Field performance of a solar air heater used for space heating and ventilation – A case study in New Zealand primary schools
1 October 2023
This research was conducted to investigate the space heating and ventilation performance of a roof-mounted solar air heater (SAH) in NZ primary schools in winter.
Field experiments over two winters were carried out in Palmerston North, NZ. A SAH was installed on the sun-facing roof of four schools in winter 2013 and six schools in winter 2014. During the experiment, the air temperature and air velocity were measured inside the classroom at the SAH outlet. Ambient weather conditions were measured by a local climate monitoring station.
Results showed that operating a roof-mounted SAH increased the indoor temperature and was useful to supplement the natural ventilation flow rate.