WO2013174385A1

WO2013174385A1 - A modular house, a modular housing system, a method for building a modular house and use of a modular house

Info

Publication number: WO2013174385A1
Application number: PCT/DK2013/050155
Authority: WO
Inventors: Anders BACH-SØRENSEN
Original assignee: Worldflexhome Aps
Priority date: 2012-05-24
Filing date: 2013-05-21
Publication date: 2013-11-28
Also published as: IN2014MN02466A; CN104271854A; EP2855788A1; EP2855788B1; DK2855788T3

Abstract

Disclosed is a modular house (1) comprising three or more elongated modules (2) having substantially similar height (H), wherein one or more of the three or more modules (2) are arranged to form a first sidewall (3) and one or more further modules (2) of the three or more modules (2) are arranged to form a second sidewall (4). The second sidewall (4) is arranged opposite the first sidewall (3) and the first sidewall (3) is arranged at a distance from the second sidewall (4), so that a free space (5) is arranged between the sidewalls (3, 4). The modular house (1) further comprises a roof (6) extending across the free space (5) between an upper side (7) of the first sidewall (3) and an upper side (7) of the second sidewall (4), wherein the number of modules (2) forming the vertical extent (E) of the first sidewall (3) is different from the number of modules (2) forming the vertical extent (E) of the second sidewall (4), so that one of the first and the second sidewall (4) is higher than the other. A modular housing system comprising a number of substantially identical modular houses(1) is also disclosed along with a method for building a modular house (1) being optimized towards harvesting energy from the sun and use of a modular house (1).

Description

A MODULAR HOUSE, A MODULAR HOUSING SYSTEM, A METHOD FOR BUILDING A MODULAR HOUSE AND USE OF A MODULAR HOUSE

Field of the invention

The invention relates to a modular house comprising three or more elongated modules having substantially similar height, a modular housing system comprising a number of substantially identical modular houses, a method for building a modular house being optimized towards harvesting energy from the sun and use of a modular house.

Background of the invention

Building houses out of modules for temporary human habitation is known in the art e.g. at building sites and other. And to ensure that these modules can easily be transported it is known to form the modules so that they are suited for road, train and ship transport. However this consideration limits the size of each module and a modular house therefore has to comprise a relatively large number of modules.

From WO 2011/015836 Al and US 4,854,094 it is therefore known to arrange the modules so that a free space is arranged between the modules hereby enabling that a modular house can comprise a room that is wider than the width of the individual modules. However since this free space is arranged in the middle of the house the natural lighting conditions are relatively poor and the roof construction is relatively complex. An object of the invention is therefore to provide for an advantageous technique for forming a modular house or modular housing system.

The invention

The invention provides for a modular house comprising three or more elongated modules having substantially similar height, wherein one or more of the three or more modules are arranged to form a first sidewall and one or more further modules of the three or more modules are arranged to form a second sidewall. The second sidewall is arranged opposite the first sidewall and the first sidewall is arranged at a distance from the second sidewall, so that a free space is arranged between the sidewalls. The modular house further comprises a roof extending across the free space between an upper side of the first sidewall and an upper side of the second sidewall, wherein the number of modules forming the vertical extent of the first sidewall is different from the number of modules forming the vertical extent of the second sidewall, so that one of the first and the second sidewall is higher than the other.

Making one of the sidewalls at least one module higher that the other sidewall is advantageous in that it ensures that the free space can be covered by a simple, inexpensive and durable roof construction. By in principle merely raising one side of a flat roof all the simplicity of the flat roof construction is combined with the advantageous of a sloping roof. By ensuring that the roof has a relatively steep gradient the roof is easier to drain, it is much easier to make it watertight that if it was flat, it is much easier to fit windows etc. in a sloping roof and it does not have to be designed to carry the same high load as e flat roof. And all these advantageous are achieved without having to form a traditional roof with a ridge and a downwards gradient to both sides of the ridge, which would require a complex, space consuming and expensive strengthening structure.

