How can sunlight be used to cool a house?

by
Jim Slotta
KIE Developer

Image courtesy of Oikos Energy Source Builder

It seems like it should be easy to design a house that collects the energy from sunlight and turns it into heat. But how can a house be designed that uses the solar energy for cooling in the hot summer weather? Many houses have been designed that are heated in the winter and cooled in the summer with no energy source other than the sun. Here is a Web page that describes some design strategies for passive solar cooling.

Before Getting Started... This Web site is fairly complicated, and students should begin by looking only at the "Passive Cooling Strategies" by following the link below. While you are reading the four strategies, try to imagine how they could serve to cool a building in the hot sun. After you have read through the four strategies, you can explore the rest of this Web page, which describes some calculations for home builders who want to design passive solar houses for diffferent geographical locations.