The 100-percent solar house

Completely without heating in winter and also their own four walls with 100 percent solar heat? Yes, there are actually solar houses.

To reach the sun-house idea, a very high solar fraction for domestic hot water and heating, has in recent years been more and more followers. Dozens of solar homes that derive at least 50 percent of its energy needs from solar power, were built in recent years. Some houses also reach 60, 70, even 80 percent solar fraction. And a few make the seemingly impossible: to reach 100 percent solar fraction, even in deepest winter.

Large memory for the harsh winter

To achieve such a result, the builder must invest massively but first in a very large collector area to refuel at all sufficient solar energy, the entire southern roof, preferably with a steeper slope, is just as sufficient. And secondly, of course, save a very large buffer memory to the trapped heat over a longer time. Pure solar houses need this solar tanks with tens of thousands of liters. Such tanks easily cost as much as a family car. In addition, a 100-percent solar house both the collector and the tank must be oversized. They must mathematically be able to provide significantly more solar than 100 percent coverage. Reason: even during an unusually long winter cold spells, it will have the homeowner warm.
 
Even in winter, solar use

By the way: Since even the giant tank of a solar house usually can not store the energy for a whole winter, the solar collectors during the cold season. They do, however, not reach the temperature level which is possible in the summer. Since the solar storage tank designed as a storage layer, the solar heating system still works: In the lower part of the memory is only moderately heated water, so that in this area by means of heat exchangers can also yield rather weak solar radiation can be stored. In the upper layers of the memory, it becomes increasingly warmer, here to bring the heat exchanger has a yield more vigorous sunshine. For the operation of the mandatory area for solar house heating reaches way because of the large radiating surface even temperature, so that even the weak winter sun can be used.
100 percent solar fraction: Not a new idea

Experimentalbauten First, the massive use of solar energy for heating purposes, there were already many decades ago. The first solar house in our latitudes, which corresponds to the currently valid ideas and the very fact requires no additional heating was built 20 years ago by solar pioneer Josef Jenni, Switzerland. It should then be proved that a pure solar house is technically possible. This house has three memory buffer with a total of 118,000 liters in volume and 84 square meters of collector area. This design proved to be considerably later than the way oversized: Today, single-family homes usually equipped with solar buffer stores 30,000-40,000 liters.

A cost-effective compromise for the 100-percent solar house that is near-solar house, which reached almost 100 percent solar fraction. A developer from Chemnitz has developed the Energy House 100, with the number 100 is a bit cheated: On average 95 percent solar coverage promised by the provider for his large between 100 to 190 square meters of house types, mostly with a 30,000-gallon storage and large collector with Southern exposure feature. In mild winters the houses come with normal use under circumstances of even alone with solar energy, for longer periods of cold weather with little sun jumps up a water-bearing stove that not only the room is where it is heated, but also in addition to the buffer memory.

For all solar houses is: You must be well insulated in order to work: A minimum of KfW Efficiency House-70 standard is required. These buildings come with 30 percent less heating energy than is legally required by the already stringent energy (EnEV). In addition to its large areas of glass facing south in order to ensure a passive use of solar energy.