HA-77-04-3 -- Passive Solar Heating and Cooling Systems PDF

Many attempts have been made to define "Passive Solar Heating Systems", but none is completely satisfactory because of the wide variety of forms which such systems can, ttike. A definition formulated by the National Bureau of Standards (NBS)1 for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) states:

"A passive solar heating system is an assembly of collectors, thermal storage device(s) and txansfer media which converts solar energy into thermal energy and in which no energy in addition to solar is used to accomplish the txansfer of thermal energy. The prime element in a passive solar system is usually some form of thermal ca:pacitance.When the passive heating systems now in use are examined, it is found that the prime element is generally the means by which solar energy is admitted to the structure rather than the storage means."