Heating Homes - with Mirrors

"Practical Solar wants to bring solar thermal home, but in a somewhat unusual manner.

The company has created a system for harvesting heat from the sun to heat up a house. It plants heliostats – i.e., metal poles festooned with an array of mirrors – in your lawn or a nearby patch of real estate. The mirrors collect heat and then beam it into your living room.

A computerized control system guides the heliostats to maximize the harvesting of heat.

Although you'd think that something like this might sell best in the South, where it's hot, Practical is mostly targeting New England. It's the region where people need to heat their homes.

Solar thermal water heaters have been used to replace or supplement home water heaters or pool heaters for years. A number of companies – Sopogy, Chromasun, Millennium Solar and others – now want to expand how solar heat can be exploited.  Chromasun, for instance, has a device that collects solar heat to run air conditioners. Some other companies use the heat for fluid pipe heating systems." 

Read the full article here: Heating you home with Mirrors!

Visit Practical Solar's website here: Practical Solar