U.S. patent application number 09/853359 was filed with the patent office on 2002-08-29 for solar-system house.
This patent application is currently assigned to KABUSHIKI KAISHA OHEM KENKYUJO. Invention is credited to Okumura, Akio.
Application Number | 20020117166 09/853359 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 18895057 |
Filed Date | 2002-08-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020117166 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Okumura, Akio |
August 29, 2002 |
Solar-system house
Abstract
A solar system house having a solar-heat collecting portion on a
roof, a solar-heat collecting duct communicated with the solar-heat
collecting portion; and a handling box connected to the solar-heat
collecting portion. The handling box includes a back-flow damper
that prevent a back-flow toward the solar-heat collecting duct, an
air-flow change damper that allow selection between a descending
duct and an exhaust duct opened to the outside, a solar-heat
collecting fan positioned between the back-flow chamber and the
air-flow change damper, and a driving motor for rotating the
solar-heat collecting fan in the handling box, which is a direct
current (DC) motor to be driven by a solar-battery and a
rechargeable battery electrically connected to the
solar-battery.
Inventors: |
Okumura, Akio; (Tokyo,
JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
KODA & ANDROLIA
Suite 3850
2029 Century Park East.
Los Angeles
CA
90067-3024
US
|
Assignee: |
KABUSHIKI KAISHA OHEM
KENKYUJO
|
Family ID: |
18895057 |
Appl. No.: |
09/853359 |
Filed: |
May 10, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
126/633 ;
126/621; 126/632; 126/634 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y02B 10/20 20130101;
Y02A 30/60 20180101; F24D 3/08 20130101; Y02E 10/44 20130101; F24D
5/005 20130101; F24S 20/67 20180501; Y02E 10/40 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
126/633 ;
126/634; 126/621; 126/632 |
International
Class: |
F24J 002/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 7, 2001 |
JP |
2001-030908 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A solar system house, comprising: a solar-heat collecting
portion on a roof; a solar-heat collecting duct communicated with
the solar-heat collecting portion; and a handling box connected to
the solar-heat collecting portion, wherein the handling box
includes a back-flow damper that prevent a back-flow toward the
solar-heat collecting duct, an air-flow change damper that allow
selection between a descending duct and an exhaust duct opened to
the outside, a solar-heat collecting fan positioned between the
back-flow chamber and the air-flow change damper, and a driving
motor for rotating the solar-heat collecting fan in the handling
box, which is a direct current (DC) motor to be driven by a
solar-battery and a rechargeable battery electrically connected to
the solar-battery.
2. The solar system house as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
solar-heat collecting portion is constructed of: a roof plate
including a steel roof plate, an amorphous silicon solar battery
layered on the steel roof plate, and a resin coat applied on the
amorphous silicon solar battery; and an air flow path having a roof
pitch formed immediately bellow the roof plate.
3. The solar system house as claimed in claim 1, wherein an
exhausting operation is performed during the daytime, where the
air-flow change damper is communicated with the exhaust duct to
perform the exhausting operation, and a radiational cooling is
performed during the nighttime, where the air-flow change damper is
communicated with the descending duct to introduce air into a
room.
4. The solar system house as claimed in claim 1, wherein driving
motors used for activating the back-flow damper and the air-flow
change damper are DC motors that are connected to the rechargeable
battery as a power supply.
5. The solar system house as claimed in claim 1, further
comprising: a thermal sensor provided on a solar-heating duct,
wherein the driving motor of the solar-heat collecting fan is
turned on/off and the back-flow damper is opened/closed, based on a
temperature detected by the thermal sensor.
6. The solar system house as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
solar-heat collecting duct is a ridge duct that is placed inside of
a house.
7. The solar system house as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
solar-heat collecting duct is a ridge duct that is placed outside
of a house.
8. The solar system house as claimed in claim 1, wherein a lower
end of the descending duct is opened to an under-floor
air-circulating space communicating with an interior of a room
through an outlet formed on a predetermined location.
9. The solar system house as claimed in claim 8, wherein an
under-floor air-circulating space is a space between a solar-heat
accumulating dirt-floor concrete and a floor plate.
