Development of an indoor testing rig for façade integrated solar thermal collectors

Abstract

New solar thermal collectors with triangular and trapezoidal shapes and different colours (red, blue, green etc.) were developed in the Renewable Energy Systems and Recycling Research Centre, R&D Institute of the Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania to increase their architectural acceptance when integrated in buildings façades. An indoor testing rig was developed to assess: a) the performance of the new solar thermal collectors vertically installed on the façade, b) the influence of the façade integrated solar thermal collectors on the building envelope and thus on the indoor thermal comfort, c) the influence of the building envelope on the solar thermal collectors efficiency. The design process of the indoor testing rig is presented in the paper along with numerical simulations and experimental results.