Speaking of solar, this was my post on April 18th:
If you have enough sunlight for solar and all you need the power for is to warm the house, you could try a couple of passive solar ideas.
1) Windows or twin- or triple-walled greenhouse plastic on the south side
2) A trombe wall or other collection point. I used 1 gallon milk jugs, painted black, to act as solar absorbers. The smaller absorbers will heat up faster than a large volume of water (once I used black 55 gallon drums which worked great if we had sun every other day. However, in Indiana, it wasn't uncommon to have a several day stretch of cloudy weather.
3) Another passive collection technique is called a "heat grabber" by Mother Earth News. I built a couple of these for my
house this winter, and they made a HUGE difference:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Green-Home-Building/1977-09-01/Mothers-Heat-Grabber.aspx
http://www.jrwhipple.com/sr/solheater.html
Also, remember that the chickens will generate their own heat, so if the sheltered area is tight enough and insulated enough, they will help themselves. I read that one chicken generates 1 BTU!
A very interesting book about keeping chickens in a greenhouse-like environment is Solviva
Hope this helps!
