Serapis J.

I have been experimenting with this application for some time now. I have found that water is an excellent heat transfer medium (relative to air). It will readily absorb radiant heat and release it to a thermal storage medium (such as a subfloor gravel bed.) In a simple circulating loop this works fine when temps are above freezing, however shortly after sundown when your circ. pump shuts down any water in the portion of the line outside will freeze if not drained out. One alternative is to use ethylene glycol as a transfer medium rather than water, or if you would rather not run antifreeze under your floor or through your walls, you could utilize a second heat transfer loop of EC/h2o where an insulated transfer tank kept outside, will circulate water through the interior loop and EC through the collector loop. None of these methods however, approaches the effiency and promise of hydrated salts as a latent heat bank. Na+, Mg+,Li+, sulfate or nitrate will collect heat as a liquid while the sun shines and then release it's latent heat as it solidifies as temps drop to freezing. These PCMs (phase change materials) are being utilized for both heating and cooling applications and if purchased in raw form and mixed DIY are realitively cheap. There are many companies clamoring for patents of proprietarty blends with specific properties (and collecting a handsome return for their R&D!) but these compounds are inexpensive and not particularly hazardous with proper handling and storage. There are some challenges to be overcome involving the settling and separating of the matrix over time but I am really jazzed about the possiblities. As the heat is released by the salt bed through the night, your circ. pump will continue to pumping heat into your home. I am limited by my residence (renting) as to just how much I can experiment with this but if any of you have the means and inclination I would love to hear your experience!

Just one little reactor core breech could ruin your whole day! (for the next 10,000 yrs.) not to mention that after more than 50 yrs. of commercial operation, there is still no viable plan to handle Nuclear Waste. Irreversible genetic mutation by radiation poses the greatest known threat to the future of human DNA. Is it really worth the consequences when the world is finally ripe to push forward in R&D of green technologies. If we would have started in the 70's during the "energy crisis" there is no question that the problems which we are facing down presently in the form of skyrocketing fuel prices, pollution, and even quite possibly the boogyman himself "Global Warming!" would be greatly mitigated. We turned away from Nuclear Power decades ago for the same reasons we find it objectionable today, nothing has changed accept for maybe the dwindling supply of uranium/plutonium which isn't exactly a renewable resource nor is it cheap!

I am enjoying this thread immensely, you guys have turned up more on the Vesica Pisces than I have read anywhere! I do have a minor conundrum though. I am designing a earthen dome house of 2 intersecting semi spheres which make up the Vesica Pisces. I am also incorporating phi into my structure of the diameter of my semi spheres being (34') as in (34/21) Fibocinni. My inclination is to set the center of my second diameter @ (21') phi from my original. The intersection of the diameters creates the arcs of the Vesica Pisces but it is not a true Vesica Pisces. can you see a way which I can incorporate both aspects into my design?

I think you are on the right track with your solar distiller, only I would consider hybridizing with a solar Brine concentrator to optimize efficiency. As I am not an expert in the field I would be hard pressed to describe the difference technically, other than the fact that a BC utilizes certain membranes which separate the condensate (water vapor) from the collector plate. Sounds rather complex although I have read that their construction can be simple and inexpensive (relative to Reverse Osmosis). This is something I plan to experiment with as well, as I also live in a desert! I am also looking into grey water recovery for waste water use, and lastly Dry Composting toilets. All of these technologies may seem fringe and extreme, at least they did a decade ago, however I think in the near term they will be widely adopted and assimilated. Necessity is the mother of invention, or was that Frank Zappa? any way good luck & keep posting your discoveries.

Glad to have found your forum, I expect to be more of an observer here than a contributer. I may from time to time inject my own obtuse perspective, but I'll be posing many more questions than dispensing answers.