I will describe it since the lights on my notes went off, also. [Laughter.]

First the collector will be on the roof as illustrated here. The three trailers that I mentioned are designated as you see there. The thermal storage hot water tank which receives the hot water from the solar collector on the roof is the yellow device there.

We in addition have to have an auxiliary heater. This is a basic part of all solar heating systems because there may be long periods of times, occasionally, when the sun doesn't shine. The distribution duct for both cold and hot air is the blue conductor as you see there. In addition we will use commercially available absorption air conditioners and an automatic control system, which are also commercially available.

So except for the collector itself, a good many of the parts in this experiment are commercially available parts. And this is the Marshall Space Flight Center demonstration project. If I can have the lights

now.

The Marshall demonstration unit is not an "optimized" system in terms of collector or storage capacity, but is representative of the size required for a single-family dwelling. The demonstration is planned to be "on line" by the end of this fiscal year.

Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee, for your interest and perhaps later investigation, we have brought one of the panels as you can see over on the right, that are going to be used in the Marshall demonstration. The dark blue is the collector surface, and that is the coating that we are talking about. It is a very special coating which

Mr. McCORMACK. Could that be held up for us so we could all see it? Is it possible to hold that up?

Dr. FLETCHER. OK. The absorber is the thing you can see mainly. The tubes carry the water, and of course this is one panel of several needed to make one module. The whole metal surface is heated so all of the energy from the sun is absorbed on that panel, but in addition, to keep the energy trapped so that it doesn't reradiate; we have the transparent cover, which is over there, which goes on top of the panel, and also protects it from the weather.

Now, I want to hasten to add this is an experimental unit only. This is not the kind you want to use on a house. You want to make it more attractive and probably more weatherproof. But nevertheless for the purposes of this demonstration I think it will be quite adequate. As I say there are 1,500 square feet of these panels used in the Marshall demonstration. We would like to invite the committee down to see this demonstration as soon as it is on-line.

Mr. MOSHER. Mr. Chairman.

Mr. McCORMACK. Yes.

Mr. MOSHER. It looks a little like an automobile radiator so I immediately think of the problem of freezing. What about periods up in northern Ohio, for instance, where you would have very low temperature? Would you have any problem with freezing this water?

Dr. FLETCHER. There are two things to be said about that: In the first place, we have an auxiliary heater.

Mr. MOSHER. I'm really asking whether you have to use Prestone? Dr. FLETCHER. No, you wouldn't. The water would drain out normally when the unit is not in service.

Mr. MOSHER. Yes.

Dr. FLETCHER. But the other point is that you will be using it for heating, so it will be full of hot water. It may not be as hot as it would be in the summertime because of the difference in temperature, but it would still be hot. And as long as you are using it you wouldn't have the problem you have in automobiles where it stays idle and not warm. And that is when it freezes.

At the Langley Research Center, we plan to utilize solar energy to heat and cool a systems engineering building, a "construction of facilities" project which was approved in the fiscal year 1974 Authorization and Appropriations Acts.

This 50,000 square-feet, one-story office building, as far as we know, will be the first building of its size in the world for which solar energy will provide a significant part of the building's heating and cooling load. (See fig. 3.)

SOLAR COLLECTOR TEST BED

LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER

This is also in the material before you. We plan to locate in this case the collector farm away from the office building itself. It is off to the side. The system engineering building and the office building itself is here. And the storage tanks are in between, and also the pumps. So this is a demonstration program only. It is also a demonstration in the sense that you would normally require 48,000 feet of collectors to heat this building and cool this building, and the demonstration so far is planned for 15,000 square feet. So this will make a significant impact on the heating and cooling load for the building, and will provide a good test bed, particularly since we are able to change that area of test

collectors off on the right-hand side to try out different coatings and different kinds of materials and pumps.

We plan to begin construction of the building in January 1974, with the building and solar collector system being completed by January 1975. It is anticipated that testing of the solar heating and air conditioning system will begin in February 1975.

In each of these projects, which are proceeding in close coordination with NSF, the administration's designated lead agency on solar research, we expect to acquire the kinds of data and experience which could contribute significantly to a demonstration program such as that contemplated in H.R. 10952.

I should also point out that NASA is proceeding with the $2 million energy research effort which was authorized in the fiscal year 1974 Authorization Act. This effort will include studies of space and earthbased solar power generating systems, microwave energy transmission systems, studies related to clean fuels systems, and to energy and environment conservation systems, as well as proceeding with the solar heating and cooling projects I have just discussed.

With this background, then, let me turn to H.R. 10952.

As we understand it, this bill would authorize and direct an interagency cooperative program-involving NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Commerce, working through the National Bureau of Standards, and the Department of Defense.

The bill would provide for the demonstration of residential solar heating technology on a large scale-perhaps as many as 2,000 heating units within 3 years; and a similar demonstration of the technology for combined solar heating and cooling of buildings in 5 years. It would further provide for a demonstration program of solar heating and cooling of commercial buildings, factories, and industrial buildings.

Under the bill, NASA would be assigned the task of developing and contracting for the production of the heating units and the heating and cooling units to be used in the demonstration programs; $50 million would be authorized to be appropriated to NASA during the first 5 years after enactment of the bill (1) to carry out these functions and (2) to reimburse the other agencies for their efforts.

