Southwestern Colorado boasts numerous attractions: The ruggedly beautiful San Juan Mountains, as spectacular as Europe's Alps; the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad's narrow gauge trains which carry thousands of vacationers and sightseers from Durango to Silverton each year; and the mysterious and awe inspiring cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde National Park.
Recently, a new dimension has been added to the region's attractions. Since 1975 Southwestern Colorado's San Juan Basin has quietly become a world leader in the number of new, major solar structures. As of this writing there are more than 100 solar installations and structures in the 110-mile stretch from Pagosa Springs, in the East, to Cortez, on the West. What makes the 100 solar application figure impressive is the fact that the population of the region numbers only about 50,000.
The San Juan Basin is an ideal area for solar energy utilization. The area is blessed with abundant sunshine. The winters are cold. Below freezing and sub-zero nights are common. And, during the winter months, the coldest weather tends to be the clearest weather. Thus, the sun is available to provide heat when that heat is needed most.
Using the sun to heat living areas is nothing new in the San Juan Basin. The pre-Columbian people of the southwest - those who built cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde and the many pueblos in New Mexico and Arizona - used the sun effectively. In the winter the massive stone and adobe walls of the pre-historic dwellings absorbed the sun's energy. Slowly that energy traveled through the walls to be released into the living areas during cold winter nights.
Modern concerns for using solar energy got a boost from the 1970's oil embargos, when it became evident that U. S. fuel reserves were running low and not being developed and when the extent of our dependence on foreign oil became acutely evident. Dependence on foreign oil has become even greater in the past six years and the consequences of that dependence haunt the Nation and each individual energy consumer.
Since the time of the embargo, the cost of heating domestic hot water and of heating and cooling homes and commercial structures has increased dramatically in the San Juan Basin as well as elsewhere. For example, natural gas has increased 400 per cent over the past several years in the region. In their efforts to offset these cost increases, the people of the Basin have turned to energy conservation, to the burning of wood and of coal, and the use of solar energy.
One of the big factors in solar development in the Basin has been the activities of two solar groups: First, SUN San Juan, a small consulting group formed in Durango by Roy Craig, Roger Eldridge, Brian Kesner and this writer. Second, the San Juan Solar Energy Association, a public group, formed by the same four individuals, plus others. The writer has been the latter group's chairperson since the group formed.
Between them, the groups issued a solar newsletter for two years. They have held at least 25 public meetings. Attendance at the regular meetings ranged from 25 to 137, probably averaging over 80.
The local SUN DAY program, held in 1978 in conjunction with the national observance, attracted 175 paying customers. Earlier, several thousand area residents visited a traveling solar exhibit called The Sunshine Company during the week that exhibit spent in Durango. The exhibit was put on by the University of Colorado-Denver and its visit to Durango was sponsored by the local solar group. Since touring Colorado, the exhibit has been as far away as Hong Kong and Italy.
All of these activities - the newsletter, the meetings, the exhibit and some small workshops - convinced Basin residents that solar energy use made good sense for those living in the area, that solar technology was available and reliable and that solar applications would eventually pay for themselves. Talk turned into action.
About the time public meetings on solar energy began in Durango in 1975, construction on the first solar structure in the Basin commenced. This was the fire station for the internationally known Pagosa Development west of Pagosa Springs. The solar system on the station has been operating with excellent energy savings since early in 1976, and several other solar installations are now in evidence in the Development and in nearby Pagosa Springs.
The 100-plus structures that have been built throughout the Basin since 1975 include backyard solar satellites (usually A-frame buildings with collectors on the south sloping roof and built-in storage), additions to existing homes and new homes, and commercial structures such as a solar office building, a newspaper plant, and a sport club. The newspaper's solar system was added during the construction of a 9,300 square foot addition to the building. It included 96 collectors, with an area of 1,728 square feet; a 7,500-gallon storage tank; and 17 heat pumps to transfer heat from the water to air in the building.
Solar assisted domestic hot water systems got off to a slow start in the area, in spite of the fact that the financial return is usually quicker from this kind of application than from space heating. There is now a laundry with a large solar system that pre-heats the water it uses.
In addition to this, the market for solar domestic hot water systems is "heating up." Several systems have recently been put in service and interest continues to develop rapidly. Hot tub applications represent a rapidly growing market, also, since the tubs can be used for heat storage as well as for bathing.
For structure heating, both air and water systems are to be found. Most of the early systems were air systems, but the number of structures using water has grown over the past couple of years.
Durango has a number of companies involved in solar heating systems. The largest is TriTec Solar Industries which is now located in a 5,000 square foot building that is solar heated. The company manufactures collectors, air handlers and control systems. Buyers can opt to install the systems themselves or TriTec personnel will do the installation for the customer. Recently the company has expanded its operations to include domestic water heaters.
The company's air collectors are called airHair (registered Trademark), an idea invented and patented by two of the company's founders, Wilfred Heyen and Keith Olinger. Briefly, airHair is a two to three-inch thick blanket of material similar to that found in furnace filters. The material is painted black and placed under glass in an insulated, metal box, which Heyen, Olinger and Jim Costello, the third principle of the company, designed.
Cold air is forced into the collector along the sides of the collector frame. The air passes just under the inside surface of the glass and through the collector 'blanket.' The heat from the blanket transfers to the air. The warm air is then gathered from behind the 'blanket for distribution to the house or to storage.
The collectors use either standard patio door glass covers (approximately 34 inches wide by 78 inches long) or they can be custom tailored down to 24 inches wide by up to 10 feet in length.
With dozens of installations to their credit, with more installations under way, and with dealers in California, Kansas, Nebraska, New Hampshire and Minnesota, optimism is running high at the company. A bright, sunny future seems probable.
Another promising solar company in Durango is San Juan Solar Systems. This company was formed by Bill Ringueberg. His father, Nairn, a retired engineer, is also involved. The company builds solar water collectors and radiant panels for heat distribution components and markets complete systems with their products plus those off-the-shelf components that they do not manufacture.
One of the company's major installations was in the Leo Rickhoff residence north of Durango. Though new, the home was not constructed as a solar home, per se. The solar system was retrofitted into the home by the construction of an array of 18 collectors located on a dirt bank in front of the house.
Inside the house radiant panels were installed near the 20 foot high ceiling. The panels were tilted down slightly so the heat radiates toward the floor. The system provided about one-third of the heating needs for the 4,000 square foot home this past heating season, according to Mr. Rickhoff.
Perhaps the area of greatest interest, excitement and growth as far as solar utilization is concerned in the Basin lies with passive solar heating. A number of recent structures have incorporated Trombe' walls, greenhouses, and other passive devices in combination with active systems. And, one recently built residence uses only passive gain and thermal mass with a woodstove backup for its winter heat.
Interest in and adoption of the natural uses of the sun's energy will continue to grow as more information from scientific studies and from practical experience becomes available.
The San Juan Basin's high incidence of sunshine and the happy circumstance that the coldest weather is the clearest probably makes the potential for natural solar energy use as good in the San Juan Basin as anywhere. Because of this potential, because of all of the solar activity and as a result of a declaration issued last summer by Durango's Mayor, Durango is now "Solar City, U.S.A."
SUN (Solar Utilization Now) in the San Juan Basin is a true solar success story!
The Mansfields have lived in a solar home since 1977. Information about their home was included in W. A. Shurcliff's Solar Heated Buildings of North America: 120 Outstanding Examples.
Dr. Mansfield is an associate professor of psychology at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado and considers his solar advocacy activities as both community service and hobby.