Solar Home Inventory 2006

#1: Wind Energy

Wind Turbines (or "windmills") capture energy from the wind. They can convert the energy into electricity or into mechanical energy such as a pump. These devices are normally perched atop a pole or tower and usually have blades that look like an airplane propeller. Some low-wind-speed windmills have dozens of blades like you've seen on prairie farmsteads.

Click here to see existing wind energy installations in Atlantic Canada

#2: Passive Solar Heating

Homes heated with passive solar energy are the most difficult to spot, because they don't have any visible "systems." They do, however, have four features in common:

1. They start out as very efficient homes - well insulated and airtight.
2. They have large banks of south-facing windows facing the noonday sun; sometimes vertical, and sometimes sloped.
3. They usually have a simple system (a ceiling fan or a heat-recovery-ventilator type fan) to move the heat around the building, and
4. They usually have a way to store the heat to keep the building warm overnight.

Click here to see existing passive homes in Atlantic Canada

#3: Various Kinds Of Panels

On many homes you will see panels which actively collect solar energy. Some of the panels convert the sun's energy into electricity, some create hot water for in-floor radiant or domestic hot water, and some produce hot air which is blown directly into living spaces.

• Photovoltaic modules (PV): window sized sparkling rectangles on roof collect sunlight as electricity
• Domestic hot water panels (DHW): large patio-door-sized rectangles on roof, or rows of glass tubes on roof. The heat collected can be used to provide hot water and radiant heating.
• Hot Air panels: Patio-door or garage-door-sized black rectangles on a wall, sometimes with a curved surface, sometimes flat

Click here to see existing homes with panel collectors in Atlantic Canada

Other

We're open to other ideas about what makes a renewable energy building!

If you think another technology should be included in our search, write us!