Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Numerical simulation of combined solar passive heating and radiative cooling for a building

  • Research Article
  • Building Thermal, Lighting, and Acoustics Modeling
  • Published:
Building Simulation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

While solar energy can be utilized for passive space heating, efficient passive space cooling is achievable through lower temperature ambient thermal sources. In this study, a model was proposed for the combined solar heating and radiative cooling and a MATLAB code is developed to simulate combined space heating and cooling of a small building in Louisville, Kentucky. The combined system consists of the glazing/transparent insulation subsystem and the thermal storage subsystem. The space is passively heated and cooled by means of natural convection from the surfaces of the storage subsystem where the storage tank is heated by solar radiation and cooled by night sky radiation as a low temperature thermal source. The model for this system consists of several transient energy balance equations based on the lumped capacitance approach and it has been implemented utilizing MATLAB. Using the aforementioned system and the auxiliary heating/cooling units, the room temperature can be kept within the prescribed comfort range. The simulation is carried out to find the monthly and annual solar fraction, required heating demand, auxiliary heating demand as well as the unwanted heat gain during heating months. Also, the radiative cooling fraction, required cooling demand and auxiliary cooling demand during cooling months are obtained. The optimum value for transparent layer absorptivity was found to avoid unwanted heat gain. Parametric sensitivity was evaluated for material and design features related to the combined system. Simulation results for temperature profiles of the room and storage tank are also illustrated.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

A a :

area of aperture (m2)

A i :

anisotropy index

A s :

surface area (m2)

C b :

effective thermal capacitance (J/K)

C cover :

cloudiness factor

C p,n :

specific heat of the n-th node (J/(kg·K))

ET:

equation of time

G n :

rate of heat transfer with external source at the n-th node (W)

G sc :

solar constant (W/m2)

h w :

wind heat transfer coefficient (W/(m2·K))

I :

global horizontal irradiance (W/m2)

I 0 :

irradiance at surface (W/m2)

I b :

beam horizontal irradiance (W/m2)

I d :

diffuse horizontal irradiance (W/m2)

I o :

horizontal irradiance in the absence of the atmosphere (W/m2)

I r :

irradiance at distance x (W/m2)

I T :

total irradiance on tilted surface (J/m2)

I Tc :

critical radiation level (W/m2)

k nm :

thermal conductance between the nodes m and n (W/K)

k r,a :

radiative heat transfer coefficient for the radiation to the ambient

k r,s :

radiative heat transfer coefficient for the radiation to the sky

l :

longitude

l st :

local standard time (hr)

L :

characteristics length (m)

L h :

cube root of the house volume (m3)

m n :

mass of n-th node (kg)

n :

node number; number of day

n a :

index of refraction for air

n g :

index of refraction for glass

N :

number of covers

Nu :

Nusselt number

P :

perimeter (m)

Pr :

Prandtl number

Q abs :

absorbed energy in the system (J/m2)

Q̄ abs :

monthly absorbed energy in the system (J/m2)

Q aux,c :

auxiliary cooling energy (J/m2)

Q aux,h :

auxiliary heating energy (J/m2)

Q D :

dump energy (J/m2)

Q f :

absorbed energy in transparent layer with variable filter (J/m2)

Q r :

direct solar heating energy (J/m2)

Q̄ rad :

monthly radiation on the aperture (J/m2)

Q rem :

storage tank removal energy (J/m2)

Q req,c :

cooling demand (J/m2)

Q req,h :

heating demand (J/m2)

Q s :

direct thermal storage in the water tank (J/m2)

Q uwg :

unwanted solar gain (J/m2)

r ‖ :

parallel component of the unpolarized radiation

r ⊥ :

perpendicular component of the unpolarized radiation

R B :

beam radiation tilt factor

Ra L :

Rayleigh number

RF:

radiative fraction

RUS:

ratio of unwanted gain to solar gain

SF:

annual solar fraction

SF0 :

solar fraction for zero-capacitance building

SF∞ :

solar fraction for infinite-capacitance building

SFj :

monthly solar fraction

Δt :

simulation step time (s)

T a :

absorber temperature (K)

T amb :

ambient temperature (K)

T c :

transparent cover temperature (K)

T d :

dew point temperature (K)

T H :

upper comfort limit (K)

T L :

lower comfort limit (K)

T n :

temperature of the n-th node (K)

T sky :

effective sky temperature (K)

