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Solar I, completed in 1939, was the first house in America to be heated by the sun's energy. It was an experimental lab, a single story house-like structure containing two rooms, designed by Professor Hoyt C. Hottel on the present site of building 36 [see MIT map].
Solar I used solar radiation as a heat source for the winter. Projects were conducted on summer air conditioning and power generation. To heat the building, a sun heat trap tilted at a 30 degree angle was placed on the roof under three layers of glass.
The bottom of the box was fitted with a sheet of copper painted black, under which tubes ran. Water circulated through these tubes and then ran down into a metal tank located in the basement.
"MIT investigates domestic use of solar heat," Architectural Record 87 (January 1940): 48.
"MIT to study use of sun's heat," Power Plant Engineering 44 (February 1940): 116, 120.
"Roof-top heat trap stores power from the sun," Popular Science 136 (February 1940): 9697.
"Solar radiation: trapping heat of sun and storing it for house heating to be attempted at MIT," Science 90, supplement 10 (November 17, 1939). [Q.S399]
"Study uses of solar heat at MIT," Heating, Piping & Ventilation 12 (March 1940): 179.
"To heat and air-condition house with solar energy," Science News-Letter 36 (November 18, 1939): 332. [Q.S415]
"Trapping the sun's rays to heat buildings: solar test house at M.I.T.," Sheet Metal Worker 30 (December 1939): 40.
Gray, Robert and Steven Baker. Survey of solar buildings. Center for Environmental Research, School of Architecture and Allied Arts, University of Oregon, 1975.
Shurcliff, William. Solar-heated buildings: A brief survey. 4th ed. (1974), 13. [TH7413 .S47]
Telkes, Maria. "Solar house heating·A problem of heat storage," Heating & Ventilating 44 (May 1947): 68-75.
Thulman, R.K. "What's ahead in house heating?" Architectural Record 98 (December 1945): 123-128.