The difference between a passive solar home and a conventional home is design. Passive solar homes and other buildings are designed to take advantage of the local climate. Passive solar design—also known as climatic design—involves using a building's windows, walls, and floors to collect, store, and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. Learn how passive solar design techniques work.
Direct Gain
Direct gain is the process by which sunlight directly enters a building through the windows and is absorbed and temporarily stored in massive floors or walls.
Indirect Gain
Indirect gain is the process by which the sun warms a heat storage element—such as a Trombe wall—and the heat is later distributed to the interior space by convection, conduction, and radiation.
Isolated Gain
Isolated gain involves the collection of heat in one area—such as a sunspace on the south side of a house—and used in another.
Roof Overhangs
Roof overhangs are used to shade windows, walls, and doors from direct solar radiation.
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