Analysis of Solar Chimney Application for Building Heating and Cooling in Different Climates in China

Abstract

Solar chimneys have been applied widely to various buildings under different climate conditions because of their superiority in improving the indoor environment and saving energy. A series of comparative studies of the performance of solar chimneys used in 12 cities in China under different climatic conditions was carried out. A typical solar chimney in a representative building was studied using numerical simulation and analyzed using orthogonal experiment methods. Results show that the optimal structural configuration and the significance of influencing factors of the solar chimney have strong seasonal consistency. The window-to-wall ratio and wall-to-south wall ratio are the most significant influencing factors. Among the 12 cities, the highest average indoor temperature of the case room could be decreased by 5.7°C in summer and increased by 6.7°C in winter. The cooling and heating loads could be reduced by 30%–100% and 46%–56% respectively. The research results can provide practical guidance for future passive solar technology design.