Profiled Glass Solar FaÇade with Integrated Heat Pipe Absorber – Experimental Evaluation of Prototypes
Abstract
The paper presents the development of a solar thermally activated U-shaped profiled glass mainly intended for the use in facades of non-residential buildings. The activation is achieved by inserting a metallic tube-and-sheet solar absorber provided with heat pipes in the air gap of a double shelled profiled glass. We manufacture specimen with different design and size and investigate their performance and thermal behavior by means of indoor and outdoor experiments. For 2 m² modules we report zero-loss values up to 0.59 and heat loss coefficients a1 between of 3.8 and 5.8 Wm-2K-1 as well as a2 between 0.012 and 0.03 Wm-2K-2. To analyze thermal comfort issues a small demonstration plant was installed in the south façade of a real production hall consisting of profiled glass. The maximum temperatures recorded on the inner side of the module are usually higher than those of standard nonactivated glass in winter, but comparable in summer. Keywords: Building integration, solar collector, heat pipes, profiled glass