MIT 150: The Top 50

Number 31: Sun house The first house to be completely powered by the sun was built on the MIT campus in 1939. Called Solar 1, it was built under the direction of chemical engineering professor Hoyt. C. Hottel , who employed a “sun trap,” a box with a copper sheet painted black under three panes of glass on the roof, to collect the sun’s rays. Some of the principles from Solar 1 are just now being incorporated by the Department of Energy in its own solar research.
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Number 31: Sun house

The first house to be completely powered by the sun was built on the MIT campus in 1939. Called Solar 1, it was built under the direction of chemical engineering professor Hoyt. C. Hottel, who employed a “sun trap,” a box with a copper sheet painted black under three panes of glass on the roof, to collect the sun’s rays. Some of the principles from Solar 1 are just now being incorporated by the Department of Energy in its own solar research.