CA2412028A1 - Sun tracking panel for a solar house and a solar house equipped with the sun tracking panel - Google Patents

Abstract

A sun tracking panel for a solar house includes a support structure having a horizontally oriented arcuate mounting face. Horizontal guide rails are attached to arcuate mounting face of the support structure. A solar panel support is mounted on the guide rails.
A solar panel is supported by the solar panel support. A drive system is provided for moving the solar panel support along the guide rails, so that the solar panel tracks horizontal movement of the sun. It is preferred that the solar panel be mounted to the solar panel support for pivotal movement about a substantially horizontal pivot axis in order to better track the sun as its height changes in the sky during the year. It is also preferred that the support structure be incorporated into the solar house.

Description

TITLE OF THE INVENTION:
Sun Tracking Panel for a Solar House and a Solar House equipped with the Sun Tracking Panel FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of solar energy systems and, in particularly to the field of solar energy applications and systems for fulfilling the energy needs of a single-family house. The solar energy system and house structure as developed, from an innovative, cost-effective, solution for supplying a single-family house with electricity, hot 1 o water and with space and heating. More specifically, the invention relates to a sun tracking panel for a solar house and a solar house that is equipped with such a sun tracking panel including energy collecting system, solar collector arrangement and generated energy management, distribution, and backup systems.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
One of the emerging environmental concerns, especially in the developed countries, is excessive emission of COa with desire for substantial COa emission reduction before 2012.

2 o It is expected that a combination of different approaches will be required in the next 12 years to meet the COZ emission reduction target as set in the Kyoto Agreement.
Significant reduction of COa emissions can be achieved by direct application of solar energy for the generation of electricity and heat. The most promising and realistic solution is construction of the specially design houses and the development of the solar-based energy system that can be applicable for not only the grid-connected houses in the residential areas but also for off grid small communities.
Presently, using advanced solar technologies and proper house design it is possible to develop a solution that provides more than 90% of the home's total energy needs. The environment friendly house design integrates an efficient solar energy system with an environmentally responsive house design. The purpose of the invention is to develop solar technologies that have the potential to provide cost-competitive energy source for houses.
The claimed invention is a solution for a single-family house that applies solar energy to satisfy a single-house energy needs in terms of the electricity, heating and hot water.
A number of solutions are offered to utilize the solar energy for the purpose of supporting the single family house energy needs. However, so far, none of them fully 1 o covers the house energy needs, especially when the house is located in the cold region area. In most cases solar photovoltaic batteries or thermal systems are installed on the existing houses and located on the roofs, on the walls or as a standing alone.
These systems are stationary (not tracking) and as a result their efficiency is very low because of reduced solar irradiation.
A wide variety of different solar energy utilizing houses designs could be found in the practice. In most cases these are typical houses adopted, or modified for the purpose of solar energy applications. Interesting examples described in the literature are the Maine Solar House, Van Geet Residence, and especially the Gemini solar house.
The Maine Solar House applies the solar energy to generate electricity and hot water. The Maine Solar House is equipped with a roof mounted, stationary PV
array with surface of 36 m2 and solar thermal modules with 45 m2 collecting area covering the South exposed portion of the roof. It also contains two water tanks (2 m3 each) for heat storage, 2 5 have improved wall insulation and propane backup for heat, cooking and drying clothes.
The disadvantages of the Maine Solar House solution are: reduced system efficiency (not tracking system), large occupied area, possibility of snow deposits formation during winter disturbing system operation and water leakages possibility during summer.

