Experimental study of a solar wall collector with PCM towards the natural ventilation of model house

Abstract This paper presents the results of the experimental performance of a solar wall collector with PCM (SC-PCM) towards the natural ventilation of experiment houses. The system is composed of a solar wall collector with PCM panel, an air gap, and an inner wall made of concrete material. The SC-PCM is 1.40 m high and 0.80 m width. The external solar wall collector with PCM and internal concrete wall has a similar thickness of about 15 cm. The opening areas are located at the bottom (indoor) and on the top (outdoor), to release hot air into the atmosphere for improving ventilation. Additionally, the top opening area is covered with anti-insects net. The solar wall collector with PCM system under examination in this paper was installed into the south facade of a small house made of 10 cm thick concrete walls with an interior volume of 4.05 m3. Performances are compared to similar house of the same dimensions made by single concrete walls (SW). The experiment revealed that the indoor temperature of the solar wall collector with PCM room was considerably lower than that of the single concrete. Solar wall collector with PCM can induce ventilation rate proportional to the incident solar radiation intensity. Therefore, it can reduce heat accumulation and improve indoor conditions.