¶ Solar Energy newsletter 1973
Four scanned pages from a "Solar Energy" insert in The Tribal Messenger, dated March 12, 1973 (Page 9 of that issue). The insert runs alongside the Tribal Messenger serialization and was part of the same publication.
¶ Cover
Cover: "Solar Energy" — The Tribal Messenger, 12 Mar 1973, Page 9. Hand-drawn sun illustration above a photograph captioned "View from hill showing top of Baer's home and Sandia Mountains."
¶ Interior pages
Photos by Bob Buffington (credited on pg2). Three pages of photographs and captions documenting passive solar installations in New Mexico, March 1973.
Pg2 — Old 55-gallon oil barrels filled with water, painted dark, store heat during the day. In the evening, solar panels (shown laid on the ground) are drawn shut. "Barrels give off warmth all night long heating part of house." A secondary caption notes: "A motor with a light-sensitive switch automatically opens windows in morning and will advance to allow the heat when the heat stays for warmth." This is the DrumWall precursor — water-filled thermal mass behind operable panels.
Pg3 — Photograph of a solar panel at a neighbor's house; a windmill in the background. A second photograph shows "Solar panels at neighbor's house." Text references a "Steve Jenner Project" aimed at passive heating for residential use. Caption: "This small panel costs both tank water." Text partially illegible at scan resolution.
Pg4 — Two photographs of the Baer installation. Upper image: Steve Baer beside large reflective panels with caption "Steve Baer's Cooling with Steve Baer on energy-generating" and his Zomeworks contact (P.O. Box 712, Albuquerque, NM 87101). Lower image: interior drum wall — "Inside of Steve Baer's house is the DrumWall that stores the whole heat of all family." This is one of the earliest photographs of the DrumWall system in print.
¶ Context
The Tribal Messenger's March 26, 1973 issue lists "Related scans" pointing to these solar energy pages, indicating they were distributed together. This newsletter and the Tribal Messenger serialization show that solar work was being discussed in multiple small-circulation publications in early 1970s New Mexico, not just academic journals.