To be successful, a well-designed passive solar home design needs to include some basic elements.

• It will take advantage of its site, climate, mass and materials to reduce heating and cooling needs and ensure those needs are met in whole or part with energy from the sun.
• It is important to avoid oversizing south-facing glazing as this may cause over-heating and increase cooling needs.
• Windows need to be correctly orientated.
• In winter they should not be shaded by nearby buildings or trees,
• During warmer months, they should be screened to avoid overheating, perhaps using carefully considered roof overhangs, blinds, awnings and brise-soleil
• Passive solar houses use 'thermal mass' – commonly concrete, brick, stone or tile – to absorb the sun's heat during the winter and warm air during the summer. The heat is collected and transferred to different areas of the house. Sometimes small blowers distribute heat, other times bare feet are warmed directly by sun-heated floors.
• Where passive solar energy use is at the heart of a home's design it is worth considering using darker colours as these will absorb more heat than lighter ones.
• A well-designed passive solar home will also provide excellent levels of daylight throughout the year and comfort during the cooling season through the use of night time ventilation.
• Passive solar design considers variations in environmental conditions throughout the day and year.

A direct-gain passive solar home has an array of south-facing windows, through which sunlight pours, striking masonry floors and walls. Solar heat is absorbed and stored, then gradually released during the night as rooms cool. as rooms cool.

An indirect-gain passive solar home has a thermal store between the south-facing windows and the living spaces. The most common indirect-gain approach is a trombe wall.

A home's interior can even out variations in heat gain by storing heat from the middle of the day and slowly releasing it during the cooler hours.

Sunspaces are the most common isolated-gain in passive solar home design.

These are areas that can be closed off from the rest of the house. During the day doors and windows are kept open to circulate collected heat. Then at night they are closed, allowing the temperature of the sunspaces to drop. Sunspaces can be included in a new home design or added to an existing home.

A brise soleil often adds an attractive architectural feature to a home's façade, in conjunction with allowing low-level winter sun to enter a house and offering shade from higher summer sun.

Carefully considered deciduous tree planting in front of windows will give effective leaf cover in summer, shading glazing from solar radiation, whilst winter sunlight can pass through bare branches and warm internal spaces.

Building on principles of passive solar gain has a low environmental impact and uses a house's site and climatic setting to natural advantage.

• Construction materials are selected to minimise energy use.
• Heating and cooling loads are reduced through carefully considered energy-efficiency strategies.
• There is an emphasis on daylighting and reducing electricity usage.
• Designs can be fashioned to suit a multitude of architectural styles but generally they will tend towards light, airy interiors.

Ancient Greeks, Romans and Chinese developed basic principles of solar design', with Greek philosopher Socrates proposing:

"Now, supposing a house to have a southern aspect, sunshine during winter will steal in under the verandah, but in summer, when the sun traverses a path right over our heads, the roof will afford an agreeable shade, will it not?"

The techniques of passive solar building design were practiced for thousands of years, by necessity, before the advent of mechanical heating and cooling, and considered factors such as solar orientation, thermal mass and ventilation.

In the 1930's/40's American architect George F. Keck pioneered passive houses, such as 'House of Tomorrow' and 'The Sloan House'.

This work was further developed by Frank Lloyd Wright who used passive solar principles in some of his designs, most notably at the Jacobs II House, the 'Solar Hemicycle' built in 1944 in Wisconsin.

Interest in passive solar building design was significantly stimulated by the 1973 oil crisis and this engagement has continued to the present day as the world endeavours to reduce power consumption.