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Solar Houses

• Introduction
• Bibliographies
• Solar Decathlon
• Dover Sun House 
• Solar I
• Solar II
• Solar III
• Solar IV
• Solar V

Solar IV, located in Lexington, was completed in 1959 after the MIT Architecture Department held a contest on solar house architectural design and a SCD thesis in chemical Engineering. The architectural details were designed by Professor Lawrence B. Anderson, the engineering design was done by Dr Austin Whillier.

 

A 640-square foot collector tilted at a 60 degree angle provided for 57 % of the building's heat during winter. Heat was stored in two basement water tanks of 1500 and 275 gallons: during the winter, the larger tank was heated by the circulation of solar heated water from the roof collectors. Water from the tank circulated through the coil of a heat exchanger to warm air blown through the house. Water from the smaller tank was heated by an oil burner and used for supplementary heat on extra cold or cloudy days.

 

When summer came, the smaller tank was connected to the roof collectors to provide hot water for domestic use, and a low capacity refrigerator cooled the water in the larger tank to provide air conditioning. After collecting data for three heating seasons, MIT decided to sell the house to a private owner in 1962. Since no knowledgeable service organization existed to maintain the unique solar heating system, the unit was removed, and a conventional heating unit was installed.

"Build solar house," Science Newsletter 73, no. 9 (March 8, 1958): 147. [Q.S41]

 

"MIT completes solar house," Glass Industry 39 (March 1958): 166. [TP.G548]

 

"MIT solar energy house IV," Interiors 117 (May 1958): 116.  

 

"MIT solar-heated house designed for cloudless living," Electrical World 149 (April 7, 1958): 131.  

 

"New England house brings solar heating a step closer," House and Home 13 (April 1958): 168-169.  

 

"Round-up: recent solar heating installations," Progressive Architecture 40, no. 3 (March 1959): 204-207.  

 

"Solar house," Science 127 (March 21, 1958): 634-635.  

 

Dempewolff, R.F. "House that stores the sun," Popular Mechanics 108 (October 1957): 158-161, 276-278. [T.P831]

 

Engebretson, C.D. "Use of solar energy for space heating," in Proceedings of the United Nations Conference on New Sources of Energy, Rome, 5 (1961): 159-172. [TJ5 .U58 1961 v.5]

 

Engebretson, C.D. and N.G. Ashar. Progress in space heating with solar energy, ASME Paper No. 60-WA-88 (December 1960), 8 pp. [TJ7 .A512]

 

Engebretson, C.C. and H.R. Hay. Use of Solar Energy for Space Heating - M.I.T. Solar House IV. Cape Canaveral, FL: International Solar Energy Society, 1978.  

 

Gray, Robert and Steven Baker. Survey of Solar Buildings. Center for Environmental Research, School of Architecture and Allied Arts, University of Oregon, 1975.  

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Committee on Solar Energy Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Solar House IV. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 1958. Sections, plans, elevations, photographs. [TH7413 .M4145]

 

Shurcliff, William. Solar-heated buildings: A brief survey. 4th ed. (1974), 15. [TH7413 .S47]

 

Thomason, Harry E. Solar house heating and air-conditioning system. Barrington, NJ: Edmund Scientific Co., 1974.