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Prof M Keith Sharp ScD PE

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RE: Question for all ASES Members - Solar Educational Materials

Posted By M Keith Sharp 08-23-2023 11:22 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Not as dramatic as smoke and flames, but here is a nice passive solar lesson plan: https://environmentalsociety.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Adapted-Passive-Solar-House.pdf ------------------------------ M Keith Sharp Emeritus Professor Louisville KY ------------------------------

RE: Question for all ASES Members - Solar Educational Materials

Posted By M Keith Sharp 08-21-2023 12:58 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Mark, I like it! We built a heliodon to do the same thing. Not very portable, but you can do demonstrations indoors and at night. Yours is simpler and cheaper. Everyone should learn this stuff! ------------------------------ M Keith Sharp Emeritus Professor Louisville KY ------------------- ...

RE: Question for all ASES Members - Solar Educational Materials

Posted By M Keith Sharp 08-21-2023 12:58 PM
Found In Library: Everything Solar Forum

RE: Question for all ASES Members - Solar Educational Materials

Posted By M Keith Sharp 08-20-2023 12:49 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
"Going solar" means something different to some of us. Educational barriers to incorporating passive solar heating and passive cooling exist across the spectrum, from elementary school, through grad school to continuing education for professionals. Passive solar heating can be demonstrated with a cardboard ...

RE: Solar Today Article: Why Homeowners Should Use Passive Solar Design

Posted By M Keith Sharp 07-31-2023 10:17 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Debbie also wrote a book, "The Sun-Inspired House: House Designs Warmed and Brightened by the Sun," that is worth reading. Not only does it have more detail on designing for passive solar heating and passive cooling, it also has good advice on working with architects and builders. ------------------------------ ...

RE: Trick for nighttime ventilation cooling

Posted By M Keith Sharp 07-10-2023 11:42 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Andrew, Thanks for posting your poster. That is a lifetime of tweaking, as some technology advances and some, such as passive solar, has been around for eons! You definitely have a more challenging climate. We can typically open windows around 7pm and close them by 9am. Automatic, thermostatically-controlled ...

Trick for nighttime ventilation cooling

Posted By M Keith Sharp 07-04-2023 01:07 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Discovered a trick for cooling with nighttime air thought you all might be interested in. Nighttime ventilation cooling is driven by wind and/or by the stack effect (hot air indoors rising to exit high windows and being replaced by cool outdoor air entering through low windows). We typically don't have ...

RE: Solar Today Article: Want More Money? Add Home Performance to Your Business

Posted By M Keith Sharp 06-05-2023 07:30 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Discouraging that passive solar, passive cooling and solar water heating are not mentioned in the home performance article. The article makes 15-35% savings sound like a big deal, but there is much more potential. ------------------------------ M Keith Sharp Emeritus Professor Louisville KY ------ ...

RE: The Sun Queen

Posted By M Keith Sharp 04-12-2023 09:15 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Steve, Thanks for sharing the story of Maria at UD and congratulations on IED's 51st birthday coming up soon! What is the status of Solar One today? What solar systems are in operation and is it still being used for research? From the pictures, it looks like Solar One has 2x4 walls, so not super-insulated. ...

RE: Spring

Posted By M Keith Sharp 04-10-2023 08:30 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Mark, Not sure what that flower is, but it is absolutely gorgeous! Best, Keith ------------------------------ M Keith Sharp Emeritus Professor Louisville KY ------------------------------

RE: The Sun Queen

Posted By M Keith Sharp 04-10-2023 08:21 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Ella, That's the one. Thanks for posting the link. Maria was ahead of her time in so many ways. She designed the Dover house in 1948 to be 100% solar when few, if any, others thought that to be possible. 30 years later, Richard Levine said, "The turning point will be when we change our commitment ...

RE: What are some technologies that you would like to see covered more in Solar Today?

Posted By M Keith Sharp 04-10-2023 12:29 PM
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The South Carolina climate is better for a heat pump water heater than some, although the heating season (2317 degree F days for Columbia, for instance) is roughly the same as the cooling season (2414 degree F days). Routing the exhaust duct outside is not keeping the water heater from robbing heat ...

The Sun Queen

Posted By M Keith Sharp 04-06-2023 09:15 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
The PBS series American Experience recently had an episode on Maria Telkes called The Sun Queen. It is worth watching. She designed one of the first modern solar homes (the 1948 Dover, MA house) that was actually lived in. They showed a bit of vintage film of the house being built, and interviewed the ...

RE: grid and battery needs

Posted By M Keith Sharp 04-04-2023 08:47 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
The comments so far have been more optimistic about battery technology than I am. Lithium-ion has low energy density, is expensive (monetarily and environmentally), doesn't last very long and can fail catastrophically. That is the reason that research is still going on for alternatives, including high-temperature ...

RE: What are some technologies that you would like to see covered more in Solar Today?

Posted By M Keith Sharp 04-04-2023 05:19 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Yes, thermosyphon systems have that limitation. I couldn't install one at my house. They were (as early as the 1940's or 1950's) and are still installed entirely on the roof in hot climates, with storage above the collectors. The thermal efficiency can be greater than 100% when the roof itself is over ...

RE: What are some technologies that you would like to see covered more in Solar Today?

Posted By M Keith Sharp 04-04-2023 12:44 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
David, Heat pump water heaters make sense in cooling-dominated climates, because the water heater is taking heat out of the living space, which is usually a good thing. In heating-dominated climates, it is bad. The water heater is just shifting the load to the space heating system. If both the water ...

RE: What are some technologies that you would like to see covered more in Solar Today?

Posted By M Keith Sharp 03-28-2023 10:59 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
David, I would like to point out a couple of things that are missing in your calculations. First is that built floor area is expected to double by 2060. A 50% energy efficiency reduction would be required just to keep consumption the same. Energy efficiency has fundamentally limited capacity to ...

RE: What are some technologies that you would like to see covered more in Solar Today?

Posted By M Keith Sharp 03-27-2023 06:21 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Thomas, Thanks for contributing. I think an article with opinions from the consumer and utility sides would be informative, if only to "stir the pot." It appears that you are using "sustainability" here to refer to profits. However, the more important definition for this problem is environmental ...

RE: What do you think is going to be important for the U.S. solar industry in 2023?

Posted By M Keith Sharp 03-18-2023 09:12 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
I don't know, "survivalism" for me brings images of Mad Max apocalypse, articles by Bear Grylls, and "AR-15 vs. trench shotgun: Which is best for protecting your home?" I don't think that is your intention, but "do it yourself," "self reliance," "off grid," and "resilience" might be better descriptors ...

RE: What are some technologies that you would like to see covered more in Solar Today?

Posted By M Keith Sharp 03-17-2023 09:02 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Bill, Thanks for taking the time to explain your project. Yes, warm floors make a big difference. A tight and well-insulated envelope also pretty much eliminates cold spots. 2x12 framing sounds expensive, especially if fully supported by a 12" thick foundation. If you are doing the work yourself, ...