Abstract

The experimental monitoring of a solar storage floor heated by a parallel duct air system is presented. A prototype room (3m x 2.5m, 2.3m height) was built, having a 0.3m thick concrete storage floor with 18 embedded ducts (0.075m in diameter). The bottom and laterals of the storage floor were thermally insulated to minimize heat losses to the ground and to outdoors. The air flowing inside ducts is heated in a closed circuit by 5m2 of solar air collectors. During the construction stage, thermocouples were embedded inside the concrete floor at different positions. The prototype (room and floor), the air system (ducts and solar air collectors), and outdoor conditions (ambient temperature and solar irradiance on horizontal surface) were monitored during winter at intervals of 15 minutes. The obtained results confirm the viability of this system to heat the indoor air.