Over the years, we've easily converted to
passive solar heating, solar hot water, and electrical generation through solar panels, as those technologies became viable.
It is an important source of renewable energy and its technologies are broadly characterized as either
passive solar or active solar depending on how they capture and distribute solar energy or convert it into solar power.
The 2018 theme was "Engineering a Greener World," and the main challenge revolved around
passive solar home design.
Based on the various product segments the market can be categorise in two broad categories namely active solar water heater and
passive solar water heater.
It addresses the energy problem; what is needed for human comfort; heat losses from a structure; materials used in residential construction and construction techniques; the seasons and solar angles; the transmission of light through the atmosphere; solar gain and attenuation; the transmission of solar energy through glazing; climate and the siting of a solar structure; the history of solar structures;
passive solar collection; non-concentrating, active solar collectors; photovoltaic panels; smart grids, FiTs (feed in tariffs), and net metering; architectural considerations for capturing solar energy; and methods of energy storage.
Top row, from left: solar panels and
passive solar heating systems on traditional homes in India; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, cloaked in smog from fires in forests that are being burned to clear land for agriculture; women biking near a coal-powered factory in China.
The valuation of Energy Star homes,
passive solar houses, solar photovoltaic systems, and net-zero energy homes is also explored.
Along with the new discoveries there is great focus on the
passive solar energy gain,
passive solar building design is used in which windows, walls, and floors are made to collect, store, and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer.
Passive solar heating techniques for houses--a combination of strategically-oriented glazing, fixed solar shading, thermally massive interior building components, and a well-insulated and airtight enclosure--are among the most cost-effective and technically simple approaches towards achieving low and net-zero energy design in cold and temperate climates (Balcomb 1992).
Another example is in South Africa where developers have designed and built
passive solar low-cost housing communities that provide year-round comfort without mechanical heating or cooling systems.
The clinic was built with extreme energy efficiency in mind, utilizing air-to-air geothermal heat exchange which minimizes heating fuel costs and incorporates
passive solar features and skylights for natural lighting.