SOLAR ---- - - - - - - Solar Heating Systems: Analysis and Design with the Sun-Pulse Method, by Gordon F. Tully, 1981, 222 pp., $23.95, from: McGraw-Hill Book Company 1221 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 This book is written for solar designers interested in working on active systems with water as the collector fluid and storage medium. The author takes a systems approach to solar design using a·concept he calls the sun-pulse method. This method views the daily insolation available'to a collector as a sinusoidal half wave pulse. The energy collected by the system and the heat load can then be plotted graphically while varying the system parameters. For example, increasing flow rates increases collector efficiency flow rates which then increases pumping costs. Using the graphs, an optimal point can be found. There is a good discussion of how different control schemes influence system performance. On the debit side, the book is difficult to read. The language is cumbersome and laced with jargon and equations. He also takes random potshots at other types of systems and their designers. -Gail Katz ACCESS Solar Energy, Conservation and Rental Housing, by Alice Levine and Jonathon Raab, 1981, 70pp., $5.25 from: NTIS U.S. Dept. of Commerce 5285 Port Royal Building Springfield, VA 22161 Energy efficiency for people who rent homes is a thorny issue that has yet to receive the attention it dese~es. One-third of all the homes in the United States are rentals. Many of them are substandard even by today's outdated energy conservation guidelines. But despite the substantial energy savings and widespread economic and social benefits of effective implementation of weatherization measures and solar energy for rentals, the situation is discouraging. Efforts to deal with the problem have been limited to understaffed and underfinanced Community Weatherization programs; low cost, stop-gap measures for tenants who have few financial resources and fewer reasons to invest in conservation measures they will probably not be around long enough to benefit from; and Hnancial incentives for landlords either unwilling to consider anything that doesn't pay back in less than three years or not responsible for their tenants' energy bills and so unconcerned about whether the house is energy efficient. None of the above approaches has proven wideiy August/September 1981 RAIN Page 15 successful. Solar Energy, Conservation and Rental Housing doesn't h,we much to offer in the way of solutions, but it is a good description of what we're up against. It includes an analysis of investment criteria for landlords, and a summary of initiatives and programs that are being tried by various government entities around the country so you'll know where to begin. -KB Passive Solar Energy: The Homeowner's Guide to Naturµl Heating and Cooling, by Bruce Anderson and Malcolm Wells, 1981, 197'pp., $8.95 from:. Brick House Publishing 34 Essex St. Andover, MA 01810 Bruce (Solar Age) Anderson and Malcolm (The Underground House) Wells have joined forces to produce an overview and introduction to passive solar energy which is generally clear, accurate and enjoyable. They start with the basic principles of solar.and go on to discuss five passive solar options that are all applicable to retrofits as well as to·new con- , struction. The book's ·graphics are understandable and occasionally whimsical. So tell· those friends of yours who always thought solar involved too much math to check this one out. They'll breeze through it in one sitting. -Gail Katz I I fij~ I .I
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