Passive Solar Design

• Mountain homes can employ a direct-gain passive solar design. Windows are coated with a film that allows them to best capture sunlight that hits them. This sunlight is then absorbed by the floor and stored in thermal mass convects throughout the day. At night, the absorbed heat radiates throughout the home, heating it.
  
  

Benefits

• Photovoltaic systems are typically used for solar power and heating, but they are not well-suited to solely heating mountain homes, because the sloping terrain blocks sunlight at certain times of the day. Passive solar designs, however, maximize the collection of heat when sunlight is available and stores it when it is not. This makes that particular system well-suited for mountain homes.
  
  

Considerations

• The windows used as collectors in this type of solar heating system should face the south, where summer sunlight can be partially blocked out, while winter sunlight can be absorbed directly, throughout the day. Dark flooring made of concrete, brick or stone should be used, because dark colors and those particular materials absorb the most heat. Thermal mass storage devices could be installed to hold water, because water absorbs twice as much heat as solely masonic materials. It is also important to make sure a home is insulated to prevent escaping heat.