Product design
This prototype is the UK’s first solar-air collector installation incorporating translucent granular aerogel insulation in the cover.
Top left and middle: Solar collector framing and thermistor in outlet duct. Middle images: Ductwork to and from collector. Above images : Installation of absorber sheet. Top right: Temperature & humidity sensors inside cavity.
air supply through a prototype which had not been tested before. As such, the collector provides additional energy to indirectly heat the incoming fresh air supply to the property’s living room and bedrooms. In order to mitigate overheating, the MVHR incorporates a ‘summer bypass’ switch to prevent fresh air being pre- heated when outside temperatures are above 20°C. Thermistors in the collector cavity and the dwelling’s exhaust air ductwork from the house prevent air being fed into the collector at night when there is no energetic benefit. All joints and edges inside and around the collector were sealed with air tight tapes. Full on-site commissioning of the system and air flow rates has been carried out.
In-situ performance The in-situ performance of the Aerogel Solar Collector is being monitored as part of a two-year post-occupancy evaluation study, led by Dr Mark Dowson, funded through the
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Technology Strategy Board. A package of wireless monitoring equipment is capturing information such as internal temperatures within the house, power consumption of the MVHR, solar radiation hitting the property’s south-facing wall and temperature/humidity inside the profile of the Aerogel Solar Collector cavity and MVHR ductwork. Over a 12 month period spanning October 2011-October 2012, the monthly-average peak outlet temperature inside the collector was 39°C, and the monthly-average peak supply air temperature fed to the dwelling’s living room and bedroom was 28.5°C. The average internal temperature in the dwelling was 20.4°C for the living room and bedroom, with no auxiliary energy for heating used during this period.
Efficiency and payback period A scientific journal paper on the predicted and in-situ performance of the Aerogel Solar Collector has been published in Energy and
Buildings. Within this paper the efficiency of the installed prototype, is compared to the efficiency of an equivalent system design, but incorporating a single-glazed and double-glazed cover, and also different thickness of granular aerogel from 10mm-40mm. The study found that an efficiency of up to 60% and a financial payback period as low as 4.5 years was possible for an optimised collector incorporating a 10mm thick granular aerogel cover. In a second study, published in the Applied Energy journal, the embodied CO2 associated with aerogel manufacture was quantified. Based on these findings, the predicted environmental payback period, accounting for the embodied CO2 associated with aerogel and all other materials inside the collector was 0-2 years, indicating that the system provides a fast environmental payback.
For more information please contact Dr Mark Dowson at
mark.dowson@
burohappold.com
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