ADVANCEMENTS

IN SOLAR
THERMAL WALLS
Srikanth Reddy(M-Tech)
MNIT JAIPUR
Contents
 Zigzag Trombe wall
 Fluidized Trombe wall
 Trombe wall with phase-change material
 Composite Trombe wall
 Photovoltaic (PV) Trombe wall
ZIGZAG TROMBE WALLS
 Purpose: To reduce excessive heat gain and glare in sunny days.
 Construction & working[1]:
 It consists of three sections
 One facing south other two sections forms a inward “V” shaped wall
 One section of V shaped wall faces south east provides light and heat during morning times through windows
when immediate heating is required.
 The opposite is a classical trombe wall which stores heat during afternoon time and supply heat in night times.
Fluidized Trombe wall[2]:
 It is a classic Trombe wall but in which the gap between the Trombe wall and glazing is filled with a highly
absorbent, low-density fluid[2].
 Fan forces the air through the fluidized bed there by
Facilitating effective heat transfer.
 Two filters, which are located at the top and bottom of
the air channel, prevent the fluidized particles from
entering the room[7].
 This system has effective heat transfer due to direct
contact between air and fluid particles[8] since the
surface area is increased compared to wall in the
conventional trombe wall.
TROMBE WALL WITH PHASE CHANGE MATERIAL(PCM)

 The PCM absorbs the solar energy and changes its phase there by storing heat(latent) energy, which can be
released by reversing phase change in night times.
 Commonly used PCM’s are phase eutectic salts( NaCl, potassium nitrate) or salt hydrates (Calcium chloride,
Sodium sulphate) and paraffin wax[2].
 Paraffin wax: Most widely used PCM
 Cheap with moderate thermal storage densities (200 kJ/kg or 150 MJ/𝑚3 ) and a wide range of melting
temperatures.
 However, they have low thermal conductivity (0.2 W/ 𝑚𝑜 C), which limits their applications. Metallic
fillers, metal matrix structures, finned tubes and aluminum shavings were used to improve their thermal
conductivity.
TROMBE WALL WITH PCM (cntd.)
Advantages:
 These PCM’s store more energy in a smaller volume and in materials those are lighter than normal building
materials there by reducing size and weight of storage medium.
 A 15 cm concrete wall can be replaced by a 3.5 cm wall of PCM and perform similarly[3].
 The time of energy release can be altered by altering the initiation given for phase change at night times.

Disadvantages :
 Performance of PCM is strongly dependent on thermal stability, repetitive cycling, corrosion between PCM and container[4]
(concrete wall).
 Salts have high thermal stability but often suffers from high corrosion, Paraffin wax provides a good option as
paraffin's have excellent thermal stability as neither the cycles nor contact with metals degrades their thermal
behavior[5].
 Reactivity of PCM can be decreased by encapsulating it by non reactive materials like high density polyethylene
sheets or plastic pipes[6].
COMPOSITE TROMBE WALL
 Also called as Trombe-Michel wall, consists of: Semi transparent cover, a mass heating wall, a closed cavity,
a ventilated air cavity and an insulating panel.
 Composite Trombe walls are considered a remedy[11] for two deficiencies of Trombe walls:
 Heat loss during cloudy winter days and
 Undesired heat inputs during hot weather
 Both these effects were due to insulation on inner wall
surface.
 Unlike the conventional Trombe walls percentage of heat
Transferred through conduction or radiation is very less due
To the presence of insulation on inner side of wall.
COMPOSITE TROMBE WALL(Cntd.)
 Advantages:
 Users can control the rate of heating by controlling the airflow through the ventilated channel.
 The composite Trombe wall’s thermal resistance is extremely high because the wall is insulated on the inner
side.
 Disadvantages:
 This type of wall requires a mechanism to prevent reverse thermo-circulation, which occurs when the
storage wall becomes colder than the ambient air of the building’s internal space.
 The reverse thermo-circulation can be avoided by using plastic film insertion in the vents which allows the flow
of air only in one direction[11].
BIPV trombe wall:

 Building integrated photovoltaic thermal (BIPV/T) systems are either opaque or semi-
transparent type PV on roof top or facade.

Principle:
 The system removes the heat behind the PV panels and cools them.
 The decrease in the PV surface temperature provides the increase in electrical efficiency.
 The air heated in the air duct/gap is heated up and taken into the building’s HVAC system.
 The use of pre-heated air in the HVAC system provides the decrease in the heating and the
ventilation loads.
Application:
 Production and availability of semi transparent PV modules makes it viable for Trans wall
systems also, while opaque PV modules are limited to trombe wall only.
BIPV Trombe Walls
CONCLUSIONS:
 The experiments conducted using a-Si BIPV/T has given an
Increase of 2%[9] electrical efficiency and temperature difference
out door and outlet air is 16.89 𝑜 C thermal performance is reduced
by 17%[10]
 Double glazing thermal walls are also getting popular, This
will have less heat loss during night times due to increased
Thermal resistance. but reduction of transmittance is a problem.
 In single glass system the solar gain during day time is more
due to more transmittivity compared to double glass
 Thus single glass system with shutters in the night is better than
double glass system.
REFERANCES
 1. NREL. Building a better Trombe wall, NREL researchers improve passive solar technology. National
Renewable Energy Laboratory; 2005.
 2. K. Sopian, C.H. Lim, Nilofar Asim, M.Y. Sulaiman,Trombe walls: A review of opportunities and challenges
in research and development, Omidreza Saadatian n, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 16 (2012)
6340–6351
 3. Bourdeau LE. Study of two passive solar systems containing phase change materials for thermal storage. Fifth
Natl passive solar conference. Amherst, Mass: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory; 1980.
 4. Zalba B, Marin J, Cabeza L, Mehling H. Review on thermal energy storage with phase change: materials,
heat transfer analysis and applications. Appl Therm Eng 2003;23:251–83.
 5. Gibbs B, Hasnain S. DSC study of technical grade phase change heat storage materials for solar heating
applications. In: Proceedings of the 1995 ASME/JSME/JSEJ International Solar Energy Conference, Part 2,
1995.
 6. Hong Y, Xin-shi G. Preparation of polyethylene–paraffin compounds as a form-stable solid–liquid phase
change material. Solar Energy Mater Solar Sells 2000;64:37–44.
REFERANCES
 7. Sadineni SB, Madala S, Boehm RF. Passive building energy savings: a review of building envelope
components. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2011;15:3617–31.
 8. Tunc M, Uysal M. Passive solar heating of buildings using a fluidized bed plus Trombe wall system. Applied
Energy 1991;38:199–213.
 9. panels,Basak Kundakci Koyunbaba Zerrin Yilmaz b, The comparison of Trombe wall systems with single
glass, double glass and PV
 10. Sun W, Ji J, Luo C, He W. Performance of PV-Trombe wall in winter correlated with south facade design.
Applied Energy 2011;88:224–31.
 11. Zalewski L, Chantant M, Lassue S, Duthoit B. Experimental thermal study of a solar wall of composite
type. Energy and Buildings 1997