The Active Solar Building of Bourgoin-Jallieu Lessons from 5 Years of Measurements (1)

Summary

General purpose of this work was to measure actual performances of a big active solar heating system and to test detailed computer models. Numerous and continuous measurements are not easy to achieve for an inhabited building and many improvements were necessary to get complete and precise energy schedules. The Bourgoin-Jallieu Solar Building is a very good example of first generation active solar systems, which has proved at least the reliability of the components and the interest of heating floors associated to solar collectors. The mean productivity of the vertical collectors is about 160 kwh/m². The thermal mass of the building, increased by the heating floors, provides good thermal inertia (one week effects) leading to a small auxiliary energy consumption. Sensitivity study to the size of the main solar components was also performed, showing as expected big dependence of collector area, relatively small influence of storage volume and no interest to use phase change material in this type of systems.