Development of a site-fabricated, building integrated air collector. Interim report, September 30, 1077-March 31, 1978

Total Environmental Action, Inc. is developing a cost-effective, site-fabricated, building-integrated air solar collector. The specific tasks are: (1) assessment of existing site-fabricated solar air heaters, (2) assessment of material availability, (3) analysis of site-fabricated air heater performance, (4) analysis of cost and building integration, (5) assessment of collector reliability and durability, (6) design and construction of an optimized collector, (7) experimental testing, (8) final design, (9) regional economic and performance projections, and (10) production and dissemination of application and evaluation documents and required reports. The questionnaires to assess existing site-fabricated solar air heaters have been analyzed and the materials survey has been completed: the results are described. Seven site-built collector designs have been specified and analyzed with respect to performance, cost, building integration, reliabilty, and aesthetics. Two of these designs have been selected for further analysis. The least expensive design can be constructed at a cost of $36/m/sup 2/ and will provide 1.16 x 10/sup 6/ kJ/m/sup 2/ in Boulder acccording to an f-chart analysis. The test program has been formulated, five test collector modules have been designed, and materials have been ordered.