10. The solar system house as claimed in claim 1, wherein a lower
end of the descending duct is directly opened to an under-floor
air-circulating space.
11. The solar system house as claimed in claim 1, wherein a lower
end of the descending duct is opened to an under-floor
air-circulating space and directly opened to an interior of a room.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a solar system house
designed to use solar energy as a heat source, for warming a room
or a building by air heated by solar radiation.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] The increase in CO.sub.2 is the consequence of the
conventional human technological activities and reaches a level
enough to pose a danger to a global environment itself at present.
The reasons are mostly depended on a civilized life with excessive
energy consumption promoted in industrially advanced nations. If
many developing nations set their sights on the advanced nations as
their ideal technological behaviors, they will have no other choice
but to be the ruin of them all. However, it is difficult to say
that the people of the developing nations should give up "enriched
their lives" being enjoyed in the advanced nation. An excessive
consumption of resource energies may be not a privilege granted
only to the advanced nations. At present, the duty of each advanced
nation is to generate any method for decreasing the application of
loads to the environment in a quest to rise the standards of living
but not to decrease thereof.
[0005] Therefore, it has been demanded to optimize the usage of sun
energies for warming, cooling, ventilating, and dehumidifying the
interior of a room, and supplying hot-water by constructing
residences and buildings that are flexibly cope with external
environment conditions, in addition to depend on any weather factor
such as wind.
[0006] By the way, the conventional Japanese house design is
characterized by the follows. That is, it has unique building
components such as big roof, deep eaves, large opening, edges, open
plane surface, high floor level from the ground, and tokonoma
(i.e., a niche or an alcove in a Japanese home for displaying a
flower arrangement or the like).
[0007] Such peculiar features of the Japanese home might be born
from the fusion or interaction with nature in Japan. For example,
the large opening and high-leveled floor systems are obviously cope
with climate of high temperature and high humidity in Japan. It was
necessary to provide such a design for obtaining the cool by
pulling a current of air.
[0008] Accordingly, such a required design has been easily attained
by a distinctive method of Japanese traditional construction (i.e.,
wood construction supported or framed with timbers). However, the
Japanese construction method has a major disadvantage with respect
to the utilization of solar heat.
[0009] According to the Japanese construction method, support poles
are built at first and then a roof is placed thereon to freely
provide walls and windows. In this case, however, it gets in a bad
way in terms of adiabatic efficiency and air-tightness of the
building. Therefore, the area or the number of building components
for obtaining thermal capacities is restricted.
[0010] In this kind of the Japanese traditional home, there is a
way to utilize solar heat for climate control in the home. That is,
a large opening is provided on the south of the home to uptake a
large amount of solar radiation in winter and air is permitted to
pass through a part of the home in summer.
[0011] Furthermore, a sunroom may be additionally provided on the
outside of a living room as a hothouse for taking up warmed air
from the sunroom to the living room.
[0012] In this case, air is only provided as a thermal storage
means. However, as shown in FIG. 11, it is possible to constantly
supply a thermal energy to the inside of room 53 through an
air-circulation passage 54. The air-circulation passage 54 is
formed by placing a cover plate 52 made of a glass material on a
concrete outer wall 51 with a space between them. In this case, the
concrete outer wall 51 may be provided as a heat accumulator for
supplying heat in a stable manner.
[0013] However, these structural designs are only used for the room
space that looks to almost south, so that there is a large
temperature difference between the room facing south and another
room facing north.
[0014] By the way, the U.S. Pat. No. 4,304,219 (Currie, issued on
Dec. 8, 1981) entitled "Solar Energy Control System" discloses a
heat-accumulating system that accumulates solar heat in itself. The
heat-accumulator is one of the components that make up the system
and exists in isolation from the residence or building. Therefore,
it does not use the residence or building itself to collect and
accumulate solar heat.
[0015] By the way, the present inventor has been invented a solar
system house as disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,729 (Okumura,
issued on Nov. 6, 1990) entitled "Solar-System House" and assigned
to Kabushiki Kaisha Ohem Kenkyujyo (Shizuoka, Japan).
