In this project, was to design a tiny house ( <1000 sq ft) that maximized the amount of light taken from the sun and other natural sources. During, this project, we had a number of experiments that we used as a tool for our tiny house project.
Solar Water Heater:
Black copper pipe-absorbs the sun and keeps the water in
Mylar-brings the sun to the black copper pipe to bring more sun onto the pipe
Cardboard-used it to put the black copper on and tape the mylar to
In this experiment, we designed a way to absorb light to make the water as warm as possible. What our project looked like was that we had cardboard curved in, with the black copper pipe in the middle. On top of the cardboard, we taped on Mylar before we attached the black pipe. The way we angled the Mylar, it is like a parabola. What the parabola doses that it focuses all the sun light onto a single part, which is where we placed the pipe. The copper pipe was painted black because black absorbs the most light because it's so dark. Also, the copper pipe, since it is copper it has a low heat capacity so it transferred its heat to the water instead of holding it all in.
Daylighting design: In this experiment, we used different techniques in order to find a way to light the model house. What my group and I found was that large windows and skylights brought in the most light for us. Another successful technique was using a clerestory window, (a long window just before the roof that lets in light against a wall to diffuse it throughout the room.) The light shelf was also effective. This technique involves putting a shelf coated in selective material at the base of a window to reflect light into the house. We found that solar tubes (reflective tubes leading from the roof to the ceiling) were ineffective in lighting a room. Using some of these techniques, we were able to design a house with less electricity.
Wind turbines: In this experiment, it was surrounded by wind power. We got the design our own wind turbines, then connected them to a motor, which was used as a generator and used different style of fans to simulate the wind.