Solargon: conservation of energy through intelligent design and utilization of super efficient building components to create very green cabins and homes.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Off Grid Living

Hello all, I recently received this testimonial from one of our Solargon 30 owners in northern Colorado. 



Solar Hot Water Shed

"Our Solargon has been performing REALLY WELL.  Let's put it this way - the plumbing in the Solargon is filled with water. I have never had to drain the water for fear of freezing, even when we were in India for 6 months last year, because the Solargon doesn't freeze inside. The system operates automatically and independently. The solar water pump has been great, completely reliable. Also the solar power system (P.V. is probably overkill for the structure, so that we only use about 10% of the available battery power when we run lights, vacuum cleaner and a refrigerator overnight."


 
"We have solar hot water heating a 175 gallon storage tank.  This heat is used for hot water when we are there, and when we are not there it is used for the two radiators we installed. It's enough to keep the interior from freezing even in -30F weather.  The passive solar input to the structure through the south-facing windows also heats the interior on the many sunny days, and when summer hot water production reaches the high temperature limit on the solar hot water system, the excess hot water is pumped through 500 feet of PEX tubing under the floor."

Where the antelope play....

 "The interior temperature of the cabin at the thermostat never goes below 45°F, to my knowledge (I set it at 45°F when we leave). This is entirely off-grid and with NO propane heating of any kind, purely solar. We installed insulated window shades that cut the heat loss from the non-south-facing windows, and better sealing of the doors has helped as well."


"We have a 250 gallon propane tank that provides propane to the stove and to the tank less water heater that backs up the solar hot water.  Since we filled that tank to 80% in 2010 (200 gallons), we have used ... 5 gallons.  We're down to 78% from 80%."


" We cook on the wood stove when possible, and the solar hot water has almost always been hot enough to never need the propane backup.

What can I say?  It works as near to perfectly as makes little difference."

 Dr. Carrick Eggleston is a professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Wyoming.

Research focuses on fundamental chemical processes at mineral oxide surfaces: dissolution/growth, adsorption, electron transfer, and catalysis. Current projects include microbially driven electron transfer to ferric minerals during respiration, protein adsorption to mineral oxides and redox-linked conformation change, microbial fuel cells, photochemical processes in natural waters, and the use of abundant and inexpensive minerals for photo catalysis into context of solar fuels.
  More Pictures

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Quadra Design

The latest snow storms with winds in excess of 50 miles an hour created this almost perfect circle around the Backyard Quadra. The stable design sheds wind well due to roof planes that slope over the four corners of the building.