Hampton

Richmond

Warrenton

(cont'd)

(60 mi. WSW of Wash. D.C.)

NASA Engg. Bldg. 37° N. 1975 (?)

Eng'g. bldg. for NASA's Langley Research Center.
Solar energy design: F. F. Simons and colleagues.
Floor area: 53,000 ft2.
evacuated glass tubes.
(S.E.D. Feb. 174)

Collector area: 15,000 ft2. May employ
May be situated on field adjacent to bldg.

In Byrd Park.

Science Museum of Virginia 38° N. 1976(?)
Solar engineers: Hankins and Anderson, Inc.
Some support by Science Museum of Virginia Foundation and from
Virginia Electric Power Co.

Bldg.: 55,000 ft2 bldg. complex on 45-acre site.

Collector: 28,000 ft (on 130 ft x 240 ft area of roof). Employs blackened aluminum. panels with integral passages for water; glazing on front, insulation on back.

Storage system: 80,000 gal. water in tanks.

Percent solar heating: 50%(?).

Auxiliary heat: 011(?)-fired boiler.

Cooling in summer: 125-ton absorption refrigeration system will be powered by hot (~190 °F) water from collector or storage tanks.

Also, a 175-ton centrifugal chiller will be used (and will be arranged
for heat recovery).

Cost of solar heating and cooling system: Expected to exceed $750,000.
Status: Construction expected to start before summer of 1975.
(Engineering News-Record, 7/25/74; P-900).

Fauquier County Public High School. 39° N. April 1974.

Intertechnology Corp., with own funds and $173,000 NSF funds,
completed in March 1974 the design and installation of a solar
heating system for a set of five separate classrooms comprising
a 4100-ft portion of the school.

Collector: 126 ft x 26 ft (2400 ft2 net) water-type collector on
53-from-horizontal scaffold adjacent to school. Double-glazed
with 1/8-in. double-strength glass. Radiation strikes a chemically
etched and black coating on face of Olin Brass Co. Roll-Bond aluminum
sheet. Selectivity ratio: a/E = 3, per measurement. Water (with

corrosion inhibitor) flows in the integral expanded channels in
aluminum sheet. No anti-freeze is used, but liquid can be drained
from collector into storage tank in 12 min. There are 105 collector
panels, each 34 ft x 8 ft.

Storage system: Two separate, water-filled, underground, 5500 gal. tanks. Total capacity: 11,000 gal. Each tank (an electrical transformer bunker) is of reinforced concrete with L, W, H of 111⁄2 ft, 8 ft, 7 ft. Carrythrough: 12 days (predicted). (NSF release of 1/16/74; Intertech. releases of 3/22/74 and 5/14/74; P-900)

In Maryland,

near District

Heights)

61

WAS 1/17/75

Solar engineer and owner: H. E. Thomason.
Bldg.: Three-bedroom house (28 ft x 38 ft) with 900 ft2 heated in winter.
The house aims 10° W of S.

Collector: Area: 750 ft2.

Collector is on two sloping portions of roof, the slopes being 450 and 60° from horizontal. Water trickles down l-in-wide valleys of blackened corrugated aluminum sheet. Valleys are 2 in. apart on centers. Original glazing: 5-mil polyester (mylar) film and, spaced 3/4 in. from it, a glass sheet. (Plastic film failed after 3 years; thereafter just the glass sheet was used.) Water is distributed to the valleys by -in. copper pipe (with 1/16 or 1/32 in. dia. holes, one hole per valley) running along ridge of roof. Water from the valleys is collected in a gutter and flows to storage system.

Storage system: water-filled, 1600-gal. (4 ft dia., 17 ft long) steel tank surrounded by 50 tons of fist-size stones. Air flows through stone bin and thence to the rooms. At night the 1/3 HP water-pump used to send water to the distribution pipe is off, water drains from roof, and all water is in tank.

Percent solar heated: 85%.
Auxiliary heat: oil furnace.

Cooling in summer: Original (1959) system: At night, water was sent to
north slope of roof, to cool by evaporation; thus some cooling (of tank,
and of rooms) was accomplished. Present system: A 1-HP refrigeration
unit cools the tank water, and the tank cools the stones; air circulated
through the bin of stones cools the rooms,

Status: Still in use; is in 15th year. Patent coverage: extensive.
(T-263, T-263d, A-500, U-400, P-900).

62

WAS 1/17/75

Washington, D.C., environs

(10 mi. ESE of

Wash.,D.C.
In Maryland,
near District

Heights)

(cont'd)

Thomason Solar House 2 39° N. 1960.

Solar engineer and owner: H. E. Thomason.

Bldg. Two bedroom house with 675 ft2 heated in winter. Basement and attic are not heated. House aims 10° W of S.

Collector:560 ft2, augmented by 340-ft2reflector, is on two sloping portions of roof, slopes being 55° and 65° from horizontal. Collector is single-glazed. (Original single glazing deteriorated after a decade and, in Nov. 1974, was replaced by superior single glazing in aluminum frames.) The trickling-water type system 18 much like that of House 1, except that the water-pump motor is smaller: 1/6 HP.

