New Directions for Building Thermal Storage

摘要

The thermal and economic value of incorporating phase change materials (PCMs) as layers in building walls and floors has been determined for a simple, one-room passive solar building through a series of simulations using the analysis code PCMSOL. It was found that the economic value of latent heat storage is strongly affected by the cost of fuel used for supplemental heating, as well as the application (PCM retrofit or PCM incorporated during building construction). Optimal PCM thermophysical property requirements were determined for PCMs located on the floor and walls of a direct gain building and for PCMs used as a Trombe wall, and an allowable storage cost for PCM storage systems was developed. The paper concludes with recommendations concerning PCM research and development for passive solar building heating. (ERA citation 10:030359)