Is The SolarWalls Would be an Alternative Energy Source?

In technologies using solar, we know well today photovoltaic, or solar thermal (for heating water). However, another misunderstood use was developed by a Canadian company (Conserval Engineering) since the 70s: the SolarWall. This technology is simple: harness the sun’s energy to heat the air and therefore the buildings of all shapes and sizes, whether old or new.

The premise was obvious: the heating is one of the first energy costs in the construction industry. Moreover, it is often derived from fossil resources. The system uses SolarWall and solar energy to preheat ventilation air for buildings of all types (industrial, commercial, institutional). It is also used in the case of farm buildings to dry crops. There is usually a huge gain in spending from 20 to 50% of the consumption of heating fuels, all without CO2 emissions! The method is an ingenious simplicity: the SolarWall is a cladding of steel or painted aluminum, dark and provided with perforations to allow air to pass. The air heated by passing through the wall made warm by the sunlight is diffused into the building through the ventilation system.

Improved in the 90′s, the system was now established in nearly 30 countries, with customers increasingly prestigious (Ford, Fed-Ex, Bombardier, Auchan, the Toronto airport and even the U.S. Army) , often allowing the buildings to obtain certification LEED (the U.S. equivalent of a labeling QEH).

SolarWall not arrive until 2009 in Europe. And the ten projects already concluded, the 3 / 4 will be in France, mainly in the Paris region, rather than its implementation. For example the town of Fontainebleau was installed last May the first SolarWall French on his gym. The installation thus enters into the framework of the “package-climate-energy” and allow the city to both reduced energy bills, but also CO2 emissions. Built on the facade of the gym, instead of wood siding, the SolarWall should produce 22,553 kWh / year.

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