Furthermore, a sloping roof is ideal for mounting sunlight harvesting means - such as a solar power cell or a solar thermal collector - in that it will ensure a more optimal angle in relation to the sun without the need for an expensive and heavy mounting frame. By the term "house" is to be understood a building that serves as living quarters for one or more human beings i.e. it is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for permanent habitation by humans. By the term "free space" is to be understood that a room, a functional space or an area if formed between the first sidewall and the second sidewall given the fact that the two sidewalls are spaced apart. I.e. by the term "free space" should be understood that the area covered by the modular house is significantly more than the area covered by the sidewalls alone, so that a useful area is formed between the sidewalls i.e. an extra living room, a hallway or another form of room. In an embodiment the free space could be formed by spacing the sidewalls one meter apart, two meters apart, three meters apart, four meters apart, five meters apart, six meters apart, seven meters apart or even more meters apart. In an aspect of the invention, said modules has a substantially similar outer contour.

Forming the modules with a substantially similar outer contour is advantageous in that the modules hereby can be mass-produced which will reduce the manufacturing cost. Furthermore, a standardized outer contour ensures that also fitting, storing transport and other can be standardized and thereby further reducing cost.

In an aspect of the invention, said difference between said number of modules forming the vertical extent of said first sidewall and said number of modules forming the vertical extent of said second sidewall, is one.

If the height difference between the two sidewalls is two or more modules, the roof construction becomes more complex because of the steep gradient of the roof and the roof area becomes bigger making the roof more expensive. If the two sidewalls are constituted vertically by an equal number of modules of the same height the roof becomes flat, hereby entailing all the disadvantageous of a flat roof. Thus, a height difference of a single module ensures a sloping roof with a advantageous gradient. In an aspect of the invention, the inside distance between said first sidewall and said second sidewall - i.e. the width of the free space between said sidewalls - is bigger than the width of each of the modules forming said first sidewall and each of the modules forming said second sidewall. If the free space is narrower than the width of modules forming the sidewalls the gradient of the roof becomes too steep, hereby making the roof construction more complicated and expensive.

In an aspect of the invention, said roof extents from an upper inner corner of the higher of said first and said second sidewall to an upper outer corner of the lower of said sidewalls.

Making the roof stretch from the inner upper corner of the highest sidewall to the outer upper corner of the lowest sidewall is advantageous in that a straight and simple roof construction will also cover the lowest sidewall. Furthermore, the gradient of the roof is reduced a little making the roof angle more advantageous in relation to the sun, hereby making the roof even more advantageous for mounting sunlight harvesting means. In an aspect of the invention, said roof comprises sunlight harvesting means for harvesting energy from sunlight, such as a solar power cell or a solar thermal collector.

Since the roof according to the present invention inherently is angled to face substantially in the direction of the sun it is advantageous to utilise the outside roof surface for harvesting energy from the sun e.g. by means of one or more solar power cells to produce electrical power and/or one or more solar thermal collectors to produce heat. In an aspect of the invention, said modules are each formed as a rectangular parallelepiped, wherein each of the eight corners of said parallelepiped is provided with a twistlock fitting for stacking, locking and/or craning said modules.

Forming the modules as a rectangular parallelepiped is advantageous in that the many right angles makes them easier to manufacture and a rectangular parallelepiped is easy to stack and transport.

To ensure that the modules can be fixated during use as a house module or during storage and transportation it is advantageous to provide each corner with a twistlock fitting. Furthermore, given the existing amount of equipment suitable for handling ISO containers etc. provided with twistlock fittings, the twistlock fitting will make handling of the modules less expensive.

By the term "twistlock fitting" is to be understood a corner casting fitted at each corner of the module. The twistlock fitting has an approximate size of 7x7x4.5 inches (180x 180x 1 10 mm) and is provided with slits (which are roughly 4.1 inches (104.1 mm) long and 2.2 inches (55.9 mm) wide) so that it can act as the female part of a twistlock connector where the male component is the twistlock itself, which is fitted to e.g. a crane or transport bases. The twistlock can be inserted through the slits in the twistlock fitting whereafter then the top portion of the twistlock (normally pointed to make insertion easier) is rotated 90° so that it cannot be withdrawn. The mechanism is the same as that of a Kensington lock, but on a much larger scale. The twistlock is also known as a Tantlinger lock. In an aspect of the invention, the outer contour of said modules is substantially formed as a forty foot ISO container having an external length, width and height of approximately 12.192, 2.438 and 2.896 meters or as a twenty foot ISO container having an external length, width and height of approximately 6.058, 2.438 and 2.896 meters.