[0016] In the U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,729, as shown in FIG. 12, the
solar system house comprises a solar heating collector in the form
of a roof of the house. An air flow path 2 is formed immediately
underneath a metal roof plate 1 made of a colored steel plate
having a roof pitch (i.e., extending along the slope thereof). One
end of the air flow path 2 is opened as an ambient air intake 3 on
eaves or another portion and the other end thereof is communicated
with a ridge duct 4 provided as one for collecting heat.
[0017] A loft 29 is an open space under the roof 1, where a
handling box 5 having a back-flow damper 6, a heat-accumulating fan
7, and an air-flow change damper 8 is provided. One of outlets of
the air-flow change damper 8 in the handling box 5 is opened to the
outside through an exhaust duct 9. Also, one of inlets of the
back-flow damper 6 in the handling box 5 is communicated with the
ridge duct 4 through a duct 32, while the other outlet of the
air-flow change damper 8 is connected to the upper end of a
descending duct 10. The bottom end of the descending duct 10 is
provided as an under-floor heat accumulator that opens to an
air-circulating space 13 between a dirt-floor concrete 11 and a
floor panel 12. Furthermore, there is formed a floor air outlet 14
from the air-circulating space 13 from the interior of a room.
[0018] Also, a hot-water pumping coil 15 is placed between the
handling box 5 and the ridge duct 4 and connected to both a
hot-water reserving tank 17 and a circulation pump 19 via a
circulation piping 16. In addition, the hot-water reserving tank 17
is connected to hot-water supplying tube 21 for supplying hot water
to a bathroom and a kitchen. As shown in the figure, there is a
hot-water supplying boiler 18 is installed on the hot-water
reserving tank 17 for heating up the hot-water.
[0019] In this manner, the roof plate 1 made of a steel plate being
heated by solar radiation heats the air introduced into the air
flow path 2. Then the heated air ascends along the pitched
roof.
[0020] Then, the heated air is collected in the ridge duct 4 and
subsequently introduced into the handling box 5 by means of a fan
7. The heated air further flows down into the descending duct 10
and enters into the air-circulating space 13 between the dirt-floor
concrete 11 provided as a heat accumulator and the floor panel 12.
In the air-circulating space 13, the heated air performs three
different heating actions of directly heating the underside of the
floor via the floor panel 12, being accumulated in the dirt-floor
concrete 11, and being provided as warm air that is directly blown
into the interior of the room through a floor air outlet 14.
[0021] On the other hand, a hot-water pumping coil 15 heats a
thermal medium that is fed from the hot-water reserving tank 17
using a circulation pump 19, and then it is stored as a hot water
in the hot-water reserving tank 17. Subsequently, the hot water is
further heated by a hot-water supplying boiler 18 for supplemental
heating and then supplied to each part of the house via the
hot-water supplying tube 21.
[0022] The solar system house having such a configuration is
operated by the handling box 5. Comparing with other components,
the heat-accumulating fan 7 is driven most frequently in the
handling box 5. The fan 7 is generally activated using a drive
motor connecting to a power supply (in this case, a
commercially-available 100 V power supply), so that major portion
of the running cost of the whole house may be its electricity cost.
It is curiously to say that the object of the solar system house is
the utilization of solar energy. Therefore, there is the growing
need for using the natural energy for operating the handling box to
reduce such a running cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0023] In view of the problems found in the prior art, it is a
primary object of the present invention to provide a solar system
house to resolve the existing problems found in the conventional
solar heating systems, allowing: the optimization of the use of
solar energy for heating, cooling, ventilating, and dehumidifying
the interior of a room in addition to the use of wind and other
climate conditions; the supply of hot water by constructing a
residence or building that flexibly adapts to the outside
environmental conditions; the reduction in running cost of the
system by the use of a solar battery; and an appropriating
operation of the system in response to the quantity of solar
radiation.
[0024] To solve the problems found in the prior art and achieve the
object of the present invention, at first, the solar system house
of the present invention comprises: a solar-heat collecting portion
on a roof, a heat-collecting duct communicating with the solar-heat
collecting portion, an air-flow change damper switching a
communication among a back-flow chamber to the heat-collecting
duct, a descending duct, and an exhaust duct for opening to the
outside; and a handling box in which a heat-accumulating fan is
provided between the back-flow chamber and the air-flow chamber,
wherein a direct current (DC) motor is used as a driving motor for
the air-accumulating fan of the handling box and connected to a
power supply which is a solar battery or a rechargeable battery to
be connected to the solar battery.
