Volume 1
Especially chapters 4 and 5, plus appendix 7
Active Sun & Shade Harvesting
Active sun harvesting systems are manufactured systems that generate or distribute energy. Perhaps the most common example is photovoltaic (PV) solar panels used to produce electricity. The manufacture of such active systems are often dependent upon imported/extracted resources or materials.
Though the need for, and size and cost of, active systems can be significantly reduced by integrating them with passive sun & shade harvesting systems. For example, the more you passively heat and cool your home, the less power you need to actively heat and cool your home (with say a furnace or air conditioner). So, you can get by with a smaller, less expensive PV solar panel system to power your active heating and cooling systems.
Active systems can also be designed in such a way that they double as a passive system. For example, active solar panels can be installed in a way that they create a winter sun-/equator-facing awing that passively lets in winter sun for the harvest of free winter heat and light, while passively shading out the summer sun for free cooling.
A passive sun & shade harvesting awning made of active sun-harvesting PV solar panels, shown here passively enabling winter sun heating and lighting of the Equator-/winter-sun-facing side of the building at a location at 32˚ latitude.
Illustration by Valerie Lane using SketchUp
A passive sun & shade harvesting awning made of active sun-harvesting PV solar panels, shown here passively shading and cooling the Equator-/winter-sun-facing side of the building and its glass doors at a location at 32˚ latitude.
Illustration by Valerie Lane using SketchUp
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