The van Geet Residence one is a specifically designed house with many different elements implemented. The solution as presented is grid-independent home with I kW
photovoltaic ground located PV system to provide power and with active solar system for domestic hot water and space heating system. The solar energy system is supplemented by a wood-burning stove, energy-efficient appliance and lighting. The van Geet Residence is passive solar house with the Trombe walls (glazed concrete blocks wall). Propane is used as a seamless backup when solar energy is not available and also is used for cooking and clothes drying. The van Geet Residence energy saving solution was recognized with a 1 o first-place Technology Award by the American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) in 2001 Winter Meeting in Atlanta and was also .awarded by the U.S. DOE Office of Building Technology in 2000 for this sort of the structure.
1 s The main deficiencies of the van Geet Residence are: ground location of the solar system occupying an additional space, exposure to potential damages, covering with snow during winter and reduced efficiency as a stationary system.
Another very interesting example of solar house is the rotate-able Gemini house. It 2 o was constructed in June 2001 in Austria and it turns with the sun to increase the amount of collected solar energy. It represents a completely new approach to improve the solar system collecting efficiency. As a result of sun tracking, it collects more energy then typical stationary systems. The big disadvantage is the complex and expensive house structure to facilitate the house rotation, which seems to be not practical.
The house design offered in U.S. Patent 5,259,363 [Peacock) describes a solar roofing panel system for use in residential and commercial buildings applying conventional metal roofing components. The system collects thermal energy and delivers it to heat the house. It also, by application of the photavoltaic batteries, provides electrical energy. In the preferred embodiment the system employs an air-to-liquid system.
The solution, described in U.S. Patent 4,517,958 [Worf], offers heating and cooling s system with exchangers that are mounted on both northern and southern exposures, and can accomplish a combination of functions either separately or at the same time to meet varying energy demand situations.
The solar house design with photovoltaic batteries, as given in U.S. Patent l0 5,542,989 [Yukimi], offers the solution with a solar battery that is formed of a plurality of solar cells connected in series to form a solar cell row arranged parallel to the crosspieces.
The solution offers solution for the roof that includes a plurality of crosspieces arranged parallel to each other, and solar battery roofing for the solar house is fixed to the crosspieces.
The solar house design according with U.S. Patent 4.317,443, (Masaru] offers solution that has two walls. The outer wall made of heat absorbing and transmitting material and inner wall made of heat insulating material. There are two chambers. The area between the outer and inner wall defines an outer chamber and an inner chamber is 2 o defined to be the area within the inner wall. By changing direction of flow between the chambers and rearrangement of the passageway heating and cooling effects are generated.
U.S. Patent 4,928,444 [Mitsukazu) describe the solar house with a passive solar system that has a roof which enables changing of the angle of inclination according to the 2 5 season to allow different sunshine utilization. A house structure has two downwardly inclined roof surfaces (south and north orientated). South and north side openings extend upwardly through the roof surfaces on opposite sides of the ridge and a shaft is rotatable along the top ridge. A roof board selectively closes one of the south and north side openings.
The system presented in U.S. Patent 4,197,993 [Trombe] comprises inclined thermal enclosure forming all or part of the roofing of the house, bound by an inner roof s element, essentially constituted by a collector material of very low thermal mass that absorbs solar radiation. An outer covering element also of very low thermal mass, is made of material transparent to solar radiation and behaves as an opaque material to infrared radiation of wavelength between 4 and 30 microns. The circulation of air through the duct formed between these enclosures is used for house air conditioning.
The solution of the house described in U.S. Patent 4,323,053 [McCullough] is equipped with combined transparent front wall and heat trap, a radiation absorbent collector element positioned in the housing and arranged to accept incident solar radiation passing through the front wall. The combined front wall and heat trap are integrally 1 s formed from one piece from glass. The house is also equipped with a means for passing a fluid to be heated through a heat collector.
The U.S. Patent 4,128,124 [Worthington] describes mufti-mode solar heating and cooling system equipped with a solar collector/heat exchanger unit. The unit is used for 2o air and /or liquid, has an air compartment through which air is circulated and has a liquid compartment through which liquid is circulated from a liquid storage tank.
Liquid from the tank may be selectively circulated through the solar collector/heat exchanger unit (or cooling evaporator) for appropriate heating (or chilling) of the liquid, which is employed for treating the air circulating through the solar collector/heat exchanger unit. Auxiliary 2 s heating and cooling coils are provided within the storage tank for standby heating or chilling of the conventional heating and cooling devices.
The design described in the U.S. Patent 4,237,865 [Lorenz] has a thermal panel mounted on the side of a building, in vertical position. A longitudinal passage extends within the panel and is equipped with lower and upper passageway into the lower and upper portions of the building to be heated. In some situations, the photovoltaic arrays or thermal panels are located next to the house using special supporting structure, or towers, s that are located on the ground.
In many cases these types of systems are sun tracking and quite often use concentrators. A solar concentrator far producing electricity and heat is described in the U.S. Patent 6,080,927 [Johnson]. The solution as described, uses a self steering heliostat 1 a to concentrate solar radiation onto an absorbing surface such as a solar cell array, meanwhile removing heat from the surface with fluid heat transfer means, then making effective use of that low-grade heat. The 3ohnson reference uses generated electricity to pump a fluid through a heat exchanger and excess of electricity may be available fox local storage or use. However, the solution with the heliastat requires additional space outside 15 the house and needs a solid support structure (especially for a large systems).
The solution as in U.S. Patent 4,187,834 [Hoinski] presents a solar heating system for space and hot water heating. The solar heat-absorbing panel is used. The panel can be positioned away from the building and follows the sun movement.
Most of solutions for the solar energy collection, as described in the patent review, offer systems that address only partial solution, in terms of house and energy system integration, the house structure optimization, collecting system efficiency improvement or adaptation for the harsh Canadian weather conditions. In most cases the solar photovoltaic arrays or thermal systems modules are installed on the existing houses and located on the roofs or on the walls.
In the conventional solar houses, the photovoltaic or thermal solar panels are mounted separately and are stationary. As a result, the production capacity of the system is underutilized and the maximum production is achieved only during short, mid-day period theirs efficiency is very low because of reduced isolation.
s The existing roof mounted stationary systems are experiencing many problems like snow build-up, water leakages, and mechanical damage (e.g. hail). The wall, vertically mounted, panels that are obviously stationary, are not efficient as a result of the not optimized incidence angle (tilt). When mounted as a sloped they require a strong support to prevent braking by wind.
None of the discussed systems, except may be for the Gemini house, is fully integrated with the house structure to optimize the solar energy system performance and reduce the costs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
What is required is an improved sun tracking panel for a solar house. The solar house design and energy system as proposed in this patent offers a quite new concept that offers exceptional efficiency and performance, and specifically is advantageous for applications in the regions with cold, long winters and a harsh climate.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a sun tracking panel for a solar house which includes a support structure having a horizontally oriented axcuate mounting face. Horizontal guide rails are attached to arcuate mounting face of the support structure. A solar panel support is mounted on the guide rails. A
solar panel is 2 5 supported by the solar panel support. A drive system is provided for moving the solar panel support along the guide rails, so that the solar panel tracks horizontal movement of the sun.

