Performance of walls clad with transparent insulation material in realistic operation

Trombe walls with nanoporous aerogel insulation applied to UK housing refurbishments

“…According to Peurortier et al [8], a well installed Trombe wall incorporating translucent insulation can save heating energy by up to 150 kWh/m 2 each heating period. Supporting this, Dolley et al [13] used a test cell to monitor the thermal performance of a polycarbonate honeycomb TIM system retrofitted to a southern wall. Extrapolating the results, the study predicted that the annual space heating requirement would be reduced by 150 kWh/year in a typical pre-1930s UK solid walled dwelling or 40 kWh/ year in a super insulated home for every m 2 of TIM installed.…”

“…The storage capacity of the wall is slightly weighted compared to the building, indicating that heat stored in the building is more effective than heat stored in the Trombe wall. This is because thermal storage in the building or wall raises the temperature of components, leading to increased heat losses; the thermal resistance of the building will generally be greater than that of the wall and also because the temperature difference between the building and ambient air is ordinarily smaller than the temperature difference between the Trombe wall and ambient air [13]. To calculate S b and S w , Equations (14) and (15) can be used, respectively:…”

Predicted and in situ performance of a solar air collector incorporating a translucent granular aerogel cover

“…[9] demonstrate that in this application, TIMs such as glass or plastic honeycombs and flat or corrugated polycarbonate sheets can provide significant energy savings when retrofitted to residential and commercial walls. Dolley et al [10] used a test cell to monitor the thermal performance of a polycarbonate honeycomb TIM system retrofitted to a southern wall. Extrapolating the results, for every m 2 of TIM installed, the annual space heating requirement would reduce by 150 kWh/year in a typical pre 1930s UK solid walled dwelling, or 40 kWh/year in a super insulated home [10].…”

“…Dolley et al [10] used a test cell to monitor the thermal performance of a polycarbonate honeycomb TIM system retrofitted to a southern wall. Extrapolating the results, for every m 2 of TIM installed, the annual space heating requirement would reduce by 150 kWh/year in a typical pre 1930s UK solid walled dwelling, or 40 kWh/year in a super insulated home [10]. In a comparative study of six houses in France, Peuportier and Michel [11] found that honeycomb TIMs can increase the efficiency of conventional solar air collectors and Trombe walls by 25% and 50% respectively.…”

“…Front Losses Front heat losses through a single cover (U Front ) can be calculated using Equation (10). ε 1 and ε 2 are the emissivity of the cover and absorber plate respectively.…”