Bring Comfort

Solar House Could

The sun’s intense heat which has turned a large area of Aus tralia into desert might soon help to populate the regions it has condemned. rVO university lecturers are harnessing solar energy to enable people to live comfortably in the hot, dry outback. They have designed a

house which uses the sun’s heat to provide air-conditioning, a hot water service and perhaps even cooking facilities.

A three-eighth scale model of the solar house has been built in Queens land University.

The lecturers—Mr. N. R. Sheridan and Mr. M. Juppenlatz—report that tests with the model have been “more than encouraging”.

Their two-storey “Solair” house has 11 squares of living space. It is an eas i 1 y-transportable, prefabricated type which can be readily assembled

emi-skilled labour. Clusters of to six of the houses could form ip housing to ease the social and iclogical problems of isolation.” eir “Solair” house relies on the hat in large areas of the outback lun provides the equivalent of ; one kilowatt (one unit) of elec r a square yard for each hour of rht. the model, part of the sun’s heat insferred to water in a solar ber —copper sheeting with in tubes—which covers the roof, revent the heat from escaping the house, this copper tube in has been laid over a layer of reed aluminium foil insulation . 4i-inch thick slab of mineral

Energy will be obtained from the main storage tank to drive a refrig erator for the air-conditioning plant.

The tank also will provide hot water (about 160 deg. Fahr.) for domestic use.

Experimental work is proceeding towards using solar concentrators to provide heat for cooking. It is estimated that once the main storage tank achieves its operating tempera ture, the system could continue to function for at least 48 hours with out sunlight.

Mr. Sheridan, senior lecturer in mechanical engineering, designed the solar plant and Mr, Juppenlatz, senior lecturer in architecture, designed the house to accommodate it.