Forming the modules as a standardized forty or twenty foot container is advantageous in that the modules then can be transported efficiently and inexpensively within the global containerized intermodal freight transport system.

An ISO container - also known as freight container, intermodal container, shipping container, hi-cube container, box, conex box and sea can - is a standardized reusable box used for the safe, efficient and secure storage and movement of materials and products within the global containerized intermodal freight transport system.

In an aspect of the invention, one or both of said first sidewall and said second sidewall further comprises more than one module arranged end to end in the longitudinal direction of said modules. Placing more than one module end to end in one or both sidewalls is advantageous in that it provides for a simple and inexpensive way to increase the size of the house or reduce the size of the individual modules.

The invention further provides for a modular housing system comprising a number of substantially identical modular houses according to any of previously mentioned modular houses, wherein the outer long side of the second sidewall of a first modular house is arrange adjacent to the outer long side of the first sidewall of a further modular house. In certain areas of the globe the price of land is extremely high and if modular houses have to be attractive financially and with regards to design, it is not attractive to build modular houses having a height above a certain level. And if the modular houses are formed as cubes it is also not attractive to place them close together in than inflow of light can only be made from the relatively small vertical gables or the relatively small roof area making such houses unattractive for human habitation.

However, by forming the modular house with sidewalls of significantly different height it is possible to form an extra facade on the house hereby enabling a desirable inflow of light from also at least one side of the house, even if the modular houses are arranged directly side by side.

By the term "adjacent" is to be understood that the outer long side of the second sidewall of a first modular house is arrange abutting, immediately next to or at least very close - i.e. within a few centimetres such as one or five centimetres - to the outer long side of the first sidewall of a further modular house.

In an aspect of the invention, the outer long side of said one or more modules forming the lowest of said first sidewall and said second sidewall is facing in the general direction of the zenith position of the sun i.e. between 45° and -45° such as between 25° and -25° of the zenith position of the sun and said one or more modules forming the highest of said first sidewall and said second sidewall is arranged parallel with said first sidewall in a position behind said first sidewall in relation to said zenith position of the sun.

Making the lowest sidewall face in the general direction of the zenith position of the sun is advantageous in that the sloping roof surface hereby is arranged to face the sun most of the time, making the roof surface of a modular house according to the present invention particularly suitable for mounting sunlight harvesting means. Naturally, a flat roof could be provided with a frame structure which could carry the sunlight harvesting means and face them in the direction of the sun no matter how the house is orientated, but such a frame is costly and will add an extra load to the roof structure.

Even further the invention provides for a method for building a modular house being optimized towards harvesting energy from the sun. The modular house comprises three or more elongated modules having substantially similar height and the method comprises the steps of: placing a first module of the three or more modules to form at least part of a first sidewall of the modular house, wherein the outer elongated side of the module is facing in the general direction of the zenith position of the sun,

· placing a second module of the three or more modules parallel with the first module at a distance from the first sidewall and behind the first sidewall in relation to the zenith position of the sun to form at least part of a second sidewall of the modular housing and so that a free space is formed between the first sidewall and the second sidewall,

· placing a third module of the three or more modules parallel with and vertically on top of the second module,

optionally placing one or more modules vertically on top of the first module and the third module provided that the second sidewall vertically is at least one module higher than the first sidewall,

· mounting a roof between an upper side of the first sidewall and an upper side of the second sidewall, wherein the outside of the roof comprises pre- mounted sunlight harvesting means, or

mounting a roof between an upper side of the first sidewall and an upper side of the second sidewall and subsequently mounting sunlight harvesting means on the outside of the roof. Forming the modular house so that the lowest sidewall face in the general direction of the zenith position of the sun is advantageous in that the roof suspended between the two sidewalls will also face in the general direction of the zenith position of the sun in an angle towards the sun, which will make it particularly suitable for mounting sunlight harvesting means.