[0025] Secondary, the solar-heat collecting portion is constructed
of a steel roof plate, an amorphous silicon solar battery layered
on the steel roof plate, a resin coating applied on a surface of
the amorphous silicon solar battery, and an air flow path having a
roof pitch directly underneath the roof plate.
[0026] Thirdly, a nighttime radiational cooling is performed during
the summertime, where an air-flow change damper is communicated
with an exhaust duct to perform an exhausting operation in the
daytime and the air-flow chamber is communicated with a descending
duct in the nighttime to perform an intake of the air into the
interior of room.
[0027] Fourthly, a DC motor is used as a drive motor of both
back-flow damper and air-flow change damper and connected to a
rechargeable battery as a power source.
[0028] Fifthly, a temperature sensor is installed on the
heat-collecting duct, where the drive motor for driving the
heat-actuating fan is switched on/off and the damper is
opened/closed in response to a temperature detected by the
temperature sensor.
[0029] Sixthly, the heat-collecting duct is provided as a ridge
duct to be installed in the interior of house, or a duct on the
roof to be installed on the exterior of house.
[0030] Seventhly, the bottom end of the descending duct is opened
to an under-floor air-circulating space, where a brow-off orifice
is formed from the under-floor air-circulating space to the
interior of room, or the under-floor air-circulating space is a
space between the heat-accumulating dirt-floor concrete and the
floor panel.
[0031] Eighthly, the bottom end of the descending duct is directly
opened to the interior of room, or opened to the under-floor
air-circulating space and also opened to the interior of room.
[0032] In accordance with the present invention, at first, the
present invention is characterized by the accumulation of heat on
the roof. In general, we can say that something characterizing the
solar energy as an energy is that it can be "thinly, widely, and
equally" provided. The solar energy is not like energy to be
obtained from oil that intensively generates an extremely high
temperature, so that it is not appropriate for a large-scaled
intensive electric power generation. That is, the use of solar
energy is actually realized and satisfied by the fact that each of
building has its own roof on which the solar energy can be "thinly,
widely, and equally" provided and good agreement with its character
as energy.
[0033] Therefore, the solar system house of the present invention
collects solar energy and introduces it into the inside of the
building by means of "roof" that receives the solar energy on its
surface area which is broader than any other part of the building
with respect of receiving solar radiation. Depending on each
geographic area, there is a height limit of the buildings, which is
restrict an intake of solar radiation into the interior of room. In
this case, however, the "roof" is able to receive the solar energy
in abundance. More specifically, the room has not only the original
function as a shelter for preventing the inside of house from bad
weather but also the additional function of introducing "heat" into
the inside of house.
[0034] Next, the present invention is also characterized by
transferring heat by means of air. Conventionally, it is generally
performed that heat is transferred to water provided as a
heat-transferring medium and then introduced into the interior of
room using the water. In the solar system house of the present
invention, on the other hand, "air" is used as a heat-transferring
medium so that the air is warmed and introduced into the house.
[0035] The reason of without using water as a heat-transferring
medium is that many problems are included in the process of
accumulating heat in water. For example, water should be held
without leaking any drop thereof, water may be boiled by the
thermal energy so that there is a need to endure the vapor pressure
of the boiling, water may be often frozen, the tube in which water
flows may be expanded or shrunk. On the other hand, the air does
not wet someone so that the leakage of air does not cause the
inconvenience to someone without being noticed. Furthermore, the
air is a gas, so that it is not boiled. Therefore, the use of air
is quit free from care.
[0036] Furthermore, the power supply of the heat-accumulating fan
of the handling box, the damper motor, and the heat-water pump in
the daytime may use both the solar battery and the rechargeable
battery, which can be adjusted appropriately to save energy.
