and outlet at the top. The top surface of the box is corrugated aluminum which hllS been electroplated with Black Chrome, Over that is fastened a piece of sheet Teflon, This assembly rests inside a redwood frame, covered with a translucent plastic called Sunlite. which is manufactured for this application. Inside the house, hot air from the top of the collectors is pulled through large ducts to the b~sement where it passes through a box contaming 85 tons of rack. The rocks absorb the heal. and the air is circulated back to the collectors, The heat is distributed from the "rock-box" to the house by the fans of two ordinary heat pumps, which also serve as the backup heal system for the house. When the temperature of the rock-box falls below 85° the compressors come on and function as a normal heat pump, During the winter rock-box temperatures ranged from 125 down, and the maximum 0 temperature of air from the collectors was 185°. Thcir house also incorporates many passive solar features as well, Large south-facing windows collect enough heat from direct sunlight to heat the whole house during the day, aided by a very open interior design which allows the airto move freely through the house. Other passive features include a greenhouse. ~kylights. and several areas of dark slate flooring. Emily suggests that you do your homework before planning a new solar house, or retrofitting solar into your present home. "We have found that our guests arc often uncomfortable in our house," she says, "They object to the uneven heat, th~ IMge open spaces, keeping doors open - 111 fact, we don't have very many doors. On a bright sunny winter day, it can gel.very hot in our living room," "Mamlenanceofsolar systems is a serious consideration also. One of the reasons we used quality materials was simply that we have a healthy fearofheights.Wedictn't want to' have to crawl up on that roof for anything!" ~mily and Jack are always pleased to share their knowledge and experiences with others interested in solar construction. "The more people gct actively involved with solar, thc greater the d.emand for the technology and the products.Thls should bring down the costs of equipment, and increase the availability of it We'd like to sec everybody go solar!" What's next for thelohnstons "Well. as soon as we are solvent again. we plan to put up a windmill. Meanwhile, we arc working on the programming for our microcomputer, which will monitor and control the solar heating for us."
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