astronomy

Solarwall

Solarwall is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Solarwall rather than just read about it. In short: SolarWall is the brand name of a transpired collector designed and manufactured by Conserval Engineering. Conserval Engineering is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Key takeaways

Solarwall belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Solarwall to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Solarwall from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

SolarWall is the brand name of a transpired collector designed and manufactured by Conserval Engineering. Conserval Engineering is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

History and design The SolarWall design was developed in 1989 by John Hollick of Conserval Engineering with assistance from Natural Resources Canada and the United States Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The system consists of perforated metal panels mounted on a building's sun-facing exterior wall, the panels absorb heat from the sun and in turn heat the air space between the panel and the building's wall. The heated air is then pulled into the building's ventilation or HVAC system via a fan, saving building owners on their heating costs and reducing the amount of fossil fuels used. According to Mother Earth News, for every 5 square metres (54 sq ft) of SolarWall panels installed, about 1 ton of carbon dioxide emissions is displaced each year. An unglazed design is used for heating or preheating large volumes of fresh air, and a partially glazed 2-stage heater is available for achieving higher temperatures when heating buildings in colder climates. The SolarWall technology can also be installed as a hybrid solar system that generates both heat and electricity from the same surface area. By combining photovoltaics with the air heating technology, the heat produced by the solar panels is removed and drawn into the collector, helping to cool the solar panels and preheat the building's ventilation system at the same time. Compared to traditional roof-mounted solar thermal panels designed to heat domestic hot water, a vertical orientation eliminates any snow buildup and was found to increase winter solar gain, being angled more towards the lower winter solar angle. Reflective snow on the ground was found to increase solar energy as much as 50%. SolarWall systems are typically installed without thermal storage to minimize costs and thus operate as day time heaters on commercial, industrial and institutional buildings Three of Conserval's early SolarWall installations have been closely monitored to determine real energy savings. In 1990, Ford Motor Company installed a system on their Oakville, Ontario manufacturing plant, saving approximately 17% on their heating costs at that plant alone. The company eventually installed six more SolarWall systems on other facilities, and as of 2014 have reportedly saved more than $10 million over all their installations. In 1991, General Motors had a system installed at their Oshawa, Ontario plant and, as of 1998, reported a savings of approximately $10,200 per year. Another collector installed at NREL in Golden, Colorado in 1991 is saving about 14,310 kWh of electricity annually, a reported 25.7% decrease. According to Solar Energy Industries Association, over 5,000,000 square feet (460,000 m2) of these panels were in operation as of 2015. A new application for solar air heating is in combination with air source heat pumps where the solar heated air becomes the heat source for these units.

Awards SolarWall and its parent company Conserval have received a number of awards:

1994 - "R&D 100 Award" from R&D Magazine 1994 - "Best New Building Product of the Year Award" from Toronto Construction Association 1994 - "Best of What's New" Award from Popular Science 1997 - Federal Energy and Water Management Award from the United States Department of Energy 2014 - SolarWall and John Hollick honored by American Society of Mechanical Engineers as one of 80 best global inventions, inventors and engineering feats of past two centuries.

See also Solar updraft tower Trombe wall

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Solarwall

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Solarwall claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Solarwall before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Solarwall ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Solarwall

In research: Solarwall appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Solarwall in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Solarwall is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Low-energy building, Solar architecture, Solar thermal energy, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Solarwall outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Solarwall in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Solarwall means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Solarwall out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Solarwall in simple terms?

SolarWall is the brand name of a transpired collector designed and manufactured by Conserval Engineering. Conserval Engineering is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Why does Solarwall matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Solarwall?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Solarwall.