Transpired solar collectors for ventilation air heating

Abstract

Transpired solar collectors (TSCs) improve the environmental performance of buildings by preheating incoming ventilation air using solar energy, substituting the need to use fossil fuels. TSCs have been used successfully in the USA and Canada over the past 20 years and have been shown to achieve economic payback of between 2 and 10 years. The economic performance is achieved through a combination of high thermal efficiency and the low cost of the solar collector, which is in the form of a single perforated steel sheet. In 2006, the first installation of a TSC in the UK was on a single-storey industrial building in County Durham and during its first year of operation, the TSC provided around 20% of the building’s heating demand. This paper presents a review of the research into TSC technology, examining its thermal performance, the different construction types, annual energy performance, and international experiences. The evidence from the UK-based research performance investigations suggest that the success of TSCs in the USA and Canada could be replicated in the UK.