An Assessment of Heating Load Reduction by a Solar Air Heater in a Residential Passive Ventilation System

Junichiro Matsunaga, Koki Kikuta, Hideki Hirakawa, Keita Mizuno, Masaki Tajima, Motoya Hayashi and Akira Fukushima
Additional contact information
Junichiro Matsunaga: Matsunaga Co., Ltd., Tokyo 178-0064, Japan
Koki Kikuta: Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8628, Japan
Hideki Hirakawa: Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University of Science, Sapporo 006-8585, Japan
Keita Mizuno: Misawa Homes Institute of Research and Development Co., Ltd., Tokyo 168-0072, Japan
Masaki Tajima: School of Systems Engineering, Kochi University of Technology, Kami 782-8502, Japan
Motoya Hayashi: Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8628, Japan
Akira Fukushima: Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University of Science, Sapporo 006-8585, Japan

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 22, 1-12

Abstract: In this paper, the authors examined the technology to maximize the use of renewable energy. Passive ventilation systems are expected to reduce the energy consumption of the fan and the maintenance burden. In addition, the wall-mounted solar air heater can supply thermal energy without using any energy at all. Therefore, this paper presents a “passive ventilation system with a solar air heater” that combines a passive ventilation system with the solar air heater to preheat the air. This system can reduce the ventilation load. To evaluate the solar air heater performance in a real environment, we developed a simulation for calculating the heat collection capacity of the solar air heater, and then the system was implemented in a real building for verification. The simulation performs hourly unsteady calculations, allowing for accurate evaluation of the annual simulation. Based on the measurement results, the effects of heating load reduction and prediction methods are presented. The solar air heater reduced the monthly ventilation load by up to 50% or more, and by at least 15%. It was also confirmed that there was a high correlation between the actual measurements and the simulation results.

Keywords: solar air heater; passive ventilation; ventilation load; residential house; actual measurement; simulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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