Conserval heats U.S. military base with solar wall
We often get so focused on conventional solar PV or solar thermal heating that we forget about some of the other approaches out there, including one that claims to be “the fastest solar payback on the planet.”Conserval Engineering, based in Toronto, has for nearly 30 years been providing an air-based solar heating system, called SolarWall, to industrial- and commercial-scale building projects. It’s basically a special metal cladding on the south-facing side of a building that converts heat from the sun into warm air that is circulated throughout the building.
The company’s most recent installation is in upstate New York, where 50 SolarWall systems have been installed across 27 buildings at the Fort Drum military base. The company says the systems, perhaps one of the earliest examples of build-integrated solar design, will collectively produce 4 megawatts of peak thermal energy. “The technology heats ventilation and makeup air required in vehicle mainteance garages, warehouses, hangars, etc… displacing the traditional heating load,” the company said. Conserval recently expanded its manufacturing capacity in Toronto. It’s not widely known that the Canadian government, NASA, Ford, Federal Express, and Wal-Mart are among the company’s major customers.
In addition to solar air heating, the company has branched out into providing combined solar PV and air heating. It also sells its air system for agricultural and industrial process drying, which could prove tremendously useful in markets looking to exploit wet biomass. Past efforts in this area include a coffee-bean drying project in Costa Rica.
Tyler Hamilton is senior energy reporter and columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to this Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the cleantech market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper. Tyler can be reached at tyler@cleanbreak.ca
April 15th, 2008 at 8:14 am
While this seems to be a good system and something that should be mandated for all public buildings, does anyone have good data on the those small home solar thermal units for residential use? I’ve seen the ads and have gone to the manufacturer sites but have not seen any independant reviews of their real usefulness
April 16th, 2008 at 5:05 am
Interesting… I’d seen one of these a few years ago on a refitted apartment building. I liked the idea but thought it was too ugly to suit most residential purposes (beyond refitting ugly 70s-era apartment buildings). It’s obviously great for already-ugly buildings–industrial or big-box retail–but their photogallery shows some pretty interesting-looking buildings as well… particularly in Europe where they have a better tradition of design. Glad to see they’re doing so well internationally.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:41 am
A good architect could make any material or technology seem natural and even beautiful in a building. Perhaps by breaking it into pieces, or changing its shape, or forming the building around it.
-Matt the Engineer
April 17th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
For a good example of this technology in use locally, just look to the north side of the Lakeshore when passing by Leslie St. You will notice the Public Works building is clad in a SolarWall. I believe it was one of the earlier installations of the product.
April 17th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
I see it every day on the way to work and back. Definitely limited to industrial or commercial buildings. Can’t say it’s a nice look, but I’m sure architects could get creative with it.
April 1st, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Seems to be a no-brainer after I read this article. I think it looks nice, but the looks could be improved. Solar Walls and Solar Roofs…what a world my kids will live in….