Radiant Panels for Homes

 Radiant Panels

Radiant panels are simple passive solar systems that are inexpensive and well suited as retrofits to metal buildings. Note that the solar aperture consists of one or more layers of glazing material placed over an uninsulated metal panel. The metal panel would ordinarily be a part of the building shell so that a retrofit is constructed by simply glazing an appropriate area on the south side of the structure. Any insulation or other poorly conducting material should be removed from the inner surface of the glazed portion of the metal panel to facilitate heat transfer to the interior.

 

Solar radiation is absorbed on the outer surface of the metal panel after passing through the glazings. The panel becomes hot and gives up heat to the interior by radiation and convection. Thermal mass must be included inside the building shell as with direct gain systems. Usually, only a concrete slab will be available before retrofitting a metal building and it may sometimes be necessary to add water containers to achieve the desired thermal capacitance. Radiant panels perform on a par with direct gain buildings and are likely to be less expensive when used as retrofits to metal buildings.