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An expert system has been constructed for the purpose of assisting in the design and analysis of direct gain passive solar environments. This system has been constructed for the use of senior undergraduate architecture students in a computer-based design studio. The primary use of the system is in the role of an educational tool which generates design recommendations from user input and predicts some physical characteristics of the environment.The system is applicable to passive solar environments with vertical, south-facing glazing. The system incorporates three models. The first model represents an attached sunspace with no thermal mass storage. The second model represents a direct gain living space. The third model represents a direct gain living space integrated with thermal mass storage. The third model allows the use of floors, ceilings, and walls as mass for thermal storage. Four representative mass materials (concrete, adobe, common brick, and dense concrete masonry) have been included for comparison purposes. Four representative sub-climates are also incorporated into the system: cold / arid, hot / arid, hot / humid, and cool / humid. For educational purposes, the system makes separate calculations for identical structures based on models for inhabited and uninhabited cases.The system incorporates scientific and mathematical relationships as well as rulesof thumb which have demonstrated their applicability to passive solar design. The system performs calculations based on work by Balcomb, et al. [5, 9], and Duffle and Beckman [1], to estimate environmental temperature swings, total solar energy input, and thermal absorption by mass storage elements. The system also utilizes models based upon work by Mazria [4] to recommend glazing areas. Recommended glazing areas are calculated from user input variables such as structure type, site latitude, and floor area.The system's ease of use allows it to be adapted for various classroom goals, and its generalized nature permits the instructor to adapt it easily into different areas of architectural design curricula. The system is written for use with the CLIPS expert system shell. / Department of Physics and Astronomy

The plan and design of a large housing development project by itself was a difficult task in the past, the energy issue made the options very limited, and the planner and/or engineer deal with the solution more often technically intended with or without considering the energy problem. This study is centered on the energy issue as part of the design decision making process. This study tries to integrate the energy use effects as part of the basic planning process, such as land use and building style dependent on the land contour as well as solar exposure; and the passive solar energy utilization as part of the design process where the solar use is not an add on solar system but an integrated part of the basic design scheme. A development summary of the analysis and process guideline is introduced for medium-low density housing project in an urban setting with an actual site as a case study to illustrate the process. / Master of Architecture

Thesis (M.Arch.A.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1978. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Ralph Munroe Lebens. / M.Arch.A.S.

Mobile homes, like other forms of factory-built housing are ideally adapted to the use of solar energy because of the materials and construction methods used in their manufacturing process. This thesis is written to examine those characteristics of mobile homes which can best be taken into consideration in the attempt to maximize solar efficiency and reduce energy waste. Design factors which effect the adaptation of solar energy to a typical MH unit include: solar access, types of of solar utilization, energy storage, lot orientation, general climatic relationships and MH park design. The paper will conclude with a case study involving the use of these factors in the design process of a MH project in Blacksburg, Virginia. / M.A.

Six houses heated by passive solar energy were monitored during the 1983 - 1984 heating season to determine auxiliary heating fuel used. Predictions were made using the Solar Load Ratio (SLR) method for the expected use of auxiliary heating fuel. Comparisons were then made between actual performance and predicted performance. The SLR method is used for predictions because it is a widely used tool in the design of passive solar houses, and questions have been raised as to its usefulness as a predictor of auxiliary heating fuel consumption. Variables used in the SLR predictions and methodology for monitoring actual energy consumed are examined to explain differences in the predicted and monitored energy used. / Master of Architecture

Recent interest in passive solar design has led to numerous analytic methods for including energy concerns in design decisions. These methods characteristically address specific, existing problems or classes of problems. In contrast, this project investigated the incorporation of passive solar issues in design methodology by addressing fundamental concepts of general problem solving. A methodological structure which provides flexible modeling and simulation capability was constructed through the use of various notations -- english, math and Iverson notation (APL). English and math were used in the text of the thesis to communicate theory to the reader. Two APL workspaces, "THERM" and "THERM2," were created to communicate with a computer; and hence, enable the application of the methodological structure to real, complex problems. / M. Arch.

Fundação Araucária / Esta dissertação de mestrado apresenta o estudo, desenvolvimento e implementação de uma nova estrutura, composta por um conversor CC-CC bidirecional, conectada em paralelo com o sistema, para busca do ponto de máxima potência em painéis solares fotovoltaicos para aplicações isoladas da rede elétrica. Inicialmente são expostos os principais fatores que levaram à escolha do tema, assim como a problemática que motivou essa dissertação. Na seqüência é realizado um estudo sobre energia fotovoltaica, onde são mencionados os principais tipos de células fotovoltaicas e o comportamento de um módulo fotovoltaico em função da variação climática. Também são apresentados nesta dissertação os resultados do estudo, simulações, implementação e comparação entre os algoritmos de busca automática do ponto de máxima potência (MPPT) de módulos fotovoltaicos, baseados no método da Perturbação & Observação (P&O) e no método fuzzy. A seguir são mostrados os detalhes do funcionamento da nova estrutura proposta para busca do ponto de máxima potência (MPPT), onde se utiliza um conversor bidirecional (buck-boost) conectado em paralelo com o sistema, bem como o resultado das simulações da nova estrutura proposta que foram realizadas. Por fim, são apresentados os resultados experimentais dos ensaios realizados em laboratório e do comportamento de um módulo fotovoltaico real conectado à nova estrutura proposta. Os resultados experimentais comprovam a melhoria no rendimento do sistema fotovoltaico quando comparado com as soluções clássicas para a busca do ponto de máxima potência. / This work presents the analysis, design, and implementation of a new parallel connected structure, composed by a parallel bidirectional DC-DC power convert, for maximum power point tracking of stand-alone photovoltaic power generation systems. At first, the main factors that motivated the choice the topic of this work are presented. In sequence, the main types of photovoltaic cells and the photovoltaic panel characteristics in function of the climatic variation are analyzed. The study, implementation, comparison and simulation results of algorithm of maximum power point tracking (MPPT) also are presented in this work. The algorithm of MPPT are based in the method of Perturbation and Observation (P&O) and in the fuzzy method. Following, the characteristics of the new structure proposal, composed by a parallel connection bidirectional DC-DC converter simulations results. Finally, are presented the laboratorial experimental results and the behavior or a real photovoltaic module connected to the new structure proposal.