Mr. Chairman, we are still in the process of preparing our formal report on H.R. 10952, as requested by the committee. Indeed, we would hope that these hearings will sharpen our focus on H.R. 10952. Two underlying assumptions appear to be made in this bill:

First, that the use of solar energy for heating and cooling has great potential in our era of fuel shortages and environmental concern; and Second, that this potential will be realized only after practical solar energy heating and cooling systems have been demonstrated to be economically competitive with conventional systems.

I believe in these two assumptions, although insufficient data are available at this time either to prove whether solar heating and cooling would be commercially viable or to select an optimum system to be used in a demonstration program. In the NASA efforts already underway, one key objective is to provide essential technology and systems information for use in necessary tradeoff studies and to help provide a needed data base. One important tradeoff is to decide be

tween solar heating alone in the initial phase, or solar heating and cooling combined into a single system. We certainly agree that the state of the art of solar heating is somewhat more mature than that of combined solar heating and cooling. However, at the moment, we feel that they should be thought of as elements of a single integrated program-with the heating and cooling portion being a desirable. extension of and conducted in parallel with the earlier heating portion of the program.

Also, although each climatic region presents its own peculiar challenges, the need should be recognized for modular and hopefully standardized systems to avoid, to the maximum extent possible, having custom-built solar heating and cooling systems.

In his June 29, 1973, energy message to the Congress, the President set forth the actions he was taking to improve the Federal organization of energy activities. Among these actions was the proposal (embodied in H.R. 9090) to create an Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA). This new Administration would have central responsibility-in the words of the President-"for the planning, management, and conduct of the Government's energy research and development and for working with industry so that promising new technologies can be developed and put promptly to work."

The demonstration projects in H.R. 10952 would appear to come within the scope planned for ERDA, and we urge that the President's comprehensive plan be taken into account in the committee's further consideration of H.R. 10952.

This will insure adequate consideration of the critical questions confronting such a project, for example: What priority should be assigned solar energy development in relationship to other energy efforts? What would be the best timing of a solar demonstration project to maximize its impact in the marketplace?

As you know, the President requested in his energy message of November 7, 1973, that the Congress act on his energy legislation, including H.R. 9090, which would create ERDA, before the close of this session. That action should be the first priority of Congress on the energy front.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared statement.
We are open for questions.

Mr. McCORMACK. Thank you very much, Dr. Fletcher.
I just have a few questions I would like to ask.

From a technological standpoint, and from a state-of-the-art standpoint and from a demand standpoint, do I take it from your testimony that the time has come for us to go forward with a demonstration program of solar energy as proposed in this bill, or to wait until some time in the future?

Dr. FLETCHER. Mr. Chairman, I think the time is ripe for such a demonstration, but I do think it has to be looked at in context with the overall energy picture, and that was the substance of the concluding paragraph. There is no question but what we ought to go ahead with it. All of your remarks at the beginning of this session were very appropriate. Solar energy is here. It is being used. The problem is to make it more widespread and to make it more efficient. I think it is a very admirable thing to do to get a demonstration project started at this time, providing it is in the context of the overall energy picture.

Mr. McCORMACK. Dr. Fletcher, later on this morning I'm going to make some remarks about integrated energy policy and they will be directed partially at the concept of the administration proposal embodied in H.R. 9090.

It wouldn't be any secret to say I don't agree with the position you have expressed in the closing paragraph of your paper, or that the idea expressed in H.R. 9090 does indeed represent a comprehensive energy research and development program.

I shall discuss that presently. However, if you don't mind and with the cooperation of the committee members, I would like to discuss the technical aspects of solar energy first and then talk in a moment about the question of what legislation should be enacted and when. So if I may ask a couple of other questions.

Do you think that the time schedule set forth in this bill, the idea of 3 years for a demonstration of 2,000 heating units, and in parallel, as you said in your testimony, a parallel demonstration program for 2,000 heating and cooling units over a 5-year period is a realistic scale? Is this concept realistic as we have set it out in this bill?

Dr. FLETCHER. I would like to address that in two parts, Mr. Chair

man.

I think that there are two basic elements of this bill. One has to do with the technology of development of the solar units themselves. The other is the incorporation of these units into buildings.

Now, I can comment very competently on the first part. Will the technology be ready in a reasonable fraction of the 3 years for the solar heating and the 5 years for the solar heating and cooling? I think the answer to that is "Yes." There is no problem with development of the technology.

I'm less qualified to comment on the business of how we get this technology incorporated into actual houses.

The problem of making it attractive to potential customers, the problem of the building codes (this is part of the roofing structure) all of that I think that perhaps others are more qualified to comment on that aspect of it.

But except for that, I say the time schedules are quite appropriate. Mr. McCORMACK. So if we can accommodate installation of these facilities into buildings and accommodate the code to make it attractive so that industry will become involved, do you think that the time schedule is a reasonable one?

Dr. FLETCHER. It certainly is in the right ball park.

Mr. McCORMACK. Do you think the funding level of $50 million for a 5-year program is realistic?

Dr. FLETCHER. Again I can only comment on the technical parts of it. I think $50 million is in the right ball park for the development of good candidates for solar collectors and the other parts of the system, and for production or development of prototype systems that could be incorporated into buildings.

Now, the extra money that is required to change the building designs and accommodate these, again is not in my field of expertise. As I understand it the $50 million would primarily go for the development of the technology and the prototypes. In that sense I think it is in the right ball park.

Mr. McCORMACK. Of course we will have testimony from HUD and so perhaps we can pick up the loose ends there.