The sun tracking panel, as described above, enables the solar panel to track movement of the sun across the horizon. Of couse, during the course of the year the height of the sun in the sky will vary. Even more beneficial results may, therefore, be obtained when the solar panel is mounted to the solar panel support for pivotal movement about a substantially horizontal pivot axis. A drive system is provided for pivoting the solar panel about the horizontal pivot axis to track vertical movement of the sun. The ability to pivot the solar panel about the horizontal pivot axis improves the ability of the solar panel to track the sun.
1 o Although the support structure can be placed anywhere on the properly of the solar house, it is preferred that the support structure be incorporated into the solar house. It is also preferred that the arcuate mounting face be semi-circular, to maximize travel of the solar panel.
Although there are a variety of heat gathering technologies that would be suitable for use with this sun tracking panel, it is preferred that the solar panel have a series of photo voltaic battery arrays and series of thermal solar collectors. These photo-voltaic arrays and the thermal collectors may be assembled together as a hybrid module with transparent or semi-transparent photo-voltaic modules positioned in front of the thermal solar collectors.
There will hereinafter be described a new home design and solar energy collecting system utilizing the sun tracking panel which is targeting grid-connected dwellings. The solar house design has a highly efficient, mufti-mode energy supplying system, based mostly on the solar energy application and covers all energy needs of the detached house.
It can be also applied in the remote, off grid areas with houses or small communities. It offers a solution for supplying the single-family house with electrical power and thermal energy necessary to generate hot water and to heat the house. The house is designed mainly for cold regions, with a significant number of sunny days (e.g. Central Canada), but it can be applied in warm climate areas as well.
This solar house is equipped with an integrated solar energy system (ISES), which uses an efficient solar energy panel, composed of photovoltaic and thermal collectors. The solax panel tracks the sun and maximizes the amount of energy collected. The solar panel system is hybridized type with solar PV array and thermal modules mounted on the same frame. The transparent PV array is located in front of the thermal module reducing the required surface exposed to sun. The solar energy system is supplemented with a backup thermo-photovoltaic (TVP) furnace with infrared photovoltaic cells. Thus the stove 1 o generates electricity and heat, and might be used during the nighttime or during very cloudy days. The TVP furnace operation is supported by natural gas or propane combustion.
The ISES system is also characterized by significant heat storage capacity and 1 s optimized heat management system. The house structure permits a reduction in the heat losses during winter and limits solar house warming during the summer months.
The ISES
system operation is controlled by computer and responds automatically to any changes in the weather conditions.
2 o In regard to the electrical energy production capability, such a system is expected to be sufficiently powerful and efficient to deliver at least 90% of the.
house electrical energy needs. Generated energy can be tied in to the existing transmission grid at customer locations without taxing the existing infrastructure. The grid-connected system is actively exchanging the energy between the house and the grid. It is supplying the 2 s energy to the grid during daytime and recovers this energy during the evening hours.
In regard to the thermal energy production, the system is equipped with a heat storage accumulator that gathers the collected solar thermal energy during the day and releases it during the night. The proposed solution is especially advantageous in the regions with specific weather conditions such as cold climate regions with many sunny days. In this regard the central Canada and United States are well suited and very attractive regions.

