IJEP 45(8): 738-744 : Vol. 45 Issue. 8 (August 2025)
1. Dayananda Sagar College of Architecture, DSI Campus, Bengaluru – 560 111, Karnataka, India
2. Anna University, Institute for Energy Studies, College of Engineering, Chennai – 600 025, Tamil Nadu, India
Abstract
This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of a solar-assisted space heating system for an office building in high-altitude cold climates. A building of 300 m2 is simulated in Design Builder software to analyse the heating load requirement. A preliminary design for the storage tank and heating units in the buildings is performed. The results show that the heating load requirement varies from 2-13.5 kW during various months of the year. If the solar and storage systems are designed for peak winter day requirements, the annual utilization factor will be very low. Hence the systems are designed for an average load to enhance the annual utilization factor with recommendation of introducing a seasonal storage system. Further, it is observed that the heat loss to the ground compared to the useful heat flow to the office space is in the range of 25 and 28% when ground temperature is at -5°C and -10°C, respectively with an EPS insulation thickness of 50 mm. The results reported in this work will help architects and building engineers to provide efficient solar space heating solutions for buildings in high-altitude cold climates.
Keywords
solar collector, solar system, space heating, thermal storage, underfloor heating
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