Ark
join:2002-06-08
Hudsonville, MI
 ·AT&T Midwest
|  What is this black glass on the outside of this house?
There is a handful of houses here and there that have this black glass on part of the side of the house. Sorry for the low quality pic, I took it with my phone driving by.
My wife thinks they are solar panels, but I thought those would be on the roof, and Michigan isn't exactly the sunniest state, nor are these houses the types that look like people have extra money to throw around on solar panels.
Is it just decoration, or is it something functional? |
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mattmag
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-04-09
NW Illinois
clubs: | Do you mean the black window or the black wall section? In either case, I can't think of a reason for it...  |
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Ark
join:2002-06-08
Hudsonville, MI
·AT&T Midwest
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There is black glass sections, in some sort of black frame, all around those two windows on the right part of the house. The rest of this house is all white siding. You can't see into the house thru the glass, there is something behind it, but probably not more white siding boards. I really can't tell what it is, but it does not look like the shininess that solar panels have with the intricate patterns of electronics and wire tracings. |
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smerre01
Premium
join:2003-09-23
Greer, SC
| reply to Ark
From the picture it looks like black fiberboard that is used in place of OSB on the outside of framing of a house. Looks like the siding has been removed to expose it, have you gone up to the house and touched the material, are you sure it is glass?? |
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Coma
neuro anomalist
Premium
join:2001-12-30
Nirvana-Land
clubs: | reply to Ark
Somebody painted the inside of the window with Black Paint !
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. . . seeking professional help . . . |
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Lurch77
Stop looking at me.
Premium
join:2001-11-22
Oconto, WI | reply to Ark
South side of the houses? I'd guess solar panels. We have houses around here with them. |
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Stonehawk
Stay Low And Let It Blow
Premium
join:2001-05-17
Deerfield, WI
clubs: | reply to Ark
Aye, solar panels located on the walls instead of the roof....not real common, but there are some around here... |
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Ark
join:2002-06-08
Hudsonville, MI
·AT&T Midwest
1 edit | reply to Ark
It is definitely not just exposed something from missing siding. I guess you can't see it in the pic, but there is a grid of maybe 4'x4' squares of black glass with some sort of metal bars between them, on the whole side of the house from roof to grass.
This IS on the south side of the house, but it is under two very large trees that shade it all day long, and this is in Michigan where we have clouds and lots of lake-effect snow and more clouds. If it is a solar panel to reduce electrical grid usage, I can't see it being anywhere close to economical. And that goes back to being in Michigan and our poor economy. I can't see people in the neighborhood this house is in spending money on solar panels.
*edit* Google Street View pic of the same house:
»maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=42.8···,,0,1.05 |
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Lurch77
Stop looking at me.
Premium
join:2001-11-22
Oconto, WI
·CenturyLink
 ·HiOconto
| I am in northern WI and as I said there are homes here with them. South walls can be effective up here compared to the roof because the sun is more south of us, as compared to a southern states where the sun is more overhead.
As for the trees, can't say. There may be another answer, but I can only think they are solar panels.
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"On a motorcycle, you're penetrating distance right along with the machine. In a car you're just a spectator; the windshield's like a TV." ~ Kenny "Von Dutch" Howard |
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dsl14350
join:2005-06-16
Holland, MI
| reply to Ark
I had a house with these on it. Those are solar glass panels connected to a fan that pulls heat into the house and distributes through heat ducts. I understand that during the 1970's the government gave tax credits that could make these free after filing income taxes over set period of years.
These panels have a space between the glass and house (maybe 6") that heats the air and then the fan pulls it into house. They were maybe installed before the trees were there or were small.
On sunny days it does work, but sunny days and Michigan winter days are few and far between. |
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Ark
join:2002-06-08
Hudsonville, MI | Interesting. Thanks for the info. So they are solar panels in a sense that they help heat the house, but not in the sense that they generate any electricity. |
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dipweed23
join:2009-07-21
Ypsilanti, MI
| reply to Ark
dsl14350 is right. In areas where the homes are spread out this was the more common way of doing it. In the more tightly packed neighborhoods of the 60s and 70s they would put a huge box on the roof with air ducts running into them. If I have a chance to drive past one with the big roof box I'll snap a picture of it.
Some of these older systems they would build a brick wall behind it with black bricks to trap the heat during the day, and the fans would run at night when it was cooler to help reduce heating costs. Some used a different backing than brick. The system would pump the pre-heated air into the return ducts of the furnace until it got below a set temp, then the fan would turn off. Surprisingly, even in cold Michigan winters, these would actually work with the indirect sunlight.
I have also seen systems that were meant to help pre-heat water. Big thin black panels on the roof with pipes in them. They had a 50-60 gallon tank and it would work all day heating that up. A coil of pipe was used to transfer that heat to the cold water going into the water heater. The closed part of the system used antifreeze to keep them from freezing in the winter.
I really don't understand why systems like this aren't more common, pre-heating water for nearly free before it hits the water heater (or air before it hits the furnace) is a great energy saving method, and I can't see it being too horribly expensive, although it isn't super attractive. |
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rockotman
...Blown On The Steel Breeze
Emerging Research
join:2000-08-06
DSotM
clubs:
 ·Verizon FIOS
| reply to Ark
Probably just anti-mind-control coating for the tin-foil hat types that live inside. 
Or is it on the south side of the house? Some sort of energy-efficiency coating, perhaps to limit heat entering from the sun during the summer and prevent heat from escaping in the winter?
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Sixburgh. How many yinz got? |
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Coma
neuro anomalist
Premium
join:2001-12-30
Nirvana-Land
clubs:
| said by rockotman  :Probably just anti-mind-control coating for the tin-foil hat types that live inside.
Who . . . me ?
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. . . seeking professional help . . . |
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Jtmo
Premium
join:2001-05-20
Novato, CA | reply to Ark
Agreed, passive solar heating. |
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tstolze
Premium
join:2003-08-08
O Fallon, MO
·CenturyLink
2 edits | reply to Ark
Here is the "latest" craze for solar heat, same principle..
»www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9bBnRQWRro
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Ofallon, Mo Weather
St. Peters, Mo Weather |
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robbin
Premium,MVM
join:2000-09-21
Leander, TX
1 edit | reply to Ark
It is called a Trombe wall.
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