anna edey's new solviva book... SOLAR.KnowledgePublications.com

anna edey's new solviva book...
6 nov 1998
anna edey writes (in her 1998 book "solviva," (good news from the front,
how to grow $500,000 on one acre & peace on earth, learning the art of
living, with solar-dynamic, bio-benign design, revealing the truth about
how we can provide electricity, heating, cooling, transportation, food,
solid waste and wastewater management in ways that reduce pollution and
depletion of resources by 80 percent or more, and that at the same time
reduce cost of living and improve quality of life), by trailblazer press):

   the solviva greenhouse has both passive and active solar-heat storage
   systems. the passive system consists of 26,000 pounds of water contained
   in waterwalls both downstairs and upstairs. we built the framework out
   of ordinary framing lumber. picture two stud walls constructed with
   2-by-4's on 2-foot centers. these two stud walls are set 1 foot apart,
   connected by 1-by-3's. two levels of platforms are built into the
   downstairs waterwalls, totaling 36 platforms, each strong enough to
   support a bag filled with 400 pounds of water. we attached 4-inch-mesh 
   plastic-coated wire fencing to the outside of this framework, and
   secured this fencing with battens screwed into the framework uprights. 
   we constructed single-tier waterwalls upstairs. a total of 65 very
   strong compartments were thus created, placed downstairs and upstairs
   in what i felt would be the least productive areas, the northeast and
   northwest corners. then three large, super-strong plastic bags (not
   biodegradable!) were evenly inserted, as a triple set one inside the
   other, into each compartment. we then filled each of the triple bags
   with 50 gallons (400 pounds) of water and then tied them closed.

   this waterwall system has performed better than my highest expectations.
   after a cold night the temperature of the water in the bags is 55 f
   (neither the water storage nor the soil ever fell below 55 degrees!).
   at the end of a sunny day the water temperature has risen to an average
   of 80 degrees f, more at the upper level, less at the lower level. one
   btu is a measure that denotes one pound of water rising one degree.
   since there are a total of 26,000 pounds of water in the 65 bags and
   the temperature has risen 25 degrees, that means they have picked up
   650,000 btus of solar heat. this warmth is slowly released during the
   night and is about the equivalent to burning 6 gallons of fuel oil...

   the active solar heating and storage system consists primarily of a
   black pipe coiled inside the peak of the greenhouse. one thousand feet
   long and 1 inch in diameter, it heats the 600 gallons of water contained
   in the center water tub. this tub is a 7-foot diameter, 2-feet-deep
   galvanized steel farm stock watering tank from sears, which cost about
   $230, including shipping. the black pipe starts at the pool and extends
   up to a wood-framed ledge that we built inside the peak of the 104-foot-
   long greenhouse. this ledge is covered with black plastic. the pipe,
   coiled 10 times back and forth, lies on top of this black surface and
   is covered with clear plastic, and then returns to the tub. a dc pump,
   powered by the sun through the photovoltaic panels and batteries, was
   installed to circulate the water through this black pipe. the first pipe
   that was installed was made of polyethylene, but it started to melt
   and leak around the joints because of the intense solar heat that was
   generated. this pipe was soon replaced with a more heat-tolerant
   polybutylene pipe. this system is capable of heating the water in the
   tub from its normal winter low of 55 degrees f to 100 degrees after
   a sunny day. thus this system absorbs some 200,000 btus during a sunny
   day and then releases it during the night. 

   there is another active solar water-heating system that contributes
   a smaller but still significant amount of warmth. this consists of a
   12-inch-diameter tunnel that was dug along the north foundation
   insulation. in this tunnel stand 350 glass gallon wine jugs. (i put
   a want ad in the paper, and the jugs were contributed by the dozens.)
   the jugs are filled with water and capped. air from the top of the
   greenhouse, about 90 degrees, is distributed down through the tunnel 
   via two poly ducts, forced down by two 16-inch diameter dc fans. the
   fans are direct-connected to two photovoltaic panels, meaning that no
   batteries are employed for this task. when the sun comes out, the fans
   go on with a terrific force, a powerful and self-evident demonstration
   of the ability of photovoltaic panels to generate electricity from
   sunlight. when a cloud covers the sun, the fans stop. when the sun
   reappears, the fans instantly turn back on. the hot air passes by the
   bottles, which are spaced about 1 inch apart, and during the course of
   a sunny day the temperature of the water in the bottles rises from about
   55 degrees to about 70 degrees. this system absorbs over 42,000 btus on
   a sunny day, equivalent to about 1/3 gallon of oil. not much, but it is
   free and nonpolluting, and every btu counts on a subzero blizzard night.

   although i was confident that no heating fuel would be required, i
   nonetheless wanted to have a backup system - just in case. thus i
   created a fire chamber underneath the 600-gallon water tub just
   mentioned above. before installing the tub, i dug a trench 7 feet long,
   2 feet wide and 18 inches deep. for the purpose of creating a lining
   for the fire chamber, i cut a 50-gallon oil drum in half lengthwise
   with a jigsaw (wearing gloves, goggles and ear protectors!). the bottom
   of the oil drum was left on one of the halves, and a 6-inch hole was cut
   into it for the chimney pipe. i laid down the two oil drum sections to
   form a 6-foot-long liner, with the stovepipe cutout at the far end. i
   packed the ground firmly in an 8-foot circle, and pressed four 8-foot
   angle irons into the ground, laid across the fire chamber. then i laid
   a 7-by-7 piece of heavy sheet metal on top, to serve as a hot plate.
   a 6-inch galvanized stovepipe was installed, leading from the end of
   the fire chamber and out through the north roof, and the tub was set on
   top of the hot plate, then filled with water. a roaring fire in the fire
   chamber, fueled by only paper, cardboard, and kindling, is capable of
   heating the 600 gallons of water in the tub from 55 degrees to over
   100 degrees in less than two hours.

   the first winter, when the greenhouse was filled with 100 huge tomato
   plants producing thousands of superb fruits, turned out to be a
   record-breaking cold one, with almost no sun for weeks on end. since
   the greenhouse was not yet quite finished, this backup heating system
   was a tremendous blessing. it is highly effective, very simple and
   low-cost, takes up no space, and plants can thrive right next to it.
   as with almost all the other solviva greenhouse designs, this system
   worked better than my highest expectations. once the greenhouse was
   finished, this backup heating system never needed to be fired up again.
   occasionally, though, we would fire it up just for the joy of a deep
   long soak, for this makes the greatest hot tub.

anna's 104' greenhouse on cape cod was once filled with lots of healthy
plants, chickens, rabbits, sheep, and a composting ammonia filter. she
says it's now a ghost of its former self, and she hasn't operated it for
the last 8 or 9 years...

nick