Sun.
3 ft


USAF solar home in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
8 ft



Initials


??? This coverage is of the U.S. Air Force solar home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and a solar installation at Randolph AFB, Texas.

Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: BACKGROUND: Since the oil embargo four years ago, Americans have been searching for other forms of energy such as coal, nuclear, wind and solar. One very promising source comes from the sun ...solar energy for heating and cooling.

For nearly two years, an experimental solar heating installation has been in operation at the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, and unlike many test installations, this heating unit is in a home occupied by an Air Force family. The Air Force Estimates that this home will eventually save the Air Force nearly 70 per cent of the normal heating costs, compared with the other houses on the street.

Another solar installation has just been completed at Randolph Air Force Base, near San Antonio, Texas. This sixty thousand square foot shopping area gets 99 per cent of its heating and nearly two-thirds of its cooling energy from the sun.

In both installations, the sun heats water in collectors, and the heated water is stored in insulated tanks until it is needed for the system.

Some authorities estimate that if only ten per cent of the buildings in the country were equipped for solar heating and cooling, we could save the equivalent of nearly one million barrels of oil each day.