Thermal Solar Collector Tubes Installed by Airdrie Solar Services
Airdrie Environmental Education Centre
An Example of Sustainability
This sustainable building houses the Environmental Services Department for the City of Airdrie and is the only Canadian municipal facility of its kind.
Heat is generated in two ways: Passive Solar Heating and Active Solar Heating. Passive Solar Heating allows heat from the sun to enter the south facing windows warming the cement floor. The Active Solar Heating system traps energy from the sun in vacuum tubes and transfers this heat to the in-floor radiant heating system.
The solar water heating system uses 30 evacuated tube collectors that absorb the sun's energy, convert it to heat, and transfer the heat to Freon gas.
Evacuated tubes are special because they reduce heat loss much like a thermos bottle does, and so make the collectors more efficient.
A copper pipe within the vacuum tubes contains the Freon gas. When heated, the Freon changes from a liquid to a gas, rises up the tube, and transfers the heat to a header pipe containing glycol (which is used as antifreeze), whereby it then falls to the bottom to be heated again. The heated glycol is pumped to a water tank to transfer its heat to the potable water used in the building, to the radiant floor slab, or to the summer-loop, depending on the heating needs.
The system saved 37% in heating operational costs for the Recycling Depot in its first year of installment.
Heat is generated in two ways: Passive Solar Heating and Active Solar Heating. Passive Solar Heating allows heat from the sun to enter the south facing windows warming the cement floor. The Active Solar Heating system traps energy from the sun in vacuum tubes and transfers this heat to the in-floor radiant heating system.
The solar water heating system uses 30 evacuated tube collectors that absorb the sun's energy, convert it to heat, and transfer the heat to Freon gas.
Evacuated tubes are special because they reduce heat loss much like a thermos bottle does, and so make the collectors more efficient.
A copper pipe within the vacuum tubes contains the Freon gas. When heated, the Freon changes from a liquid to a gas, rises up the tube, and transfers the heat to a header pipe containing glycol (which is used as antifreeze), whereby it then falls to the bottom to be heated again. The heated glycol is pumped to a water tank to transfer its heat to the potable water used in the building, to the radiant floor slab, or to the summer-loop, depending on the heating needs.
The system saved 37% in heating operational costs for the Recycling Depot in its first year of installment.