The Solar Technology of St. George's School, Wallasey, England

Abstract

Although solar energy has obvious application for heating water in the summer months, its potential for contributing to space heating in the impoverished solar climate of the U.K. winter seems more open to question. St. George's School, Wallasey, 53°25′N was built on the assumption that solar energy could so contribute and the energy is admitted directly into the structure through its large south facing glazed wall. Although supplementary heat has to be supplied, it appears that on this site less such heal is needed in a building in which solar construction is adopted than in an equivalent building of non-solar construction. A large thermal store however must be provided to prevent excessive rises of temperature on sunny days. A thermal model is described to estimate the temperature within the building in the steady state, the daily fluctuating state, and in response to abrupt changes. The estimates are compared with observation. It is concluded that with simple improvements in design, solar energy admitted directly into the structure could contribute to space heating on suitable sites over much of the U.K.

Keywords:

• Buildings
• walls
• windows
• room temperature
• solar radiation
• schools