Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Solar project description for Design Construction Association single family dwelling, Big Fork, Montana

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5166794· OSTI ID:5166794

The Design Construction Association solar energy system (Grant H-2786) is installed in an 2100 sq ft house located in Big Fork, Montana. The system is designed to provide solar energy for heating and domestic hot water. Solar energy is collected by flat plate collectors with a gross area of 792 square feet. The collector banks are mounted on the roof of the house and face due south at an angle of 45 degrees to the horizontal optimizing solar energy collection. Solar energy is transferred from the collector array to a 1500 gallon storage tank. Water is used as the heat collection, transfer and storage medium. Freeze protection is provided by use of a drain down system. Space heating demands are met by circulating hot water from storage through baseboard units in the distribution system of the house. Auxiliary space heating is provided by an electricl heating element in the boiler. Similarly, an electrical heating element in the DHW tank provides energy for water heating. The dwelling has been fully instrumented for performance evaluation since October 1977 and the data is integrated into the National Solar Data Network. Original cost estimates for provisioning and installation of the solar system are given; however, the final solar system cost and the cost of its instrumentation are not included in this report.

Research Organization:
Boeing Co., Seattle, WA (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AB01-76CS31020
OSTI ID:
5166794
Report Number(s):
SOLAR/1029-80/50
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English