Kept on Wikipedia:Solarwall

SolarWall is the brand name of a transpired collector designed and manufactured by the Toronto, Canada based company Conserval Engineering.

History and Design

The SolarWall design was developed in 1989 by John Hollick of Conserval Engineering in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The system consists of perforated metal panels mounted onto a building's sun facing wall. The panels absorb the heat from the sun and in turn heat the air space between the panel and the building's wall. The heated air is then pulled into the building's HVAC system via a fan. SolarWall heaters were first used to heat and ventilate large buildings, where building owners can save an average of 20-30% on their heating costs by pre-heating the air, but solar space heating and solar drying are other applications that are ideally suited for the heaters. An unglazed design is used for heating or preheating large volumes of fresh air, and a partially glazed 2-stage heater is available for achieving higher temperatures when heating buildings in colder climates. According to Mother Earth News, for every 5 square metres (54 sq ft) of SolarWall panels installed, about 1 ton of carbon dioxide emissions is displaced each year. The SolarWall technology can also be installed as a hybrid solar system that generates both heat and electricity from the same surface area. By combining photovoltaics with the air heating technology, the heat produced by the solar panels is removed and drawn into the collector, helping to cool the solar panels. The heat is then ducted into a building’s ventilation system or to a heat exchanger.

Compared to traditional roof mounted solar thermal panels designed to heat domestic hot water, a wall mount orientation eliminates any snow buildup and the vertical orientation was found to increase winter solar gain as it was more perpendicular to the lower winter solar angle and the snow on the ground was found to reflect in as much as 50% more solar energy.

Three of Conserval's early SolarWall installations have been closely monitored to determine real energy savings. In 1990, Ford Motor Company installed a system on their Oakville, Ontario manufacturing plant, saving approximately 17% on their heating costs at that plant alone. The company eventually installed six more SolarWall systems on other facilities, and as of 2014 have reportedly saved more than $10 million over all their installations. In 1991, General Motors had a system installed at their Oshawa, Ontario plant and, as of 1998, reported a savings of approximately $10,200 per year. Another collector installed at NREL in Golden, Colorado in 1991 is saving about 14,310 kWh of electricity annually, a reported 25.7% decrease. According to Solar Energy Industries Association over 5,000,000 square feet (460,000 m²) of these panels were in operation as of 2015.

Awards

SolarWall and it's parent company Conserval have received a number of awards:

• 1994 - "R&D 100 Award" from R&D Magazine
• 1994 - "Best New Building Product of the Year Award" from Toronto Construction Association
• 1994 - "Best of What's New" Award from Popular Science
• 1997 - Federal Energy and Water Management Award from the U.S. Department of Energy

See also

• Solar updraft tower

References

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