Solar Heating in Cold Regions

Jean-François Rozis

doi:10.3362/9781780445977

Solar Heating in Cold Regions

A technical guide to developing country applications

This book is primarily a technical guide to the design and production of solar installations in regions where heating is an issue of utmost importance. This book is written mainly for technicians, architects and designers who are interested in solar heating systems in cold regions of developing countries.
Also available in French and Spanish.

Published: 1996
Pages: 176

eBook: 9781780445977

Paperback: 9781853393297


Foreword vii
Acknowledgements viii
PART ONE: The issues for solar heating in cold regions of
developing countries
1 What can solar energy offer? 3
The cold regions of developing countries 5
Why passive heating is suitable for cold regions of developing
countries 13
Experimentation and applications 17
2 An intervention methodology 26
Methodology for a programme of dissemination of solar
techniques 27
PART TWO: Nine solar installations for housing and agriculture
3 Housing types tested in cold regions 33
The solar wall 33
The Trombe wall 43
The attached greenhouse - veranda type 47
Mixed hammam/solai wall system 52
4 Examples of agricultural applications 59
The open field solar greenhouse 59
Polythene greenhouse 65
The attached growers' greenhouse 66
Solar hen house for latitudes over 25° 67
Low-latitude solar hen house using latent heat 71
PART THREE: The physics of solar heating
5 The solar resource 77
The origin of the sun and solar radiation 77
The impact of solar radiation on a given area 81
Forecasting energy received at a given surface 85
6 Materials and their thermal properties 90
Three fundamental modes of heat transfer 90
The steady state 92
The thermal behaviour of materials 92
7 Details of collection, storage and distribution 105
Absorption 107
Storage 108
Heat distribution 109
Collector-storage interaction 111
8 Role of thermal insulation 113
Thermal insulation of glazing 113
Controlling air re-circulation 114
Insulation of opaque surfaces 115
9 Building design and choice of system 118
10 Predicting thermal performance of solar buildings 122
Simplified manual methods 122
Computer methods 129
Appendix I: Principles for use of a solar greenhouse 135
Appendix II: Practical guide to using a solar hen house 141
Appendix III: Radiation indicators and cylindrical solar diagrams 143
Appendix IV: Economic calculation and comparative costs 155
Appendix V: Sizing a hammam hearth 158
Appendix VI: Calculating sizes for a latent heat collector 160
Appendix VII: Unit conversion tables 162
Glossary 163
Bibliography 165