By the term "general direction of the zenith position of the sun" is to be understood that the outer elongated side of the module is facing between 45° and -45°, preferably between 25° and -25° and most preferred between 15° and -15° of the zenith position of the sun.

In an aspect of the invention, said method is a method for building a modular house according to any of modular houses previously mentioned.

Hereby is achieved an advantageous embodiment of the invention.

The invention also provides for use of a modular house according to any of the previously mentioned modular houses for permanent human habitation.

Forming a shed, a storage or temporary accommodation from one or more containers might be acceptable and appealing for a short period of time but if a modular house has to function as permanent human habitation, aspects such as inflow of natural light inside the house, durability and quality of the roof construction becomes highly important, hereby making a modular house according the present invention particularly suited for permanent human habitation.

Figures

The invention will be described in the following with reference to the figures in which illustrates a modular house comprising three elongated modules, as seen in perspective, illustrates a modular house comprising seven elongated modules, as seen in perspective, illustrates a modular house where the roof extents from an inner upper corner of one sidewall to an outer upper corner of the other sidewall, as seen from the front, illustrates a modular house where the roof extents from an inner upper corner of one sidewall to an inner upper corner of the other sidewall, as seen from the front, illustrates a modular house where the roof extents all the way across both sidewalls and the free space, as seen from the front, illustrates a modular housing system, as seen in perspective, illustrates a module formed by a standard 20 foot container, as seen in perspective, and illustrates a twistlock fitting, as seen in perspective.

Detailed description

Fig. 1 illustrates a modular house 1 comprising three elongated modules 2, as seen in perspective. In this embodiment of the invention the first sidewall 3 is formed by one module 2 and the second sidewall 4 is formed by two modules 2 stacked vertically on top of each other. Since all the modules 2 in this embodiment are of similar outer contour and thereby have a similar height H, this house design will make the second sidewall 4 approximately twice as high as the first sidewall 3. However, in another embodiment the modules 2 might have different outer contours as long as at least three of them have substantially similar height H. In this embodiment all the modules 2 are formed as a rectangular parallelepiped in that all the modules 2 substantially has the outer contour of a forty foot ISO container 10 having an external length EL, width EW and height EH of approximately 12.192, 2.438 and 2.896 meters. However in another embodiment of the invention one or more of the modules 2 could be formed differently with outer measurements which do not comply with the ISO standard for shipping containers.

In this embodiment the two sidewalls 3, 4 are spaced apart hereby forming a free space 5 between the sidewalls 3, 4. In this embodiment the width I of the free space 5 is 4 meters making the width I of the free space 5 bigger than the width W of each of the three modules 2 forming the sidewalls 3, 4 but in another embodiment the inside distance I between the sidewalls 3, 4 could be bigger such as 4.5, 5, 5.5 or 6 meters or it could be smaller such as 3.5, 3, 2.5, 2 or 1.5 meters.

In this embodiment of the invention a roof 6 is suspended between the upper inner corner 12 of the highest sidewall 4 and the upper outer corner 13 of the lowest sidewall 3 so that also the first sidewall 3 is covered by the roof 6.

Fig. 2 illustrates a modular house 1 comprising seven elongated modules 2, as seen in perspective. In this embodiment of the invention the first sidewall 3 is formed by four

substantially identical modules 2 arranged to form two stacks placed end to end and the second sidewall 4 is formed by three modules 2 stacked vertically on top of each other making the difference between the number of modules 2 forming the vertical extent E of the first sidewall 3, and the number of modules 2 forming the vertical extent E of the second sidewall 4, one. However, in another embodiment the highest sidewall 3, 4 could be 2, 3 or 4 modules higher than the lowest sidewall 3, 4.

