Solar air heating is a solar thermal technology in which the energy from the sun, solar insolation, is captured by an absorbing medium and used to heat air. Solar air heating is a renewable energy heating technology used to heat or condition air for buildings or process heat applications. It is typically the most cost-effective out of all the solar technologies, especially in commercial and industrial applications, and it addresses the largest usage of building energy in heating climates, which is space heating and industrial
The term "unglazed air collector" refers to a solar air heating system that consists of a metal absorber without any glass or glazing over top. The most common type of unglazed collector on the market is the transpired solar collector. This technology was invented and patented as SolarWall by Conserval Engineering Inc. in the 1990s, who worked with the U.S. Department of Energy (NREL) and Natural Resources Canada on the commercialization of the technology around the world. The technology has been extensively monitoring by these government agencies systems provide heat by recirculating conditioned building air through solar collectors - Solar thermal collectors. Through the use of an energy collecting surface to absorb the sun’s thermal energy, and ducting air to come in contact with it, a simple and effective collector can be made for a variety of air conditioning and process applications.
Due to varying air-ducting methods, collectors are commonly classified as one of three types:
- a) through-pass collectors,
- b) front-pass,
- c) back pass,
- d) combination front and back pass collectors.
In the through-pass configuration, air ducted onto one side of the absorber passes through a perforated or fibrous type material and is heated from the conductive properties of the material and the convective properties of the moving air. Through-pass absorbers have the most surface area which enables relatively high conductive heat transfer rates, but significant pressure drop can require greater fan power, and deterioration of certain absorber material after many years of solar radiation exposure can additionally create problems with air quality and performance.
In back-pass, front-pass, and combination type configurations the air is directed on either the back, the front, or on both sides of the absorber to be heated from the return to the supply ducting headers. Although passing the air on both sides of the absorber will provide a greater surface area for conductive heat transfer, issues with dust (fouling) can arise from passing air on the front side of the absorber which reduces absorber efficiency by limiting the amount of sunlight received. In cold climates, air passing next to the glazing will additionally cause greater heat loss, resulting in lower overall performance of the collector.
A variety of applications can utilize solar air heat technologies to reduce the carbon footprint from use of conventional heat sources, such as fossil fuels, to create a sustainable means to produce thermal energy. Applications such as space heating, greenhouse season extension, pre-heating ventilation makeup air, or process heat can be addressed by solar air heat devices. In the field of ‘solar co-generation’ solar thermal technologies are paired with photovoltaics (PV) to increase the efficiency of the system by cooling the PV panels to improve their electrical performance while simultaneously warming air for space heating.
Space heating for residential and commercial applications can be done through the use of solar air heating panels. This configuration operates by drawing air from the building envelope or from the outdoor environment and passing it through the collector where the air warms via conduction from the absorber and is then supplied to the living or working space by either passive means or with the assistance of a fan.
Basically, it is incredibly simple and cheap solar panel for supplemental home heating, which heats the air directly.The most interesting is the fact that collector is almost entirely constructed out of empty aluminum cans! There are many DIY instructions on net, with how it works decryption.
Solar air heat can also be used in process applications such as drying laundry, crops (i.e. tea, corn, coffee) and other drying applications. Air heated through a solar collector and then passed over a medium to be dried can provide an efficient means by which to reduce the moisture content of the material.