By applying the active and passive solar technologies with combination of the advanced construction, improved thermal insulation and innovative energy saving cost competitive solutions are feasible. This new type house design opens doors for homebuilders to create energy-efficient, cost-effective and environmentally friendly 1 o housing.
The integration of the solar panel, with the house design structure gives significant benefits in terms of house construction, occupied space, equipment used, resources (costs) and operation. Implementation of the hybrid system (solar panel combined with thermo-photovoltaic furnace) and energy recovery and storage system, house heating system and back-up system is quite significant and gives additional benefits in terms of the reliability in power and heat supply. The option for selling the excess of the electrical energy production (day time) to the grid significantly improves the economics of the system. The invention relies on the house design modification and integration of several different 2 o technologies including the solar-based technologies, the thermal photovoltaic system (TVP), energy conversion and advanced heat storage system. These new technologies, applied together with advanced home design improved insulation and better ventilation systems, and with innovative energy saving features like low-energy appliances and lights, will bring a new perspective to fulfill the humans energy needs without harm to 2 5 environment.
The proposed combined system is sufficiently powerful to provide not only the amount of energy required to cover the house needs but potentially to generate supplemental power that can be transferred from single-family home clusters to large businesses during the day, thus reducing the power production by conventional power plants.
s Implementation of the system as invented, will significantly reduce the amount of energy to be delivered from conventional power plants and related COZ
emissions generation. According to this invention the proposed solar energy system can be regarded as a grid-connected photovoltaic power station and as a local thermal energy generator. It is expected that the application of the solar house with the integrated energy system, as 1 o proposed in this invention, could be the greatest possible single strike to resolve the C02 problem.
The main features of the solar house integrated energy system are:
1 s * Full and efficient utilization of the solar energy * The house functions on energy from the sun and, only occasionally, from natural gas * The solar house will produce a substantial amount of the electrical power that can be sold to the power grid 2 0 * The heat management system i.n optimal way collect, store and redistribute the thermal energy and minimizes heat losses (e.g. the heat losses with waste warm water) * The solar power and heat system can cooperate with the thermal photovoltaic system and as such practically it might operate as independent of traditional 2 s utilities.
The Solar House The house design and structure was developed in conjunction with the applied solar energy-collecting system (active and passive), heat storage and heat management.
The new solar house design main feature is that it implements a large solar tracking panel in the house structure and is equipped with the semicircular gallery that make glazed enclosure for the sun-tracking hybrid solar panel. The gallery application purpose is:
s formation of the thermal barrier, noise barner and shelter for the solax panel against adverse weather conditions. The ground floor front facade is made as a Trombe wall.
That wall is overshadowed is summer and exposed to sun in winter.
Hybrid Solar Panel l o A double-layer hybrid solar panel combines the transparent photovoltaic modules that absorbs on average only 10 to 15% of the solar energy, and thermal vacuum collectors adsorbing the rest. The to modules are separated with an air gap allowing free air movement. This solution prevents PV array to be heated and keep the photovoltaic cell efficiency high. The second layer of the solar panel consists of the thermal modules (e.g.
15 vacuum tubes) that heat the circulating fluid to the required temperature level without any impact on the PV array performance. As a result of implementation of the sun tracking system the effectiveness of utilization of the installed collectors is 100%
throughout the whole day. Installation of the solar panel in the air lock between the house and glass enclosure, brings additional benefits in terms of better house thermal insulation during 2 o wintertime (air-lock closed) or protection against excessive house warming during summer time by overshadowing the house and ventilation (air-lock open) and as a noise barrier.
Thenno-Photovoltaic Stove (TPV) 2 J The thermo-photovoltaic stove/generator is a recent invention that utilizes an infrared photovoltaic cell for generation of the electricity. The system is activated by flame from combustion of natural gas or propane (or any other fuel). Excess heat is used to heat house hot water and overall house heating.

The integration of the different approaches to effectively utilize solar energy reduces the house energy requirements during the winter seasons and generates the excess of the electrical energy that might be used for other applications or sold to , the grid (income).
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other features of the invention will become more apparent from the s o following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to in any way limit the scope of the invention to the particular embodiment or embodiments shown, wherein:
FIGURE 1 is a block diagram of the integrated system with distinguished components of the system.
FIGURE 2 is a pictorial representation (view and cross section) of the single-family house design, equipped with a tracking solar panel and integrated energy system.
FIGURE 3 is a presents some details of the design of the combined solar panel FIGURE 4 is presents the solar house overshadowing principle FIGURE 5 shows example of the thermal energy demand and production for the 2 o Alberta located house constructed according to the present invention.
FIGURE 6 shows example of the electrical energy needs and production potential for the Alberta located house constructed according to the present invention DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
2 5 The preferred embodiment, a sun tracking panel for a solar house, generally identified by reference numeral 10, will now be described with reference to through 6. The preferred embodiment will describe the integration of the sun tracking panel into the construction of a solar house with highly effective heat and electrical energy generating systems.
Structure and Relationship of Parts:
The solar house design illustrated applies solar energy with a view to satisfying a s single-house energy needs in terms of the electricity, space heating and hot water. It is based on the modified house design and utilization of the sun trucking hybrid solar panel, where a supporting frame is implemented into the house structure and represent an integral part of the house design.
1 o Implementation of the hybrid solar module (PV array and thermal modules assembled together) into the house structure offers many benefits. As a result, the house front wall becomes the support structure for the sun tracking combined panel.
The panel moves in a semicircular glazed gallery that is mounted on the front wall of the house.
1 s The Integrated Solar Energy System (ISES) according to this invention is bayed on a concept, which utilizes a hybrid type solar energy-collecting panel that is tracking the sun's movement.
As a result, the solar energy gain of the system is maximized because of permanent 2 0 optimal panel orientation by the sun tracking system.
Integration significantly reduces the balance-of system costs.
Solar House Features Integrated, solar tracking panel with photovoltaic array to provide electrical power and thermal collector to provide heat for space heating and hot water 2~ supply Solar panel module implemented directly into the house envelope Sloped, semicircular, south oriented and glazed house facade for maximizing the solar energy collection Narrow galiery/gap used as a solar panel compartment ° Support/backup thermal photovoltaic generator (or fuel cell) operated by combustion of propane (or natural gas) to supply electricity (1.0 kW) and heat (I 5 MJlh) 5 ° Integrated movable panel that is used also a shading device Warm drain water heat recovery system Floor heating system Overshadowing and overhang system with a natural ventilation for cooling ° Trombe walls at the ground floor front wall 10 "Reversible" connection to the grid by a inverter with net metering Solar House According to this invention the solar house design and structure was developed in 15 conjunction with the applied solar energy collecting system. The solar house design as shown in FIG. 1 consists of two segments: the rectangular north exposed segment and semicircular south exposed segment.
The rectangular, north segment of the house is constructed like typical single-2 o family house but has improved thermal insulation and tightness.
The semicircular, south oriented solar segment of the house, at the ground level comprise a Trombe wall 102 with windows 103. That wall provides support structure for the solar panel 300 located on the second floor.
The second level of the south segment is covered with the glass enclosure 201 forming a glazed narrow gallery 200 surrounding the house. The glazed gallery contains movable hybrid solar panel 300 with all mechanisms required for its movement and orientation. The solar panel 300 operates in the gallery that forms a gap between the house wall and the external glass enclosure.
The solar panel, when following the sun moves along rail 202 that is mounted around the semicircular solar house segment. On the side of the wall, below the main rail 202, there is another lower rail 203 used for supporting the tilt controlling mechanism 308.
The glass enclosure 201 works like any greenhouse effect utilizing light permeable envelope and forms a temperature buffer zone. The glass selected for the enclosure is a 1 o single-layer, high-transmittance type of glass. The enclosure protects the solar energy collecting system from adverse weather conditions (e.g. snow, wind, hail, dust) and secures its undisturbed operation. However, the gallery can be regarded also as a double purpose thermal barrier.
The gallery is equipped with air louvers, lower 205 and upper 206, that are shut-off during the winter season, keeping the gallery warm, and wide open during summer-time, for ventilation and cooling, The efficient cooling effect during the hot season is achieved by overshadowing the house with the solar tracking panel. Thus the house design permits reduction of the heat losses during the winter and prevents overheating of the house during 2 o the summer months.
That space, with the louvers, is closed during winter and open during the summer letting passage for air circulation from the exterior of the house for purpose of gallery ventilation, when the temperature grows too high.
An internal wall, between the gallery and second floor room, contain internal windows 207 that are occasionally overshadowed by the solar panel.

