December 1980 RAIN Page 5 any bank or savings and loan association on six-month T-bill accounts. Since the establishment of the Safe Energy ~und in October l 979, the average interest rate paid to Solar T-Bill depositors has been about 12 percent. mum deposit term is 2 ½ years; the interest paid currently is ap- , Keep in mind the following facts: proximately 11 percent. • Solar T-Bill or T-Note, the Safe Energy Fund is a way for investors to join in the effort to reduce our dependence on imported fuels and on dangerous energy sources such as nuclear power. • As with all T-Bills, the minimum deposit is $10,000, and the minimum term is 26 weeks (or six months). There is an interest penalty for early withdrawal. If enough of us make intelligent use of our savings, the result with be an intelligent shift to clean, safe, renewable energy from thesun. DO • • Interest will be posted and paid at the end of each 26-week term, unless one chooses to re-deposit the interest. • Depositors 'are notified 15 days prior to the maturing of their deposits. At that time they can decide whether to renew the deposit or withdraw it without penalty. For more information on·how to invest in Solar T-Bills or Solar TNotes at Continental Savings & Loan, write to Peter Barnes at The Solar Center, 62 Townsend Street, San Francisco, California 94107. (Phone is 415-957-9660.) • Interest paid on Solar T-Bill will be the highest permissible in- Or better yet-for readers who do not live in the San Francisco area-show this article to your local banker or savings and loan or credit union officer. Suggest that they follow Continental Savings' example, so that you can invest in solar energy in your own community. terest on the date the deposit is received. • A less expensive option: Solar T-Notes If $10,000 is too steep, there is another option for smaller savers: the Solar T-Note. Like Solar T-Bills, these are earmarked for the Safe Energy Fund, and they are fully insured by the FSLIC. Author Peter Barnes is a former journalist who has turned to full-time solar energy activism. He is president of the Solar Center. With a Solar T-Note, the minimum deposit is $1,000; the miniSOLAR Reprinted with permission from AERO Sun-Times. Subscriptions $12/yr. from AERO, 424 Stapleton Building, Billings, MT59101. Active Solar Energy System Design Practice Manual, 1979, 234 pp., paper copy $14.00, microfiche $3.50 from: National Technical Information Service U.S. Department of Commerce Springfield, VA 22161 Designing an active solar system is only half the job. If the components are not carefully chosen and assembled, your system will cost more to build, require constant maintenance, and (if it's a liquid collector) probably leak like a sieve at the worst possible time. . This book has the best practical information on active systems that I've seen to date for both air and water systems. The book shows up to a dozen solutions for any given problem, such as choosing a collector, installing an array, mounting systems, storage, vents and dampers, safety equipment, plumbing, heat exchanger design and installation, pumps, etcetera. It lists the strong and weak points of each solution, and includes a clear schematic of each detail. -Gail Katz Model-TEA Solar Heating Construction Manual, by Peter L. Temple and Jennifer A. Adams, 1980, 247 pp., $27.50, information free from: Total Environmental Action Church Hill Harrisville, NH ~3450 Total Environmental Action (TEA) has come u'p with a site built air collector/ rock storage design that is suitable for both new and retrofit installation. This is a detailed, dear construction 'manual for their system. It includes step-by-step instructions with ; excellent drawings showing each detail. The control modes are well explained and documented. The book also includes a complete hardware list, down to the stainless steel screws for the absorber plate, and indicates which operations a professional should be hired to perform. The appendix on materials selection is generally applicable to any active site-built system. With this book I could buHd the system. It does its job. -Gail Katz ri,.-o .,;.•ws of the solar motor built by Mouchot for the Paris Expositiorr . This gianl machi11~ pumped 500 gallons of water per hour, and even powered an ic~-,..'!ker. - FromA Golden Thread A Golden Thread:,2500 Years of Solar Architecture and Technology, by Keri Butti and John Perlin, 1980, 289 pp., $15.95 from: Van Nostrand Reinhold 135 West 50th Street Ne,w York, NY 10020 In September 1878 visitors to the Universal ·Exposition in Paris were treated to a most unusual sight: a solar-powered machine pumping water, distilling alcohol, cooking food and making ice. Three years later the French government commissioned a study of the new technology's commercial potential. The conclusion: solar wasn't practical in France. Sound familiar? You'll encounter an amazing amount of deja vu in A Golden Thread. You'll learn about solar homes in ancient Greece, solar baths in early Rome, solar greenhouses in eighteenth century Europe, and a thriving solar water heater industry in pre-World War I California. You'll read how the solar housing market took off in the U.S. in the 1940s-but quickly plummeted-and how a Presidential commission urged the rapid development of solar in 1952-and was universally ignored. There are lessons to be pondered here: energy shortsightedness has been a recurring disease and solar fascination has always proved fickle. The sun has repea.tedly gained ascendancy when traditional energy sources (such as firewood in ancient Greece) have been in short supply, and fr has been repeatedly forgotten when more·"convenient" sources (such as natural gas in California) have come on the scene. A Golden Thread allows us to reflect on these things while enjoying a remarkable collection of drawings and photographs combined with an exceptionally readable text. -JF
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