Direct Solarr Gain

n
Dirrect gain
n is the heat fro
om the sun beiing colle
ected an
nd conta
ained in an
occcupied sspace. Th
his heat can be retained
r
by the buildings therm
mal mass,, or
can
n be avoided with reflective mate
erials.
Dirrect solar gain is importa
ant for any site that need
ds heatin
ng, becau
use it is the
sim
mplest an
nd least costly way
w of passively
p
heating a building with
h solar heat
h
gaiin. Avoid
ding dire
ect solar gain is also
a
impo
ortant in hot sunny climates.
Goo
od direct g
gain is mea
asured or predicted
p
by
b determining how much heatt energy th
he sun delivers
to the
t interiorr space thrroughout the
t day and year. In many clim
mates, morre heat gain is desire
ed in
the winter, wh
hen the sun is low, while
w
less or
o none is desired
d
in the summer. Likewisse, it is usu
ually
dessired more in the mo
orning, butt less or none in the
e late afterrnoon. Dirrect gain iss not the total
t
amo
ount of inccident solar radiation
n, since nott all of thatt will enter and be rettained in th
he space.

Direct gain through walls

D
w
/ roofss, and through glazing
Sun
nlight can h
heat a spacce through
h the solid walls or ro
oofs of the envelope. Sunlight also
a
enterss the
space through
h windows, and heatss interior surfaces.
Som
me of the sun's lightt is long-w
wavelength
h radiation,, which is heat; in ad
ddition, th
he light of any
wavvelength absorbed by
b surfacess turns into
o heat in those
t
mate
erials. The
ese materia
als then warm
w
peo
ople in the
e room byy conductin
ng heat to
o them dirrectly, by warming
w
air which carries heatt by
con
nvection, an
nd by rerad
diating the
eir heat.

Glazzing for So
olar Gain
Ape
erture placcement and
d area is an enormou
us factor in
n the amount of hea
at that is gained, at what
w
times of day, and at what season
ns of year. For mostt latitudes, it is optimized by large area
as of
equ
uator-facing glazing, with the major
m
living
g spaces exposed
e
dirrectly behind. Shades block excess
sun
n at warmer times and
d allow the
e sun's hea
at in at coo
oler times.

Sma
art orienta
ation, sizin
ng, and shading
s
m
must
be combined
c
with sma
art selectio
on of glazzing
properties. D
Different kinds of gla
azing can pull
p the su
un's heat in
nto the intterior, or reject
r
it, or let
inte
erior heat e
escape. Se
everal glazing types may
m be app
propriate on
o differentt faces of the
t building.
Avo
oiding Lossses
The
e same larg
ge areas of
o glazing that let he
eat in during the da
ay can also
o readily le
et heat ou
ut at
night. Heat ccan escape
e through windows
w
b
both
throug
gh direct heat
h
transffer, or by allowing
a
lo
ongwavve radiatio
on to pass through as interiorr materialss re-radiate
e their hea
at. Thus, some form
m of
nighttime pro
otection sh
hould be in
ncorporate
ed to minimize any conduction
n and convection losses
thro
ough windows. Thick
k drawn currtains with a closed cornice
c
boa
ard or "pellmet" to se
eal the top can
be used,
u
or insulated intternal/exte
ernal roller shutters.

The
ermal Masss for Solar Gain
The
ermal masss is crucial to comforrt with solar heat ga
ain. It abso
orbs and retains
r
hea
at, slowing the
rate
e at which the sun heats the sp
pace and the
t rate at which the
e space losses heat when the su
un is
gon
ne. Withou
ut thermal mass, heat that has entered a space will simply re-radiate back out quicckly,
mak
king the sp
pace overlyy hot with sunlight
s
an
nd overly cold
c
withou
ut.
Surface Color and Cool Roofs
The
e amount of
o sunlight absorbed by a mate
erial (and thus converted to heat) depend
ds on its co
olor.
Ligh
ht colored surfaces will bouncce light arround with
hin the spa
ace, distrib
buting it over
o
a gre
eater
num
mber of su
urfaces. Dark colored materials will absorrb most off the incide
ent energyy as soon as
a it
strik
kes. Both o
of these ca
an be usefu
ul, depending on the
e situation.
Roo
ofs often n
need to avo
oid direct ssolar gain in hot clim
mates. "Cool roofs" use
u light co
olors to refflect
most of the ssun's heat. Cool roo
of surfaces are often far more effective than
t
simplly adding roof
insu
ulation. Fo
or example
e, the surfface of a black
b
roof can easilyy get 40C
C (75F) ho
otter than the
surfface of a w
white roof on
o a sunnyy day.

Darrk colored roofs get much

m
hotterr than light colored ro
oofs

One
e common
n measurem
ment of th
his is albed
do, the ability of the
e material to reflect sunlight.
s
L
Light
colo
ored roofs have high albedo. But the measureme
m
nt most offten used for
f codes and
a standa
ards1
2
is Solar Reflecctance Inde
ex (SRI), wh
hich consid
ders both reflectance
r
and emisssivity .
SRI is a scale where 0 iss the least heat-refle
ective stand
dard blackk paint (refflectance 0.05,
0
emitta
ance
0.90
0), and 10
00 is the most hea
at-reflective standard
d white paint
p
(refle
ectance 0.80, emitta
ance
0.90
0). This means
m
that it is posssible for so
ome mate
erials to ha
ave an SRI slightly below
b
zero
o or
slightly above
e 100.
1
To be
b conside
ered a "coo
ol roof" by common standards
s
requires an
a SRI abovve 78 for flat roofs, and
abo
ove 29 for steep
s
roofss. Some tyypical value
es are belo
ow.

Mate
erial surface
e

SRI

Blac
ck acrylic paint

Typiical asphalt

White asphalt sshingle

21
1

Ligh
ht gravel-surffaced roof

37
7

Typiical concrete
e

19
9 - 52

Whitte acrylic paiint

10
00

Reflective roof m
membrane

80
0 - 110

Table of commo
on Solar Refflectance In
ndexes

Solar Reeflectance and

a absorption vs. hea
at reflection and emitttance, for common materials.
m
(click to
t enlarge.)) From Sun,, Wind, and
d Light.