]. 7 Additionally the solar gallery forms an overhang 210 for overshadowing the Trombe wall 103 in the summer. In winter, the Trombe wall is fully exposed to the sun to increase the solar energy gain as shown in FIG. 2.
On the top of the house a skylight 220 was installed for using natural light to reduce the energy for I17 lighting.
Integrated Energy System The block diagram of the integrated system for supplying electricity and thermal 1 o energy for house space heating and hot water preparation is shown in FIG.
3.
The main components of the integrated energy system as shown in Figure 3 are:
The hybrid solar panel 300 with tracking system for the solar energy collection Thermal photovoltaic (TPV) or fuel cell generator 400 for producing electrical and heat energy during the coldest, winter-time period when there is not enough energy from the solar system, and it is also regarded as a backup energy system.
An alternative fox the TPV generator is a fuel cell.
Heat storage, heat exchange and hot water generating system 500 Electrical energy conversion system (inverter) 600 2 0 ~ House space heating system 700 For purpose of the efficient solar energy collection (electricity and heat generation), a sun-tracking hybrid solar panel 300 is used.
It is composed of transparent PV arrays and thermal solar modules. The electric energy collected by PV array 301 supplies the house appliances and systems, and the unbalanced amount of electrical energy is actively exchanged with grid by an inverter 600.

The heat from the thermal solar collectors 302 is removed from the solar panel by circulation and is transferred to the heat exchangerlstorage system 500.
The heat storagelexchange system 500 combines four functions. It recoveries the heat from the solar panel to heat exchanger, generates hot water, delivers heat to the house space heating system and recovers the heat from the warm waste water. The heat exchange/storage system 500 has also another function for additional supply of heat (if necessary) from the TVP generator or fuel cell 400. The thermal photovoltaic TVP system 400 is a separate unit with an ability to supply both electricity (15 to 20%) and heat, by 1 o combusting natural gas (or propane) as a fuel. As a result the TVP unit efficiency is close to 95%. This system can be used when solar energy is not available (cloudy days, night) or when additional amount of heat is required to supplement the solar system. The TVP unit has also an option to transfer, via inverter 600, the unbalanced amount of electrical energy to the grid.
The inverter 400 is used for electrical energy conversion, and distribution of the energy load between all sources of electrical energy - solar PV, thermal TVP
and grid.
Important function of the inverter is the ability for instantaneous energy exchange with the grid of the unbalanced amounts of electrical energy, that makes possible that every 2 o excessive, amount of energy that is extracted from the photovoltaic (or thermal TVP) unit is utilized. House owners can utilize that energy exchanged with grid .via net metering whenever it is needed or could be sold to the grid.
Hybrid Solar Pahel 2 s The solar panel is a large element, with the surface area of 15 to 30 mZ
that can be tilted and moved along supporting rails around the house perimeter. In the morning the panel is facing the East and during the day slowly follows the Sun until the Western side is reached. The total (horizontal) rotation angle covered is about 160'. The inclination angle of the panel is controlled independently following the sun's seasonal angle changes. The range of changes of the inclination of the solar panel is sufficient to cover seasonal sun's angle changes (for Alberta 27° in Winter and about 67° in Summer).
By the application of panels that can supply both electric and thermal kinds of energy, the energy yield per area unit can be substantially increased. Benefits of the hybrid panels in terms of costs and space are significant compared to the solar installations with separate PV and thermal modules.
The solar panel 300, as shown in FIG. 4, combines two solar elements - PV
arrays 301 and thermal modules 302 - into one hybrid panel. In effect the solar energy flux, and radiation-collecting area, is utilized to full potential (100% use). The photo-voltaic, transparent array 301 adsorbs only a small portion of the available solar energy (10 to 15%) and the rest is transmitted and absorbed by the thermal module.
Arranging the PV and thermal modules in such a way that they are separated by the air gap, prevents the PV module to be heated by the thermal module, and allows PV array to operate at the optimal temperature conditions thus avoiding loss of efficiency. In the air gap the light shatters can be applied (if required) for an option of separating of thermal modules operation form PV modules operation.
Making the hybrid panel operating as a sun-tracking system, the solar energy gain from the panel is maximized by the solar module, which permanently operates at the pick performance. Theoretically, this is the only solution that allows the extraction of all the available energy from the solar radiation.
The solution as described increases the system performance to the maximum and significantly improves the economics of its implementation. It is assumed that properly sized panel will cover about of 90% of the total energy needs (power and heat) required by the single-family house. It is also assumed that during the summer there will be excessive amount of energy generated that might be used for many different applications.
One such application for electrical energy is charging short-range electrical car. The excess of thermal energy can be used for air conditioning systems or swimming pool heating.

