Performance Improvement Plan of Air Circulation-Type Solar Heat-Storage System Using Ventilated Cavity of Roof

Indoor solar-heating systems that use ventilated roofs have drawn attention in recent years. The effectiveness and efficiency of such air-heating systems vary depending on the design and operation methods. In Japan, by introducing outside air into a ventilated roof cavity and circulating the air indoors, systems that simultaneously obtain ventilation, solar heating, and heat-storage effects have been actively developed. The conventional systems intake a large volume of outside air to increase the solar heat collection effect. However, there is a risk of heat loss and over-drying when a large amount of cold dry air during winter is introduced. In this paper, plans are presented for improving these solar heating and heat-storage effects by preventing over-drying using indoor air circulation via ventilated cavities in the roof and indoor wall. By comparing the results of the proposed system with those of the conventional system via numerical simulation, the heating load is found to be reduced by 50% or more by circulating indoor air to the ventilated roof and storing the heat in the indoor wall. Moreover, an increased relative humidity of approximately 10% was confirmed by reducing the intrusion of the outside air and keeping the moisture indoors.