Page 46 - ISES SWC50

Harry Thomason

Country: United States
Year Started Research: 1959
Title of Research: Solaris #1
University: in the field
Still Active in Research: No

“Dr Thomason built—and moved his family into—his own first sun-heated house in 1959. The fuel bill for the
initial winter season totalled a very satisfying (to the home’s designer especially) $4.65. Since that time,
he has built four other solar homes himself, and hundreds of other dwellings using his sun-power system
have been constructed through his licensing program. Every one of them has performed remarkably well. “
“THOMASON: Well, we completed the house—which, incidentally, we call Solaris No. 1—in 1959. But I had been
working on collectors and flow systems for some time before that, and actually applied for my first patent in ‘58. I
moved my family into that three-bedroom house just before the winter of 1959 hit, and we lived there until 1962.
We used only 31 gallons of oil for backup heat during the entire winter. When we finally left to move into Solaris
No. 3, the total fuel bill for three winters of residence stood at $18.90. The house was never chilly, nor did we suffer
any interruption of heating service. And by the way, that house is still in operation today, receiving the majority
of its heat from the sun, and having undergone only minor routine maintenance and repair.”Further details on Dr
Thomason’s life and achievements can be found on the following links:
https://www.motherearthnews.com/green-homes/solar-home-design-zmaz79ndzraw
https://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/Thomason/ThomasonPatents.htm

Defang Wang

Country: China
Year Started Research: 1954
Title of Research: Researcher, Chief engineer
University: Gansu Institute of Natural Energy
Still Active in Research: No

Defang Wang was born in January, 1935, and is the founder of design method of thermal response coefficient
method of China. He has developed a variety of thermal process analysis software for passive solar house. In
the 1980s, passive solar houses mainly relied on building thermal measures to create certain indoor temperature
conditions to meet winter heating requirements. Among the solar houses that have been built in China, a considerable
number of solar houses have not been constructed in accordance with the correct method for building thermal
calculations, or have not performed thermal calculations at all, resulting in low room temperature after completion
and failing to reach the predetermined level. Defang Wang proposed a relatively simple and practical calculation
formulas and calculation parameters of natural convection heat transfer between the sunlight room and adjacent
rooms through the door opening, including direct benefit type, (Trumbe type) collector wall type and additional solar
room type thermal calculation mathematical model and simulation program PSHS, referred to as “Passive Solar
House Thermal Calculation Software”. This software uses the reaction coefficient method to replace the traditional
difference method in the invariable heat transfer calculation of the collector wall, greatly simplifies the commonly
used radiation heat transfer algorithm at that time and is suitable for computer calculation. In 1991, Defang Wang
realized the connection of meteorological database, engineering databases and graphic libraries in the same software
and solved the problem of processing meteorological data used for the hourly thermal performance calculation of
buildings, which can directly meet the practical needs of engineering, and greatly promotes the transformation of
scientific research results into productivity. Defang Wang also participated in the design and construction of various
solar buildings in Yuzhong, Gansu Province funded by the United Nations, and compiled technical and economic
optimization design software for solar passive houses.

28 | ISES SWC50 - The Century of Solar-Stories and Visions