The panel includes two layers of for solar radiation absorption. The first layer consists of the transparent photo-voltaic battery 301 and the second the thermal absorber 302 that can be made of the vacuum tube arrangement. In between the layers is an open volume allowing passage of portion of the solar radiation from the first layer to the second 10 layer.
The arrangement and nature of the two layers keep the solar cell array relatively cool and as a result the photo-voltaic efficiency is kept high.
15 Panel assembly 300 combine both types of solar energy receivers, the photo-voltaic array and thermal absorbers assembled Like a sandwich. The first, transparent photo-voltaic layer adsorbs about 10-15% [Watt, 1999] of the solar radiation energy and thermal absorber absorbs the rest. Such arrangement prevents the overheating the photo-voltaic battery thus preventing electrical efficiency loss related to the PV module overheating.
A frame 303, rail 304 with rollers 305 that can move freely along the rail supports the assembled panel. The panel is moved with motor 307 and its tilt is controlled by the hydraulic angle changing mechanism 308.
2 5 The panel is also capable of cooling the house (by overshadowing) when the ventilation slots are open and therefore has a dual capability.
A lightweight, solar radiation-reflecting device (shutters) can be introduced in the gap between PV arrays and thermal modules to have an option to cut-off thermal module (if required) from operation of the PV array. This device is off during winter period but might be activated during very hot summer days when there is no need for heat.
The panel has means to change its position 307 and align (tilt) 308 to direction of the solar radiation, and for returning the panel to its initial, beginning of day position:
The solar panel 300 moves in the space (gallery) formed by the glass enclosure and the wall of the house. That space, with the louvers 20S and 206, is closed during winter 1 o and open during the summer letting passage for air circulation from the exterior of the house for purpose of gallery ventilation, when the temperature grows too high.
If the temperature goes too high the PV cells suffer efficiency reduction. The reduction of efficiency is in the range from 0. 1 %J°C to 0.6%J°C.
Installation of the solar panel in the air-lock gallery between the house and glass enclosure, brings additional benefits in terms of better house thermal insulation during the winter (louvers closed) or protection against excessive house warming during the summer by overshadowing the house and ventilation (louvers open).
Creation of the hybrid panel gives significant synergistic benefits: These benefits include:
The same collecting area is used for the electricity and heat generation, so the collection area used is reduced almost two times (smaller surface required) as compared with that occupied by two separate collectors Tracking system increases annual energy gain by about 50% as compared with the stationary system Cost of the supporting structure common to both modules is significantly reduced The thermal collectors work as a cooling system for the photo-voltaic array preventing overheating The moving panel perform an other energy related role working as a shield s during hot summer days, thus reducing air-conditioning energy demand Energy is generated at the point of end use and as a result transmission losses and distribution costs are minimized The integration of the solar panel, with the house design, gives significant benefits in terms of house construction, occupied space, equipment used and resources (costs).
The unique combination of the hybrid solar system, thermal photo-voltaic furnace, with grid connected inverter and heat recovery/storage system creates a very energy efficient and reliable solution for supporting the house operation. The option for selling the excess of generated electrical energy to the grid, or use it for the other purposes, significantly improves the economics of the system.
2 o The main features of the solar house integrated energy system are:
Full and efficient utilization of the solar energy (sun-trucking system maximizes the energy gain) The house relies mostly on energy from the sun a.-,id only occasionally form 2 5 natural gas The solar house will produce a substantial amount of the electrical power that can be sold to the power-grid during The house design and heat management and recovery system reduces heat losses to a minimum (e.g. the heat losses in waste warm water) The thermal photo-voltaic system generating both power and thermal energy during power outages gives the unique comfort in terms of power availability and security.
The invention as described, which serves two functions (heating and electricity supply), may also offer important benefits when applied in remote areas or areas with few resources for development of adequate housing or other building infrastructure.
1 o Although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that changes in details of structure and system may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.
EXAMPLE
Even in cold climate regions; like Central Canada, the amount of useful solar energy reaching the ground (even in winter) is greater than the daily enerlry requirements of a properly designed house.
For example for the typical house located in Edmonton area the annual insolation is about 460 GJ. The energy demand, by typical medium size detached house is about 170 GJ (electricity ~12%, hot water ~20% and space heating ~78%). By small improvements (better insulation and more tight construction, upgraded ventilation) the energy demand 2 s can be easily further reduced down to about 90 GJ per year.
For purpose of illustration, in FIG. 5 (thermal energy) and FIG. 6 (electrical energy) examples of the solar house energy generating potential and the energy demand for an Alberta located solar house constructed according to the invention for different months of year are shown.
This invention is integrating several different technologies including solar technologies, therrno-photo-voltaic systems, and advanced heat storage and energy conversion. Basically, the energy is delivered from a solar photo-voltaic and thermal modules combined together as one hybrid solar panel.
During the day the sun-tracking energy collecting, panel moves along the semi-1 o circular house perimeter in a narrow gallery (gap) between the house wall and outer glazed enclosure. The panel, when following the sun, changes its inclination (tilt) in such a way that it always stays perpendicularly orientated to the solar radiation, thus working at the maximum possible efficiency. The solar panel consists of the transparent photo-voltaic arrays combined with the solar thermal modules forming sandwich type solar panel.
Portion of the incident solar radiation, about 10 - 15%, is absorbed by a transparent photo-voltaic array and used to generate electricity. The rest of the radiation is transmitted to a second layer, forming a thermal solar module, were it is absorbed to generate heat.
Generated electrical energy is used to support electrical needs of a house with an option to 2 o transfer the excess of electrical energy to the grid (via an inverter), or could be used for other purposes e.g. to charge the electrical car battery. The heat energy-generated in the thermal modules is used for hot water preparation and for space heating.
During cold weather the thermal energy collected during the day will be stored in a heat storage/exchanger system to secure the house heat supply required during the night. The heat storage/exchanger system is used not only as a heat accumulator but is also used to recover heat from warm wastewater (bathroom, appliances). The design of the house, construction, its shape and orientation are adapted in a way to maximize the solar energy gain and minimize heat losses.

