Arizona's Solar Powered Community: Sizing and Cost Estimate of a 24-Home Prototype

Introduction: On January 12, 1987, Governor Mecham stated that he intended to build a solar powered community. A solar powered community would produce as much power from the sun as it would consume. Thus, it would be self sustaining as far as energy is concerned. One of the most cost-effective ways of powering a community appears to be the combination of using a hybrid thermal/photovoltaic collector. with seasonal storage of water in an insulated pit providing thermal energy to the homes in the community using district heating and cooling. In order to demonstrate the cost effectiveness of this system in the desert areas of southern Arizona, a project was designed and a cost was estimated for a 24-home subdivision in the Phoenix area.This item is part of the Water Resources Research Center collection. It was digitized from a physical copy provided by the Water Resources Research Center at The University of Arizona. For more information about items in this collection, please contact the Center, (520) 621-9591 or see http://wrrc.arizona.edu