[0037] Furthermore, the solar battery generates sufficient electric
power when the solar radiation is strong. As a result, the
heat-accumulating fan can be activated in response to the degree of
solar radiation, for example the air volume of the
heat-accumulating fan can be increased. In this case, more
specifically, the fan in the handling box does not use a
commercially available power supply as its power source. It is
electrically connected to the solar battery stacked on the roof, so
that the solar battery can be automatically activated when there is
sufficient solar radiation and automatically controlled in an
appropriate manner, providing substantial energy savings.
[0038] According to the present invention, a solar battery is
integrally combined in a roof plate provided as a construction
material. Thus, solar heat can be simultaneously obtained together
with electricity. In addition, there is no need to prepare any
place specific for the solar battery. Furthermore, there is no need
to prevent the roof plate from overheating to be caused by solar
radiation. The roof structure can be also used as a support of the
solar battery. Thus, it is possible to omit the cost of the
support. The solar battery can be simultaneously installed when the
roof is constructed, so that cost of constructing the solar battery
can be omitted. In this case, an efficiency of the solar battery is
only a few percent with respect to the obtained solar energy, so
that there is no substantial effects on the property of
accumulating solar heat.
[0039] In addition, the amorphous silicon solar battery comprises
an integral combination with the steel plate to construct a surface
battery module that is backed by the steel roof plate. Therefore,
this solar battery can be bent up and down and keeps its battery
function even if it is bent at an electric generating portion).
Therefore, the solar battery can be applied on various forms and
styles of roof materials.
[0040] Furthermore, the electric generation property the solar
battery can be maintained because of the following reasons. That
is, in the solar battery made of amorphous silicon, the decrease in
an ability of electric generation is comparatively low in response
to the increase in temperature. In addition, the roof plate is
prevented from the increase in temperature as the air passing
through the air flow path that extends along a roof pitch is formed
immediately bellow the roof plate.
[0041] According to the present invention during the nighttime,
specifically, the air cooled by radiational cooling can be
introduced into the interior of room through the solar-heat
collecting portion formed on the roof, so that it increases the
comfort of people in the room.
[0042] According to the present invention the electricity generated
by the solar battery can be used as an electric power to be
supplied to the damper-driving motor, so that the running cost can
be further decreased.
[0043] According to the present invention, the timing of
exhausting-operation in the summertime and the timing of
heat-accumulating operation in the wintertime can be appropriately
controlled on the basis of the temperatures detected by temperature
sensors.
[0044] According to the present invention, the duct provided as a
heat-accumulating box is a ridge duct to be placed in the inside of
house, so that the duct can be placed using the space of ridge
without taking up a space in the room.
[0045] According to the present invention, the duct provided as a
heat-accumulating box is a roof-mounted duct, so that a
duct-mounting work can be performed from the outside concurrently
with the roof construction work. Therefore, the duct can be
installed in any house or building without having enough ridge
space of roof.
[0046] According to the present invention, the lower end of the
descending duct is opened to the under-floor air-circulating space
and provided with a blow-off orifice that blows the air from the
under-floor air-circulating space to the interior of room. On the
other hand, the conventional heating appliances mainly used at the
present, such as air conditioners and fan heaters, are the
so-called "warm-air heating". Therefore, the present invention is
the so-called "low-temperature radiation heating" that uses
radiation heat provided as the warm air passing through the
under-floor, so that a wide area of the floor can be warmed by a
comparatively low temperature.
[0047] It is noted that the "warm-air heating" is an intermittent
heating and causes the substantially large temperature difference
between upper and lower spaces of the room. On the other band, the
"low-temperature radiation heating" realizes the comfortable
interior of the room and warms from legs by heat conducting through
the floor, without generating such a temperature difference and an
unpleasant air blow. Therefore, the present invention allows the
best comfortable heating conditions of "cooling head and warming
legs".
[0048] According to the present invention, the under-floor
air-circulating space is a space between the heat-accumulating
dirt-floor concrete and the floor panel, so that heat is
accumulated under the floor. If the warm air is left alone after
accumulating heat into the air on the room, it is cooled as the sun
is setting.