During hot, summer weather, the moving panel will work as a solar shield preventing extensive house overheating by overshadowing.
The solar energy system is supplemented with a gas operated (natural gas or propane) thermo-photo-voltaic (TVP) generator (TPV system as described in patents, US5312521, US5616186, US5651838, and US5865906 and US5942047) that has ability to generate the electrical energy and heat simultaneously. This system generally is designed to operate during winter, when both kinds of energy are required. The excess energy can be i o transferred to the grid (electrical energy) or stored in the heat storage system (thermal energy).
Because of the unsteady nature of the solar energy Generation it is preferred that the house energy system is connected to the utility grid. Using an inverter with net 1 s metering can do this. It is assumed that on sunny days that the applied system can generate a surplus of energy.
The excess of the electrical energy will be either sold to the grid or used to charge a short-range electrical car. This will further reduce the X02 emissions.
The excess of thermal energy that will be generated during the summer can be utilized for any purposes e.g. for swimming pool heating, for powering an air cooling/conditioning system, or can be transformed into other useful forms of energy. If required special shutters will be activated and will block the thermal unit from solar 2 5 radiation.
The house equipped with the integrated energy system as invented is will be grid-connected, however, it can also perform very well in the off grid applications reducing significantly the amount of house energy demand.
It is assumed, that in the grid-connected applications the house energy consumption can be reduced as much as 80-90%.
Location of the moving solar panel inside of narrow glazed gallery/enclosure is very important because the system is protected from harsh Canadian climate, is not impacted by snow and rain, and by operation inside of the enclosure reduces heat losses of the thermal collector. The enclosure also reduces house heat losses (buffer zone). During 1 o the summer the gallery is ventilated and protects the house form overheating.
The glazed gallery could be regarded as a greenhouse enclosure covering a significant portion of the house and forming a buffer zone. Its role, except for a protective role for equipment, is to apply the greenhouse effect to warm the house during the winter.
1 s During the summer that space will be well ventilated and greenhouse effect heat will be removed and dissipated to atmosphere.
The implementation of the solar tracking panel into the house structure offers further advantages; such as lower costs, improved esthetics, better weather protection and 2 o system reliability, and higher thermal efficiency.
Important feature of the proposed solution is that by sun-tracking the system operates always at the maximum possible efficiency and has the total energy production higher about 50%, when compared with a stationary system. Another advantage is that the 2 s integrated panel combines three functions, the generation of electrical energy, production of heat, and house shading/screening. That makes this solution very functional and attractive.