In this embodiment all the modules 2 are formed as a rectangular parallelepiped in that the modules 2 forming the second sidewall 4 has the outer contour of a forty foot ISO container whereas the modules 2 forming the first sidewall 3 has the outer contour of a twenty foot ISO container 10 having an external length EL, width EW and height EH of approximately 6.058, 2.438 and 2.896 meters. Since the sidewalls 3, 4 never are of equal height H, a straight roof 6 extending between the upper side 7 of the sidewalls 3, 4 will inherently have a downwards gradient and if this sloping roof surface 6 is arranged to face substantially in the general direction of the zenith position of the sun, the roof surface 6 will face the sun most of the day. In this embodiment the house 1 is placed on the northern

hemisphere and the roof 6 is therefore arranged to face in a general southern direction e.g. between southwest and southeast. On the southern hemisphere the roof 6 would then face in a general northern direction e.g. between northwest and northeast. This will make the roof surface 6 more or less ideal for mounting sunlight harvesting means 8 for harvesting energy from sunlight. Thus, in this embodiment of the invention the roof 6 is provided with a solar power cell to produce electrical power and a solar thermal collector to produce heat. In this embodiment the roof 6 is also provided with a skylight 15 to ensure a pleasant indoor environment in the free space 5. The modular houses 1 illustrated in all the figures are shown without any kind of facing, covering or sheathing, however in a preferred embodiment of the invention at least the open ends of the free space 5 will comprise some kind of wall structure. This wall structure may in an embodiment also cover one or more of the outer surfaces of the modules 2. The wall structure may be of a permanent nature or it may be easily exchangeable so that new facing can be mounted e.g. if the old ones are worn or has gone out of style.

In figs. 1 and 2 the modules 2 are illustrated without windows or doors but it is evident that all the modules comprises at least one door to allow access to the inside of the module 2 and that at least some of the modules are provided with one or more windows.

In a preferred embodiment the doors and the windows are mounted in the modules 2 at the module manufacturing plant. In fact in a preferred embodiment most of the interior of the modules 2 are pre-fitted at the module manufacturing plant. I.e. one module 2 could be pre-fitted with a complete kitchen including suitable inner wall covering, flooring, kitchen cupboard, domestic appliances, electrical installations, pluming and so on. The same module 2 could also be pre-fitted with a bathroom and/or toilet so that all pluming preferably is limited to one module in the finished modular house 1. The main circuit breaker panel would preferably also be placed in this module 2 so that so that all or at least substantially all external connections - such as electricity, water, district heating, telecommunications, sewer, drain etc. - is made to only one of the modules 2 forming the house 1 hereby simplifying the installation procedure.

The other modules could then be pre-fitted to act as a hall, bedrooms, living rooms, offices or similar and given the size of the free space 5 this could act as a living room or similar. However, since the room formed by the free space 5 is only formed after the sidewalls 3, 4 have been positioned at the erection site of the house 1, the function of this room can be decided at a later stage. Only flooring, staircase to the first floor etc. would have to be fitted in the free space 5 after positioning of the sidewalls 3, 4. During transportation the roof 6, the flooring (not shown) and staircase (not shown) of the free space and other items could be temporarily placed inside one or more of the modules 2 or one or more of the external items (to the modules) could be transported in a separate dedicated shipping container. Generally, the roof 6 will always extent from the upper side 7 of one sidewall 3, 4 to the upper side 7 of the other sidewall 3, 4 but this can be done is different ways. Fig. 3 illustrates a modular house 1 where the roof 6 extents from an inner upper corner 12 of one sidewall 3, 4 to an outer upper corner 13 of the other sidewall 3, 4, as seen from the front, Fig. 4 illustrates a modular house 1 where the roof 6 extents from an inner upper corner 12 of one sidewall 3, 4 to an inner upper corner 14 of the other sidewall 3, 4, as seen from the front and Fig. 5 illustrates a modular house 1 where the roof 6 extents all the way across both sidewalls 3, 4 and the free space 5, as seen from the front. Preferably the roof 6 is arranged as disclosed in fig. 3 in that this provides for a simple roof construction having an advantageous angle in relation to the sun even if the difference between number of modules 2 in the sidewalls 3, 4 is only one. In the embodiment shown in fig. 3 the roof 6 also extends over the upper side 7 of the highest sidewall 3, 4 in an angle but in another embodiment the roof 6 could end at the upper inner corner 12 of the highest sidewall 3, 4 e.g. if the highest sidewall 3, 4 was provided with its own independent roof.

