Dual-Mode Thermal Regulation in Thermochromic Glass Trombe Wall (Tcg-Tw): Comparison of Summer Heat Blocking and Winter Heat Harvesting Efficiency

Abstract

The problem of overheating in summer significantly affects the practicality of the Trombe wall. In order to reduce the cooling load of the room with the Trombe wall, a novel thermochromic glass Trombe wall (TCG-TW) was proposed and investigated firstly. The heat harvesting efficiency in winter and the heat blocking performance in summer and transition seasons for TCG-TW were analyzed and compared with the classic Trombe wall (C-TW), and the thermal behaviors of TCG-TW in ventilation mode and heating mode were discussed to evaluate the practicality of TCG-TW. The results show that TCG-TW can effectively block the heat entering the room through the massive wall without slightly affecting the ventilation performance compared to C-TW in ventilation mode, and the negative effect of TCG-TW on the thermal efficiency in heating mode is small and can be accepted. TCG-TW can successfully change its color and significantly block the heat from solar radiation on most of days in summer and remain clear state in heating mode when the solar radiation intensity is lower than 400 W/m2 and the environment temperature is below 25 °C.

Keywords: Thermochromic glass Trombe wall, thermal efficiency, ventilation performance, heat blocking performance, building energy conservation