We're living in Mongolia. Though it can get below -40F/-40C for brief periods in winter, it has on average 233 full days of sunshine and usually isn't cloudy. This makes it perfect for exploiting solar applications (solar PV panels, solar water heater, solar oven, solar toilet, etc.). A solar system must be one of the most expensive components of an earthship. My rough estimate is that the most expensive items are the insulation and windows and the solar system, and maybe the roof. The great thing is if I use a combination of solar applications, that it reduces the requirements of the solar PV panels and battery system, reducing the cost by thousands of dollars.
I found this web site http://planetaryrenewal.org/ipr/lifesupport.html and they have some similar ideas, but different ones, though lacking details. Their solar water heater is just 2 8-10" 20' long pipes with reflectors. They brought up the point of the system freezing. That's definitely an issue here. They say "Breadbox water heaters have too little surface area compared with storage volume." I think the earthship solar water heaters are breadbox style. Now I have to research what will freeze here. I would imagine anything will freeze here in winter, especially metal pipes. OK, these are in a box with glazing. My impression is these pipes are better than having somebody weld a stainless steel box locally. It's got to be a totally insulated box. Ha Ha. I bet the piping will break in winter. Should this be at the bottom of the face? I can just see our earthship face full of all kinds of solar reflectors.
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