Fig. 6 illustrates a modular housing system 11, as seen in perspective. In this embodiment of the invention the modular housing system 11 comprises a number of substantially identical modular houses 1 arranged against each other side by side in that the outer long side of the second sidewall 4 of a first modular house 1 is arrange adjacent to the outer long side of the first sidewall 3 of a further modular house 2. Thus, at least one outer side of the modules 2 in the ground floor of the houses 1 is complete covered by an outer side of a module 2 of another house 1, hereby limiting the access of natural light in the individual houses 1 and particularly in the houses 1 having adjacent houses 1 on both sides. To compensate for this limitation is access of natural light the sloping roof 6 is in this embodiment provided with a skylight 15 and the first floor module 2 of the highest sidewall 3, 4 is provided with windows 17 on the free facade.

The present modular housing system 11 is erected on the southern hemisphere so in this embodiment of the invention the houses 1 are orientated so that the roof 6 face in the general direction of the zenith position of the sun, which in this case is north, and each of the roofs 6 are provided with sunlight harvesting means 8.

In this embodiment of the invention the modular housing system 11 is formed by only three neighboring modular houses 1 but in another embodiment of the invention the modular housing system 11 could comprise four, five, six, seven, eight, ten or more houses 1 arranges side by side or the modular housing system 11 could comprise only two houses 1 arranged side by side.

Fig. 7 illustrates a module 2 formed by a standard 20 foot container 10, as seen in perspective. Each corner of the module 2 is in this embodiment provided with a twistlock fitting 9. The slits 16 in the twistlock fitting 9 are not shown in this illustration but as it can be seen in fig. 8. The twistlock fittings 9 are provided with slits enabling access for the male part of a twistlock fixation device, lifting device or other. Fig. 8 illustrates a close up of a twistlock fitting 9, as seen in perspective. The twistlock fitting 9 is typically made of steel and is welded to the module 2 structure but it could also be made in a different material and connected by means screws, bolts, rivets or similar. Each twistlock fitting 9 is in this embodiment provided with a slit 16 on each of the three sides.

The invention has been exemplified above with reference to specific examples of modular houses 1, sunlight harvesting means 8, modules 2 and other. However, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular examples described above but may be designed and altered in a multitude of varieties within the scope of the invention as specified in the claims.

List

1. Modular house

2. Module

3. First sidewall

4. Second sidewall

5. Free space

6. Roof

7. Upper side of sidewall

8. Sunlight harvesting means

9. Twistlock fitting

10. ISO container

11. Modular housing system

12. Upper inner corner of the highest sidewall

13. Upper outer corner of the lowest sidewall

14. Upper inner corner of the lowest sidewall

15. Skylight

16. Slit

17. Window

S. Southern direction

N. Northern direction

EL. External length of ISO container

EW. External width of ISO container

EH. External height of ISO container

H. Height of module

E. Vertical extent of sidewall

I. Inside distance between sidewalls/width of free space W. Width of module

Claims

1. A modular house (1) comprising three or more elongated modules (2) having substantially similar height (H), wherein one or more of said three or more modules (2) are arranged to form a first sidewall (3), one or more further modules (2) of said three or more modules (2) are arranged to form a second sidewall (4), wherein said second sidewall (4) is arranged opposite said first sidewall (3) and wherein said first sidewall (3) is arranged at a distance from said second sidewall (4) so that a free space (5) is arranged between said sidewall s (3, 4), and said modular house (1) further comprising a roof (6) extending across said free space (5) between an upper side (7) of said first sidewall (3) and an upper side (7) of said second sidewall (4), and wherein the number of modules (2) forming the vertical extent (E) of said first sidewall (3) is different from the number of modules (2) forming the vertical extent (E) of said second sidewall (4), so that one of said first and said second sidewall (4) is higher than the other.

