solar firewood drying shed?

[JimBod.]

Going to build a woodshed next to my OWB this year (I hope) and was thinking of making it like a solar lumber kiln.  Probably 12 by 24ish.  Any thoughts?

[DeerMeadowFarm]

My nephew just built a wood shed this year. He used those corrugated panels for the roofing over purlins. He put clear ones on the southern side. Simple, but he felt it helped...

[Small Slick]

I'm sure it would aid in drying wood. That being said is the cost time and effort worth it versus letting your firewood season for a year before you need it?

Let us know how it turns out. John.

[JimBod.]

I just figured it wouldn't take too much more to add a clear roof, some black tin,etc since I'm going to build a shed anyways.  I was just wondering if anyone had thoughts or advice.  I'm not sure if I would be better off letting wind blow through the shed in the spring and summer or closing it up.  I will also have to consider cost of running some attic fans.

[thecfarm]

I myself like just let the wind blow through it idea. You would have to make the "wood shed" air tight to get the wood to dry. Than keep it tight. I would think the fans would have to run all the time too. Than it might take longer to dry the wood too. Stacked wood is diffeant than stickered wood. Might even have to leave some spaces in between the stacks to get good air movement,to prevent mold. I would think it would take longer to dry wood this way too,without spending a chunk of change. You might even only be able to put in a few cords at a time,due to that's all the shed could handle to get the mositure out,unless you really want to spend some money on equipment. But who really knows too.  ;D

[DeerMeadowFarm]

If it were me, I wouldn't go through the trouble of fans and whatnot. As mentioned before, cutting a year ahead would be just as good. This is the woodshed I built at our old house. I got all of the materials except for the pine board siding from work. At the time we were building a new manufacturing plant so there were a lot of large pallets for the equipment coming in. The floor on each side is one full pallet each all made of 2X's! The pine board siding was fresh milled. I spaced them with a 12 penny nail when I put them up and you can see what the gaps opened up to.
The shed held 8 cords total; 4 to a side. I'd burn out of one side while the other side was drying. I would stack wood to the ceiling and by the time it was ready to burn, it would have settled and shrunk down a LOT; like 10" I'd bet.
The little box on the side was initially intended for coal. I had a stove that could burn both so my thought was to burn coal during the very coldest part of the season but I never liked it so I converted it into storage for my splitter. As I needed about 6 cord for the year, I ended up stacking a couple of cord on the right side which I'd use first in November when we (usually) hadn't gotten snow yet.
I think a simple design like this with the addition of clear panels would dry out wood really quick.