Transpired Air Collector - Solarwall

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Transpired Air Collectors

Overview

With a focus on building green and limiting carbon footprint in today’s construction/housing market, there are a lot of technologies/systems that are marketed to save you money by reducing energy consumption. Today’s article is about a system which isn’t actually new, but is proven to save money. The system is called transpired air collectors. It provides the best economics of any renewable energy systems and has no negative side effects. It’s main purpose is to provide pre-heated air into the building which reduces the load required by the existing heating system. At the moment, the system is designed for industrial and commercial applications - large buildings that require constant ventilation loads.

Benefits of the system includes:

  • Reduces building operation cost

  • Reduces reliance on fossil fuels, pollution, and greenhouse gas generations

  • Maintenance free

  • Eliminates temperature stratification - where this is a problem.

  • High return in investment and payback value

Source: http://solarwall.com/en/products/solarwall-air-heating/how-solarwall-works.php

Source: http://solarwall.com/en/products/solarwall-air-heating/how-solarwall-works.php

Process

  1. Outdoor air is drawn through the pin holes of the metallic sheet under negative pressure.

  2. The dark metal sheet and interior framing heats and warms the air cavity.

  3. As the air heats up, it rises and is ducted into the building through a connection to the HVAC system (Hot air naturally rises as it is relatively light)

  4. System runs all year round - in the summer heated air is bypassed based conditions monitored by sensors.

  5. Building heating loss is recaptured on the face where the system is installed.

Projects

Because the system is not new, there are case studies on many of them. The company SolarWall has thousands of projects in over 35 countries. I’ve linked some case studies of their projects in the Greater Toronto Area. For more information, please visit the SolarWall website.