2. A modular house (1) according to claim 1, wherein said modules (2) have a substantially similar outer contour.

3. A modular house (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said difference between said number of modules (2) forming the vertical extent (E) of said first sidewall (3) and said number of modules (2) forming the vertical extent (E) of said second sidewall (4) is one.

4. A modular house (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the inside distance (I) between said first sidewall (3) and said second sidewall (4) - i.e. the width (I) of the free space (5) between said sidewalls (3, 4) - is bigger than the width (W) of each of the modules (2) forming said first sidewall (3) and each of the modules (2) forming said second sidewall (4).

5. A modular house (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said roof (6) extents from an upper inner corner (12) of the higher of said first and said second sidewall (4) to an upper outer corner (13) of the lower of said sidewalls (3, 4).

6. A modular house (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said roof (6) comprises sunlight harvesting means (8) for harvesting energy from sunlight, such as a solar power cell or a solar thermal collector.

7. A modular house (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said modules (2) are each formed as a rectangular parallelepiped, wherein each of the eight corners of said parallelepiped is provided with a twistlock fitting (9) for stacking, locking and/or craning said modules (2).

8. A modular house (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the outer contour of said modules (2) is substantially formed as a forty foot ISO container (10) having an external length (EL), width (EW) and height (EH) of approximately 12.192, 2.438 and 2.896 meters or as a twenty foot ISO container (10) having an external length (EL), width (EW) and height (EH) of approximately 6.058, 2.438 and 2.896 meters.

9. A modular house (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein one or both of said first sidewall (3) and said second sidewall (4) further comprises more than one module (2) arranged end to end in the longitudinal direction of said modules

(2) .

10. A modular housing system (11) comprising a number of substantially identical modular houses (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the outer long side of said second sidewall (4) of a first modular house (1) is arrange adjacent to the outer long side of said first sidewall (3) of a further modular house (1).

11. A modular housing system (11) according to claim 10, wherein the outer long side of said one or more modules (2) forming the lowest of said first sidewall (3) and said second sidewall (4) is facing in the general direction of the zenith position of the sun i.e. between 45° and -45° such as between 25° and -25° of the zenith position of the sun and said one or more modules (2) forming the highest of said first sidewall

(3) and said second sidewall (4) is arranged parallel with said first sidewall (3) in a position behind said first sidewall (3) in relation to said zenith position of the sun.

12. A method for building a modular house (1) being optimized towards harvesting energy from the sun, wherein said modular house (1) comprises three or more elongated modules (2) having substantially similar height (H), said method comprising the steps of:

• placing a first module (2) of said three or more modules (2) to form at least part of a first sidewall (3) of said modular house (1), wherein the outer elongated side of said module (2) is facing in the general direction of the zenith position of the sun,

• placing a second module (2) of said three or more modules (2) parallel with said first module (2) at a distance from said first sidewall (3) and behind said first sidewall (3) in relation to said zenith position of the sun to form at least part of a second sidewall (4) of said modular housing and so that a free space (5) is formed between said first sidewall (3) and said second sidewall (4), • placing a third module (2) of said three or more modules (2) parallel with and vertically on top of said second module (2),

• optionally placing one or more modules (2) vertically on top of said first module (2) and said third module (2) provided that said second sidewall (4) vertically is at least one module (2) higher than said first sidewall (3),

• mounting a roof (6) between an upper side (7) of said first sidewall (3) and an upper side (7) of said second sidewall (4), wherein the outside of said roof (6) comprises pre-mounted sunlight harvesting means (8), or

• mounting a roof (6) between an upper side (7) of said first sidewall (3) and an upper side (7) of said second sidewall (4) and subsequently mounting sunlight harvesting means (8) on the outside of said roof (6).

13. A method according to claim 12, wherein said method is a method for building a modular house (1) according to any of claims 1-11.

14. Use of modular house (1) according to any of claims 1-11 for permanent human habitation.