Research into practice: Malatya solar housing

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to discover the underlying reasons for the failure of solar energy architecture in Turkey in order to be able suggest methods of improving it in Turkey and worldwide.Design/methodology/approach – The methodology employed in this research is on‐site observations of Turkish solar houses built with respect to the details of their application, and depiction of heat gains provided with applied solar measures, and to compare them with an ideal gauge to determine the deficiencies involved in applications.Findings – The investigations discovered that various buildings under consideration share several errors. In order of importance, these items are: faulty applications, erroneous choice of methods and lack of precautions in the summer.Practical implications – The practical implications of the study are that measures must be taken to prevent heat loss during winter nights; outer walls with a resistance to heat transmission of u=1 W/m2K would have been preferred rather than...