FACT SHEET

EDISON SOLAR HOUSE

Location:

Description:

Cost:

Montebello, California

The Edison Solar House is a 2,000 square foot
residential tract home converted to serve as a
test site for residential solar energy systems
which were identified by Edison studies as
the most cost effective systems for Southern
California homes. Results of these tests will
be made available to Edison customers after
1-2 years to help them decide which systems
will be best suited for installation on their
homes. The systems currently being installed
for testing include water and space heating
in conjunction with a heat pump, photovoltaic
powered service pumps, and a cooling capacity
storage system for utilization of summer
off-peak power. Installation and testing of
innovative cooling systems and possible
photovoltaic arrays are also planned for the
future.

SCE $400,000

Location:

Description:

FACT SHEET

SOLAR DESICCANT COOLING PROJECT

University of California at Los Angeles

Development and test of an experimental solar
regenerative evaporative cooler.

Future Plan:

Develop commercial size unit for installation
and test in Edison Solar House.

FACT SHEET

WIND ENERGY DATA COLLECTION PROJECT

Location:

Northern Coachella Valley near Palm Springs

Description: o Computer modeling of wind flow patterns. o 19 wind data collection sites.

o 150 foot DOE wind tower measurements.

Future Plans:

Final report on wind modeling.

Final report on 19 wind data sites.

Complete the interim DOE Data
Acquisition project.

More detailed analysis of the area near Palm Springs.

Extend analysis to other windy areas.

DOE tower and data acquisition extension.

Solar equipment is offered by the city for the heating of swimming pools, process water, and domestic hot water. The pieces of hardware (solar collectors, controls and storage tanks) are owned and maintained by the city under a rental agreement. The renter pays an initial installation fee and a monthly utility fee. These amounts vary according to the size of the installation.

important to provide sufficient
Other factors to consider

In planning for a solar heating installation it is
exposure on a south or southwest facing roof area.
include the distance and access to the conventional heating equipment, space con-
straints for the solar accessories and shading of the solar collectors (either
daily or seasonally).

For any questions concerning the Solar Utility Program, or for assistance in planning for a solar heating installation, call 984-3183 - Santa Clara City Solar Utility.

TYPICAL SOLAR HEATING SYSTEMS AVAILABLE

SWIMMING POOLS

The swimming pool solar heating system would normally connect into the standard pool circulating system and operate in conjunction with a conventional heater. The system that the city installs would include the collectors, the plumbing between collectors and the pump/filter equipment, and a thermostatic control to regulate the flow to the collectors.

DOMESTIC HOT WATER

A solar domestic water heating system would include two to three collectors, a
storage tank, circulating pump and an automatic control. Since solar cannot pro-
vide 100% of the heating, some conventional backup heater would be required.
This could be installed as a separate hot water heater plumbed in series with the
solar storage tank, or the solar system may be installed with an electric heating
element integral with the solar storage tank.

PROCESS WATER HEATING

Solar process water heating could be useful for any of a number of industrial or
commercial processes.
Typically, the water could be preheated to approximately
100° to 160° F. Some conventional heating system would usually be required as
a backup.