Concepts for integrating PV into rural Alaskan housing and utilities

Alaska has been included in the establishments of coalitions around the country for the Million Solar Roofs Initiative. One of the major problems is enhancing the credibility of solar energy for applications in Alaska, particularly photovoltaic applications. A fertile approach to achieving this, is to integrate photovoltaics into the building stock in Alaska. In order to do this competently and cleverly we need to have a clear understanding of solar geometries and the natural conditions in Alaska from a climatic point of view, which will affect the performance of those photovoltaic systems in a building context. The author discusses Alaskan solar geometry (low sun angles) and implications for building design.