Profile

Prof M Keith Sharp ScD PE

Emeritus Professor

Contact Details

Emeritus Professor
Louisville, KY 40292
United States

My Content

1 to 20 of 50+ total

RE: Passive

Posted By M Keith Sharp 05-05-2025 10:25 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Wow! ------------------------------ M Keith Sharp Emeritus Professor Louisville KY ------------------------------

RE: 2025 National Ambient Energy for Buildings Research Symposium (NAEBRS)

Posted By M Keith Sharp 05-01-2025 12:39 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
The deadline for abstract submission has been extended to 1 June 2025. There are still a few spots available for free registration, room and board, but they are going fast. We now have commitments from Bruce Hunn, Ken Haggard, Pliny Fisk and Bristol Stickney. The collective passive solar wisdom at ...

RE: 2025 National Ambient Energy for Buildings Research Symposium (NAEBRS)

Posted By M Keith Sharp 04-28-2025 10:45 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Thanks, Ella and Debbie. We have commitments from some passive solar luminaries already. These include David Wright, who designed some of the most iconic passive solar buildings in the Southwest. Mark Chalom and Quentin Wilson, who worked with Peter van Dresser on the SunDwellings at Ghost Ranch, will ...

2025 National Ambient Energy for Buildings Research Symposium (NAEBRS)

Posted By M Keith Sharp 04-04-2025 09:48 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
To non-PV solar buildings researchers, architects, builders, educators, and policy makers, We are excited to announce this conference 7-9 September 2025 at Ghost Ranch, NM, generously supported by the NSF https://engineering.louisville.edu/naebrs/ . Ghost Ranch is the historic site of the first passive ...

RE: Pagosa Springs Ambient House performance for 2024

Posted By M Keith Sharp 01-21-2025 09:22 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Timothy, We have to keep in mind that early IR cameras cost thousands of dollars (back when a thousand dollars was a LOT of money) and required a liquid nitrogen fill just prior to use. Today's technology is better and cheaper, and we don't have to bring a nitrogen tank along. The phone attachments ...

RE: Pagosa Springs Ambient House performance for 2024

Posted By M Keith Sharp 01-18-2025 11:18 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Yes, it all begins with insulation. Passive House does this part really well. But it is more than that. The other things are just enough solar gain, but not too much, sufficient thermal mass, and passive cooling. Yes, codes could make all the difference. It is encouraging that Passive House standards ...

Pagosa Springs Ambient House performance for 2024

Posted By M Keith Sharp 01-17-2025 10:33 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
It has been a while since I have posted data from our house. Below is hourly indoor temperature for 2024. January was the most challenging month, with the lowest outdoor temperatures and also many cloudy days. 2024 performance was overall pretty good (see the histogram), with only 134 hours below our ...

RE: Will history repeat itself? - Carter's Legacy

Posted By M Keith Sharp 01-17-2025 10:09 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Good point about the rest of the world. Technology and progress are moving targets. ------------------------------ M Keith Sharp Emeritus Professor Louisville KY ------------------------------

RE: Will history repeat itself? - Carter's Legacy

Posted By M Keith Sharp 01-13-2025 11:16 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Thanks, Mike, for this insightful history of solar energy policy, and thanks, Debbie, for posting it. I encourage everyone to read it. I would like to emphasize that in the 1970s and 1980s, solar energy meant largely active and passive solar heating of buildings and hot water. Photovoltaics were something ...

RE: Jimmy Carter's environmental legacy set the foundation for today's climate action

Posted By M Keith Sharp 01-08-2025 02:35 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
David, You are still using nameplate efficiency, which studies have shown to be optimistic. Not sure exactly where you are, but this link (https://www.appalachianpower.com/savings/home/temperature/temperature-monthly-history?station=TRI&stationname=Bristol%20TN&year=2024) shows that Bristol, TN had ...

RE: Jimmy Carter's environmental legacy set the foundation for today's climate action

Posted By M Keith Sharp 01-07-2025 09:32 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Good job keeping it short! I will try to do the same. To compare to 50% system efficiency for ST, we need system efficiency for PV. With panel efficiency of 20-24% and balance-of-system efficiency of 80%, that is 16-19%, so higher than my original estimate, but still lower than for ST. David, The ...

RE: Jimmy Carter's environmental legacy set the foundation for today's climate action

Posted By M Keith Sharp 01-07-2025 03:00 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Agree about generalities. It is a part of trying to make points in paragraphs, rather than writing a book. Let's compare a specific example - PV and thermal water heating. The solar thermal system has one active moving part, the pump, and possibly a passive moving part, the backflow preventer. The ...

RE: Jimmy Carter's environmental legacy set the foundation for today's climate action

Posted By M Keith Sharp 01-06-2025 12:20 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Thanks, Timothy, for the pictures and links about Jimmy Carter. His heart and mind were always in the right place. An inspiration to us all. It is such a shame that our domestic solar thermal market crashed. Yes, PV produces electricity that can be used for just about anything, but solar thermal is ...

RE: Solar thermal for residential

Posted By M Keith Sharp 01-03-2025 10:38 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Passive and active solar are capable of reducing your energy use more than a heat pump, which uses a lot of electricity as you recognize. Heat pump water heaters are not appropriate for Chicago, because they draw heat from the space they are in, and cause the space heating system to work harder. Sounds ...

RE: Solar thermal for residential

Posted By M Keith Sharp 01-01-2025 11:15 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Well, actually, I am not recommending anything without knowing more about your house. There are so many possibilities, including active solar, PV and heat pumps. For context, I live in a house that is almost entirely heated by passive solar and entirely cooled by nighttime ventilation. No active solar ...

RE: Solar thermal for residential

Posted By M Keith Sharp 12-30-2024 11:20 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Leigh, Just wondering why you want an active solar thermal system rather than passive, which tends to be less expensive. ( Lack of solar access at ground level is one possible reason. Adding thermal mass in an existing house can also be difficult.) Do you already have a boiler and water-based baseboard ...

RE: FREE HEAT: Heating and cooling buildings entirely with ambient energy.

Posted By M Keith Sharp 11-30-2024 10:05 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Elias, Thanks, hope you can attend the presentation. Resilience is indeed important. Not being dependent on electricity for heating and cooling relieves stress. It got down into the teens outdoors last night and our house was 70 F this morning. It would have been essentially the same had the power ...

FREE HEAT: Heating and cooling buildings entirely with ambient energy.

Posted By M Keith Sharp 11-25-2024 02:31 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Please join me for a presentation December 4, 12 EST hosted by the Greenhome Institute called "FREE HEAT: Heating and cooling buildings entirely with ambient energy." https://lnkd.in/g4qbNX5Y I will be covering the principles of space conditioning with ambient energy (from the sun, sky, air, and ground), ...

RE: Today Kick's off the National Solar Tour Showcase Weekend!

Posted By M Keith Sharp 10-07-2024 12:12 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Hope you all had a chance to visit local tour sites. We live in the boonies of SW Colorado, so the tour of our ambient-conditioned house was virtual. For 2023 it was again 99% heated by passive solar and 100% cooled by nighttime ventilation. Indoor temperature was never more than 2 C from our comfort ...

RE: Class X Solar Storms Incoming

Posted By M Keith Sharp 10-07-2024 11:59 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Sometimes the simplest solution is the best. For space conditioning, passive solar heating and passive cooling may benefit from a little electricity for control, like for automated shades or automated windows, but they often work well enough with manual or no control. This largely eliminates the failure ...