The houses equipped with the solar integrated. energy systems show great promise for both, grid-tied building-integrated applications and remote houses or villages, and might play a big role in resolving future energy problems.
The present invention accomplishes the following:
1 . It provides a house design that will:
I o - maximize the solar energy capture - integrate the sun-tracking solar panel with the house structure - implement glazed, greenhouse effect enclosure - use (expose) an additional surface (Trombe wall) for the solar energy capture during winter - apply the sky-light for prolonged daylight application 2. It provides the glazed enclosure that will:
form a thermal barrier (e.g. reduces the heat losses during winter, and is well ventilated during summer) 2 0 - create a weather protection shield (snow, hail, wind or rain) for the solar collector and its equipment, and let the equipment operate in the optimized conditions - form a noise barner 2 5 3. It provides highly efficient solar energy collecting system capable to deliver electrical energy, hot water and space heating 4. It provides hybrid sun tracking solar energy panel that is composed of transparent photo-voltaic (PV) arrays and thermal, vacuum tube/chamber type collectors.
Both, PV and thermal modules are mounted on the same supporting frame and can be used independently.

5. It provides hybrid sun-tracking solar energy panel that allows operate the PV array at temperatures completely independent of the temperature of the thermal solar module that in applied arrangement is used as a heat sink for PV arrays.

6. It provides a movable panel that woks as a solar shield and permanently l o overshadows the house and prevents its excessive heating during summer 7. It provides an integrated energy system that:
- actively exchanges the unbalanced electrical energy with the grid system by using net metering system 15 - is equipped with highly energy efficient backup source of energy that is thermal-photovoltaic generator using natural gas, propane or diesel oil, for simultaneous electrical and heat energy generation (it can be replaced by a fuel cell if justified) - can storage, in a heat accumulator, the excessive thermal energy for 2 o night house heating application - recovers the waste heat from warm sewer water 8. It can apply excess of generated energy in summer for electrical car charging (electrical energy), and for empowering of the air conditioning system/refrigerator, or to be 25 used for any other purpose (thermal energy).
In this patent document, the word "comprising" is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article "a" does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the elements.
It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the illustrated embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter defined in the Claims.

Claims (10)

1. A sun tracking panel for a solar house, comprising:
a support structure having a horizontally oriented arcuate mounting face;
horizontal guide rails attached to arcuate mounting face of the support structure;
a solar panel support mounted on the guide rails;
a solar panel supported by the solar panel support;
means for moving the solar panel support along the guide rails, whereby the solar panel tracks horizontal movement of the sun.

2. The sun tracking panel as defined in Claim 1, wherein the arcuate mounting face is semi-circular.

3. The sun tracking panel as defined in Claim 1, wherein the support structure is incorporated into the solar house.

4. The sun tracking panel as defined in Claim 1, wherein the solar panel is mounted to the solar panel support for pivotal movement about a substantially horizontal pivot axis, and drive means is provided for pivoting the solar panel about the horizontal pivot axis to track vertical movement of the sun.

5. The sun tracking panel as defined in Claim 1, wherein the solar panel has a series of photo voltaic battery arrays and series of thermal solar collectors.

6. The sun tracking panel as defined in Claim 5, wherein the photo-voltaic arrays and the thermal collectors are assembled together as a hybrid module with one of transparent or semi-transparent photo-voltaic modules positioned in front of the thermal solar collectors.

7. A solar house design comprising, (a) a semicircular shape south-oriented facade with guiding rails attached to the facade, or in front of the house, and supporting a movable solar panel that follows the sun and changes its orientation to be always perpendicular to the incident solar radiation, thus maximizing the energy gain by the solar panel (b) glazed enclosure on the east-south-west side of building forming narrow gallery along the building, (c) a system of controlled louvers at the bottom of said gallery (inlets) and at the roof (outlets) (d) a system of rails arranged along semicircular south facade of building inside of said gallery (e) sun-trucking solar panel supported by said rails that can be moved along the semicircular building perimeter inside the said gallery (f) semicircular, south facing, ground floor wall, made as a Trombe wall with windows that supports said gallery with the moving panel (g) an integrated energy system

8. A movable solar panel as claimed in claim 1 (e) wherein, (a) said solar panel comprise the series of photo-voltaic battery arrays and series of thermal solar collectors.
(b) said photo-voltaic arrays and thermal collectors are assembled together as a hybrid module and transparent or semi-transparent PV modules are positioned in front of said thermal solar collectors (c) said hybrid solar panel, equipped with motor or moved by chain or line, can move on the rails along the building semi-circular perimeter and can be tilted by a tilt mechanism to face the sun and follow its movement

9. A properly sized overhang that compose a bottom of the semicircular gallery, as claimed in claim 1(b), and overshadows the semi-circular first floor Trombe wall, as claimed in claim 1 (f), during summer and fully expose Trombe wall to the sun during the winter

10. An integrated energy system for the solar house as claimed in claim 1 (g) comprising, (a) the said hybrid solar panel as claimed in claim 2, independent thermal-photo-voltaic (TPV) generator, grid-connected electric inverter and heat exchanger/accumulator (b) the said integrated energy system, that can cover all energy needs of the building or house, can operate in different modes and can -supply electrical and thermal energy from said hybrid solar panel, whereas unbalanced portion of electrical energy can be transferred/sold to the grid and unbalanced thermal energy can be stored in the heat accumulator - supply electrical and thermal energy from independent PTV generator or fuel cell, whereas unbalanced portion of electrical energy can be transferred/sold to the grid and unbalanced thermal energy can be stored in the heat accumulator - supply electrical energy from the grid and thermal energy from heat accumulator - operate in any combinations of above