Solar Building
Encyclopedia
The Solar Building, located in Albuquerque
, New Mexico
, was the world's first commercial building to be heated primarily by solar energy. It was built in 1956 to house the engineering firm of Frank Bridgers and Donald Paxton, who were responsible for the heating system design. The novel building received writeups in Life
and Popular Mechanics
and was the subject of an NSF
-funded research project in the 1970s. It was added to the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties
in 1985 and the National Register of Historic Places
in 1989.
caused a renewed interest in solar energy and brought fresh attention to the Solar Building. In early 1974, Penn State researcher Stanley Gilman received an NSF grant to restore the building's solar heating system and operate it as part of a multi-year field study. The system was deactivated following the conclusion of the project but remains mostly intact.
could be employed to extract the remaining useful heat from the water stream.
Gilman made several modifications to the system in the 1970s, including automating the control system, changing the working fluid in the collector loop to ethylene glycol
, and retrofitting the collector panels for better thermal contact.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, was the world's first commercial building to be heated primarily by solar energy. It was built in 1956 to house the engineering firm of Frank Bridgers and Donald Paxton, who were responsible for the heating system design. The novel building received writeups in Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
and Popular Mechanics
Popular Mechanics
Popular Mechanics is an American magazine first published January 11, 1902 by H. H. Windsor, and has been owned since 1958 by the Hearst Corporation...
and was the subject of an NSF
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
-funded research project in the 1970s. It was added to the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties
New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties
The New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties is a register of historic and prehistoric properties located in the state of New Mexico. It is maintained by the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs. The Cultural Properties Review Committee...
in 1985 and the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1989.
History
Bridgers and Paxton came up with the idea for an experimental solar-heated building in the early 1950s. After two years of design work, the Solar Building was constructed between March and August 1956 for a cost of $58,500. The heating system operated successfully for six years but was nevertheless converted to a conventional boiler system when the building was expanded in 1962. However, the 1973 oil crisis1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
caused a renewed interest in solar energy and brought fresh attention to the Solar Building. In early 1974, Penn State researcher Stanley Gilman received an NSF grant to restore the building's solar heating system and operate it as part of a multi-year field study. The system was deactivated following the conclusion of the project but remains mostly intact.
Heating system
The building's active solar heating system employed an 800 square feet (74.3 m²) collector array on the south wall of the building, which was angled at 30 degrees to the vertical to catch the maximum amount of winter sunlight. Hot water from the collectors fed a 6,000-gallon insulated tank, which provided a reserve for nights and cloudy periods. Under normal conditions the water in the tank would be sufficiently warm to directly heat the building, but if the temperature in the tank dropped (e.g. due to prolonged cloudy weather), a heat pumpHeat pump
A heat pump is a machine or device that effectively "moves" thermal energy from one location called the "source," which is at a lower temperature, to another location called the "sink" or "heat sink", which is at a higher temperature. An air conditioner is a particular type of heat pump, but the...
could be employed to extract the remaining useful heat from the water stream.
Gilman made several modifications to the system in the 1970s, including automating the control system, changing the working fluid in the collector loop to ethylene glycol
Ethylene glycol
Ethylene glycol is an organic compound widely used as an automotive antifreeze and a precursor to polymers. In its pure form, it is an odorless, colorless, syrupy, sweet-tasting liquid...
, and retrofitting the collector panels for better thermal contact.