[0049] During the daytime in cold winter, the sun radiation can be
obtained though the window by means of a direct gain as it is. In
this case, the room temperature can be increased by additionally
obtaining a required amount of heat accumulated from the room. That
is, the solar energy is unevenly distributed in the daytime. If it
is accumulated and dissipated as it is into the room, the room
temperature is increased over the appropriate level. In the present
invention, for avoiding such a problem, there is an idea of
providing two separated portions, a heat-collecting portion and a
heat-accumulating portion, so that the heat collected during the
daytime is accumulated in the dirt-floor concrete. The reason of
using a concrete material is that the concrete has a comparatively
large thermal capacity (corresponding to the amount of heat to be
accumulated) and thermal conductivity (corresponding to the ease of
thermal conduction). The properties of such a concrete is adaptable
to a day cycle of accumulating heat during the daytime and
dissipating the heat during the nighttime. As the outside
temperature decreases in the nighttime, the floor dissipates the
accumulated heat to warm the interior of room.
[0050] According to the present invention, the lower end of the
descending duct is opened to collect heat on the room and dissipate
the heat with a medium of air directly from the roof to the
interior of room so as to warm a specific room in a short time and
intermittently.
[0051] The above and other objects, effects, features, and
advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from
the following description of embodiments thereof taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0052] FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical cross sectional diagram that
illustrates a typical solar heating system house as in accordance
with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0053] FIG. 2 is a schematic front diagram that illustrates an
example of a handling box to be used in the solar heating system
house of the present invention;
[0054] FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective diagram as a wiring design
for illustrating a method of controlling a temperature using the
solar system house in accordance with the preferred embodiment of
the present invention;
[0055] FIG. 4 is a wiring diagram of the solar system house in
accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
[0056] FIG. 5 is a vertical cross sectional diagram of another
example of ridge duct to be applied on the solar system house in
accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
[0057] FIG. 6 is a vertical cross sectional diagram that
illustrates a roof-mounted duct to be applied on the solar system
house in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
[0058] FIG. 7 is a vertical cross sectional diagram that
illustrates a solar battery to be used in the solar system house in
accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
[0059] FIG. 8 is a vertical cross sectional diagram that
illustrates another example of heat-accumulating/dissipating
portion for solar heat collected from the roof in the solar system
house in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
[0060] FIG. 9 is a vertical cross sectional diagram that
illustrates another example of the lower end of the descending duct
in the solar system house in accordance with the preferred
embodiment of the present invention;
[0061] FIG. 10 is a vertical cross sectional diagram that
illustrates another example of the lower end of the descending duct
in the solar system house in accordance with the preferred
embodiment of the present invention;
[0062] FIG. 11 is a vertical cross sectional diagram of one of the
conventional systems; and
[0063] FIG. 12 is a schematic vertical cross sectional diagram that
illustrates a solar heating system house described in the U.S. Pat.
No. 4,967,729 (1990).
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0064] The present invention will be described in greater detail
referring to the accompanying drawings that illustrate an
embodiment thereof.
[0065] The basic structure of a solar system house is the same as
that of the solar system disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,729
(1990). As shown in FIG. 1, an air flow path 2 having a roof pitch
is formed immediately bellow a roof plate 1 made of a color steel
plate of a roof. The air flow path 2 is responsible for collecting
heat from solar radiation. In addition, one end of the air flow
path 2 is opened as an air inlet 3 to an eaves or the like.
Furthermore, the other end of the air flow path 2 is provided as an
air outlet located at an upper portion of the roof. The air outlet
of the air flow path 2 is connected to a duct 31 to communicate
with a lateral duct (ridge duct) 4 as a heat-collecting duct. The
ridge duct 4 to be placed in a loft 29, which is a space below the
backside of the roof, may be in the of a circular radial cross
section as shown in FIG. 1 or of a semi-circular radial cross
section. Alternatively, the heat-collecting duct may be a
roof-mounted duct 36 mounted on the exterior of the house. A
dirt-floor concrete 11 is used as a heat accumulator for
accumulating and dissipating the solar heat collected by the
structural components on the roof. Thus, there is formed an
air-circulating space 13 between the dirt-floor concrete 11 and the
floor panel 12. Also, there is formed a floor air outlet 14 from
the air-circulating space 13 to the interior of room, so that it
performs three different heating actions by: directly warming the
under floor through the floor panel 12 by the heated air;
accumulating the heat into the dirt-floor concrete 1 1; and blowing
the air as warm wind from the floor air outlet 14 to the interior
of room. In addition, a handling box 5 is placed in the loft 28 for
connecting the portion of collecting solar heat and the portion of
accumulating and dissipating the solar heat. The handling box 5
comprises a bake-flow damper 6, a fan 7 for collecting heat, and an
air-flow change damper 8. One of the outlet sides of the air-flow
change damper 8 is opened to the exterior of house via an exhaust
duct 9. In addition, the other of the outlet sides of the air-flow
change damper 8 is connected to the upper end of the descending
duct 10 by communicating the inlet side of the back-flow damper 6
of the handling box 5 with the ridge duct 4. On the other hand, the
lower end of the descending duct 10 is opened to an air-circulating
space 13 between the dirt-floor concrete 11 and the floor panel
12.