ΔT b :

difference between upper and lower comfort temperatures (K)

UWG:

unwanted gain fraction

V :

wind speed (m/s)

X :

solar load ratio

Y :

storage dump ratio

α :

absorptivity

α f :

absorptivity of the transparent layer with variable filter

α n :

absorptivity at normal incidence

β :

collector tilt (°)

δ :

declination (°)

ɛ 0 :

emissivity of clear sky

ɛ a :

absorber emissivity

ɛ c :

cover emissivity

ϕ :

latitude (°)

γ :

surface azimuth angle (°)

φ̄:

monthly average utilizability

µ:

coefficient of extinction (m−1)

θ b :

angle of incidence (°)

θ d :

effective incidence angle of isotropic diffuse radiation (°)

θ g :

effective incidence angle of ground-reflected radiation (°)

θ r :

angle of refraction (°)

θ z :

zenith angle (°)

ρ g :

ground reflectivity

τ :

transmittance

τ a :

transmittance in regard with absorption losses only

τ r :

transmittance based on the refraction losses only

(τα):

transmittance-absorptance product

τ̄ᾱ:

monthly average transmittance-absorptance product

ω :

hour angle (°)

Ω a :

percentage of solid angle for ambient

Ω s :

percentage of solid angle for sky

b:

beam

d:

diffuse

g:

ground-reflected

old:

value at previous iteration

References

  • Brownson JRS (2014). Solar Energy Conversion Systems. Oxford, UK: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byrne P, Miriel J, Lenat Y (2009). Design and simulation of a heat pump for simultaneous heating and cooling using HFC or CO2 as a working fluid. International Journal of Refrigeration, 32: 1711–1723.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Byrne P, Miriel J, Lénat Y (2012). Modelling and simulation of a heat pump for simultaneous heating and cooling. Building Simulation, 5: 219–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Çengel YA, Ghajar AJ (2014). Heat and Mass Transfer: Fundamentals and Applications, 5th edn. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan HY, Riffat SB, Zhu J (2010). Review of passive solar heating and cooling technologies. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 14: 781–789.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dai Q, Fang X (2014). A new model for atmospheric radiation under clear sky condition at various altitudes. Advances in Space Research, 56: 1044–1048.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duffie JA, Beckman WA (2013). Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes, 4th edn. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hanif M, Mahlia TMI, Zare A, Saksahdan TJ, Metselaar HSC (2014). Potential energy savings by radiative cooling system for a building in tropical climate. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 32: 642–650.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henning HM (2007). Solar assisted air conditioning of buildings-An overview. Applied Thermal Engineering, 27: 1734–1749.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henning HM, Döll J (2012). Solar systems for heating and cooling of buildings. Energy Procedia, 30: 633–653.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kasten F, Czeplak G (1980). Solar and terrestrial radiation dependent on the amount and type of cloud. Solar Energy, 24: 177–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leo Samuel DG, Nagendra SM, Maiya MP (2013). Passive alternatives to mechanical air conditioning of building: A review. Building and Environment, 66: 54–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin M, Berdahl P (1984). Characteristics of infrared sky radiation in the United States. Solar Energy, 33: 321–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson BS, Dorwart J, Sharp MK (2013). US space cooling potentials for ambient sources with thermal energy storage. International Journal of Ambient Energy, doi:10.1080/01430750.2013.864585.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sameti M (2014). Electrical energy efficient building through distributed generation. International Journal of Renewable Energy Research, 4: 777–783.

    Google Scholar 

  • Santamouris M, Kolokotsa D (2013). Passive cooling dissipation techniques for buildings and other structures: The state of the art. Energy and Buildings, 57: 74–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang J, Wu J, Zheng C (2014). Analysis of tri-generation system in combined cooling and heating mode. Energy and Buildings, 72: 353–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu W, You T, Wang B, Shi W, Li X (2014). Simulation of a combined heating, cooling and domestic hot water system based on ground source absorption heat pump. Applied Energy, 126: 113–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Renewable Energies, Faculty of New Sciences and Technologies, University of Tehran, North Karegar St., Tehran, Iran

    Mohammad Sameti & Alibakhsh Kasaeian

Authors
  1. Mohammad Sameti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alibakhsh Kasaeian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohammad Sameti.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sameti, M., Kasaeian, A. Numerical simulation of combined solar passive heating and radiative cooling for a building. Build. Simul. 8, 239–253 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-015-0215-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-015-0215-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation