Solar Power - Passive Solar Power

If you have ever taken a break while working in your yard and left the garden hose laying in the sun, turned off but full of water you most likely found something interesting on your return. Depending on the length of your break you will most likely have found that the water in the hose you left behind had been warmed by the sun. If you took an extended break from your duties you might have even returned to HOT water. You have just witnessed the effects of passive solar power at it's best.

Harnessing passive solar power has been a goal of many people for a lot of years but there are a few instances of complete success. The main reason is that creating heated water passively is only one part of the equation, you still have to deliver it to the usage point. For example, using passive solar power for heating water for a swimming pool has been available for several years. Water is removed from the pool, heated in a rubber bladder or plastic pipe and then returned to the pool. However moving the water through the process generally requires the use of a pump of some sort.

Operating the pump by hand may not be an attractive option especially if your the person doing it. An alternative would be to use active solar power to charge a series of batteries which could then be used to operate an electric pump. The pump would then be used to move the water from the pool to the bladder or through the pipes. Combining both active and passive coupled with solar energy in this way can and will help you save on your electric bill.

If you want to experiment with passive solar power take two equal size tubs of water and place them in the direct sunlight. Cover one tub with a dark colored plastic. The other tub should remain uncovered. Wait about two hours and then test the temperature of the water and you will see the tub covered with the plastic is considerably warmer than the one left open.

Pool heating covers work much the same as the dark colored plastic. They focus the suns electrical generating capabilities across the surface of the water which warms the water beneath.

Passive solar power can also be used to heat and circulate air. It is a well-known fact that hot air rises and when passive solar power is used to heat air in an enclosed space, the warmer air will rise which causes the cooler air to flow to the bottom of the area. This will cause the air within the closed area to circulate allowing the space to heat.

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