Passive Solar Roof Design

In addition the heat produced by the sun causes air movement that can be predictable in designed spaces.

Passive solar roof design.

Passive solar design takes advantage of this by designing a home s roof pitch and overhang to allow solar heat gain during the winter months and block it during the summer. When sunlight strikes a building the building materials can reflect transmit or absorb the solar radiation. This is called passive solar design because unlike active solar heating systems it does not involve the use of mechanical and electrical devices. In passive solar building design windows walls and floors are made to collect store reflect and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer.

Passive solar design refers to the use of the sun s energy for the heating and cooling of living spaces by exposure to the sun. Light colored homes reflect the sun s light reducing the amount of heat retained in the walls and therefore lowering summer cooling loads. Natural convection and ventilation. These homes require much less fossil fuel energy to heat.

A well designed passive solar home first reduces heating and cooling loads through energy efficiency strategies and then meets those reduced loads in whole or part with solar energy.