Solar heating and cooling in buildings :

This report addresses economic issues important to the design, acquisition, and evaluation of the costs to consumers, of solar heating and cooling systems in buildings. It explains and illustrates with simple, but realistic examples the use of life-cycle cost analysis and benefit-cost analysis to evaluate and compare the economic efficiency of solar and conventional energy systems. It also explains the conditions for making cost-effective tradeoffs in solar system! building design. By presenting the basic methods and assessing the appropriateness of alternative assumptions, the paper provides a resource document for researchers and analysts.