Storage system:

Much like that of House 1.

Cooling in summer: A 3/4-HP compressor-type air conditioner is
used, mainly at night, to cool tank.

Status: In routine use (after 1972-73 interval of non-use).
Patent coverage: extensive. (A-500, U-400, P-900, T-263, T-263d)

63

Washington, D.C., environs (cont'd)

(10 mi. ESE of

Wash., D.C. Thomason Solar House 3 39° N. 1963.
In Maryland,
Solar engineer and owner: H. E. Thomason.

near District

Heights)

WAS 1/17/75

Bldg.: One-story (plus full basement and garage) 4-bedroom house
(74 It = 44 ft) with 1500 ft2 heated in winter, plus swimming-pool

room, game room.

Collector: 900 ft2 (60 ft x 15 ft). Tilted 60° from horizontal. Water
from 1/16-in.-dia. holes in horizontal distribution pipe along ridge
of roof trickles down 1-in.-wide valleys (2 in. apart on centers) in
blackened aluminum sheet, under single layer of single-strength (1/16 in.)
glass. White-roll roofing (non-metallic) on near-horizontal roof
(15 ft x 55 ft) of sunporch over swimming pool directs additional
radiation to the collector. Heated water flowing from the valleys of
the corrugated aluminum is collected by a gutter and delivered to the
storage system.

Tank is

Storage system: 1600 gal. water (rainwater, with no anti-freeze) in
2500-gal., rectangular, concrete-block tank in basement.
surrounded by fist-size stones: 25 tons of stones in 10 ft x 7 ft x 30 ft
bin. When rooms need heat, a 1/6 HP blower blows air upward through
bin-of-stones to rooms.

Percent solar heated: 85% in mild 1973-74 winter; 75% in typical winter.
Auxiliary heat: oil furnace.

Cooling in summer: An air-conditioner capable of 34,000 Btu/hr output
is operated at night (when outdoor air is cool and city demand for
electricity is small) to cool and dry the stones. During hot humid day,
the stones cool and dry the air circulated to the rooms. (It is said
that an air-conditioner of half this output would suffice.)
Status: In routine uso. Patent coverage: extensive. (P-900, T-263d).

Washington
D.C.

Thomason Solar House 4. 39° N. 1963. H. E. Thomason, inventor, owner.
Black asphalt shingles used as surface down which water trickles.
Indoor, polyethylene-film-lined pool of water used as storage system.
The asphalt shingles proved to be inferior to black aluminum as regards
delivery of energy to the trickling water. There was some water
leakage through pinholes in the polyethylene liner. House was never
fully tested. It is currently used merely as a storehouse for

64

WAS 1/17/75

Washington D. C. environs (cont'd)

(10 mi. S Thomason Solar House #5. 39° N. Jan. 1975.

of Wash.

D.C.,in Md)

This house is much like Thomason Solar House 6. See below.

Washington D.C. environs

(15 mi. SE of Wash.)

Thomason Solar House 6 39° N. Jan. 1975. In Maryland; 10 mi. S of
Upper Marlboro. Off Route 4 (Penn. Ave. extended).
Solar engineer, inventor, designer: H. E. Thomason.
Builder and owner: Thomason Solar Homes, Inc.

-

Bldg.: Two stories and basement. First story includes living room,
kitchen, dining area, solarium, solarium-pool room (at SE corner; with
12-ft-dia. pool for children), four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a two-
car garage (tandem, front to back, drive-through). Max. length of first
story: 70 ft. Max. width: 44 ft. Heated area of first story: 1550 ft2.
South portion of first story is 16 ft x 70 ft and has near-horizontal
roof which provides two sundeck areas, A and B. If, on sunny spring
day, pool water is too cold, it is pumped onto Area A, where solar
radiation warms it, and is then returned to the pool. Area B has hatch
which, when open, reveals access staircase and chute (children's slide)
to pool. Second story includes a bathroom and has space that could be
used for four bedrooms. Second story roof is gabled at both ends and
includes, on NE side, a transverse gable and two dormer windows. Roof
slope: 45°. Second story space is not fully heated; is heated only by
heat leaking from first story and from collector. Basement (26 ft x
54 ft; area 1400 ft2) includes 8 ft x 20 ft heat-storage system, also
a 56,000 Btu h oil-fired heater for domestic hot water and as back-up,
and a 45 ft x 26 ft general purpose room (heated only partially -- by
warm ceiling). Insulation: Bldg. is well insulated; typical thickness
of fiberglass insulation: wall, 31⁄2 in.; ceiling, 6 in. Some windows are
single-glazed: second story windows, the (few, small) basement windows,
solarium windows and garage windows. Double glazinz is used for
other first story windows. Orientation: The bldg. faces 150 W of S,
with the result that the following important 6-hr periods are approx.
synchronized: (1) period in which radiant flux per unit area of collector
is high, and (2) period when outdoor temp. is high (favoring high-temp.
collector output).