<p>Solar thermosiphons integrated into the thermal envelop of buildings has been studied for their potential to take advantage of solar energy in heating buildings. The annual performance of solar thermosiphons cannot currently be predicted with the correlations from previous research. Also, no work has been done on the supply mode of a solar thermosiphon even though it has the potential to provide heating and fresh ventilation air. An investigation was done with the goal of developing a numerical model that could predict the performance of the supply mode of a solar thermosiphon. The numerical model included infrared thermal radiation and conduction through the glass, phenomenon which had not been used in previous numerical models. To validate the numerical model a novel steady state experiment was developed. This experiment included radiation as the heat source and the ability to vary geometric lengths. The performance parameters of mass flow rate and thermal efficiency were comparable between the numerical predictions and experimental results. However, due to uncertainties in the current experimental setup, full validation of the numerical model was not possible. These uncertainties would have to be addressed before the numerical model that was developed can be fully validated and used for generating correlations. After consideration of practical implementation constrains, it was shown that it was easier to implement the indoor air curtain mode of a solar thermosiphon than the supply mode. The indoor air curtain mode provides the same amount of energy from solar radiation to heat a building as the supply mode of a solar thermosiphon.</p> / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Increasing energy use has caused many environmental problems including global warming. Energy use is growing rapidly in developing countries and surprisingly a remarkable portion of it is associated with consumed energy to keep the temperature comfortable inside the buildings. Therefore, identifying renewable technologies for cooling and heating is essential. This study introduced applications of steel sheets integrated into the buildings to save energy based on existing technologies. In addition, the proposed application was found to have a considerable chance of market success. Also, satisfying energy needs for space heating and cooling in a single room by using one of the selected applications in different Köppen climate classes was investigated to estimate which climates have a proper potential for benefiting from the application. This study included three independent parts and the results related to each part have been used in the next part. The first part recognizes six different technologies through literature review including Cool Roof, Solar Chimney, Steel Cladding of Building, Night Radiative Cooling, Elastomer Metal Absorber, and Solar Distillation. The second part evaluated the application of different technologies by gathering the experts’ ideas via performing a Delphi method. The results showed that the Solar Chimney has a proper chance for the market. The third part simulated both a solar chimney and a solar chimney with evaporation which were connected to a single well insulated room with a considerable thermal mass. The combination was simulated as a system to estimate the possibility of satisfying cooling needs and heating needs in different climate classes. A Trombe-wall was selected as a sample design for the Solar Chimney and was simulated in different climates. The results implied that the solar chimney had the capability of reducing the cooling needs more than 25% in all of the studied locations and 100% in some locations with dry or temperate climate such as Mashhad, Madrid, and Istanbul. It was also observed that the heating needs were satisfied more than 50% in all of the studied locations, even for the continental climate such as Stockholm and 100% in most locations with a dry climate. Therefore, the Solar Chimney reduces energy use, saves environment resources, and it is a cost effective application. Furthermore, it saves the equipment costs in many locations. All the results mentioned above make the solar chimney a very practical and attractive tool for a wide range of climates.

The subject of the thesis is the use of solar thermal technology for the production of low-potential heat. The theoretical part is focus in the solar technology, variants of passive use of solar energy. Describes in detail the solar facades, it's classification in terms of basic criteria. Applications on the project forced ventilation in administrative buildings, installation of solar facade. The work also includes an experiment that deals with the thermal behavior of the air collector.