[0066] A hot-water pumping coil 15 is formed between the handling
box 5 or the inside thereof and the ridge duct 4. The hot-water
pumping coil 15 is connected with both the hot-water reserving tank
17 and the circulation pump 19 through the circulation piping 16.
In addition, the hot-water reserving tank 17 is connected to
hot-water supplying tube 21 for supplying hot water to a bathroom
and a kitchen. As shown in the figure, there is a hot-water
supplying boiler 18 is installed on the hot-water reserving tank 17
for heating up the hot-water.
[0067] In this manner, the roof plate 1 made of a steel plate being
heated by solar radiation heats the air introduced into the air
flow path 2. Then the heated air ascends along the pitched
roof.
[0068] Then, the heated air is collected in the ridge duct 4 and
subsequently introduced into the handling box 5 by means of a fan
7. The heated air further flows down into the descending duct 10
and enters into the air-circulating space 13 between the dirt-floor
concrete 11 provided as a heat accumulator and the floor panel 12.
In the air-circulating space 13, the heated air performs three
different heating actions of directly heating the underside of the
floor via the floor panel 12, being accumulated in the dirt-floor
concrete 11, and being provided as warm air that is directly blown
into the interior of the room through a floor air outlet 14.
[0069] On the other hand, a hot-water pumping coil 15 heats a
thermal medium that is fed from the hot-water reserving tank 17
using a circulation pump 19, and then it is stored as a hot water
in the hot-water reserving tank 17. Subsequently, the hot water is
further heated by a hot-water supplying boiler 18 for supplemental
heating and then supplied to each part of the house via the
hot-water supplying tube 21.
[0070] The solar system house that uses the heated air collected
from the sunlight as shown in FIG. 1 should throw the whole air
heated on the roof plate 1 out of the interior of house to the
outside air during the summertime or the season of
high-temperatures in which the heating is not required. In this
case, the outlet of the air flow change damper 8 on the side of the
descending duct 10 is closed, while the other outlet thereof on the
side of the exhaust duct 9 is opened for throwing the heated air to
the exterior of house through the exhaust duct 9.
[0071] By the way, the heated air heats the hot-water pumping coil
15 by passing through the handling box 5, so that hot water can be
reserved using solar heat during the summertime or the season of
high-temperatures. In addition, by actuating the fan 7 during the
nighttime in the summer, chill of the nighttime may be introduced
into the air flow path 2 immediately bellow the roof plate made of
a metal and also the radiational cooling from the roof may acted on
the chill. Subsequently, such cooled air may be fed through the
air-circulating space between the under-floor heat accumulator ant
the floor panel 12 through the descending duct 10 so as to
accumulate the cooled air in the dirt-floor concrete 11.
[0072] By the way, the warm or cool heat accumulation may be
performed using another component except for the dirt-floor
concrete 1. For example, in FIG. 8, a heat accumulator 42 is
provided in the middle of the air-circulating space 13 between the
dirt-floor concrete 11 and the floor panel 12.
[0073] In this embodiment, a panel comprised of solar cells (i.e.,
PV panel of solar battery) 22 is placed on the roof provided as a
solar-heat collecting portion. On the other hand, a silocco fan is
used as a heat-collecting fan 7 of the handling box 5. In addition,
a DC motor is used as a driving motor 7a for actuating the fan 7.
Also, DC motors are used as driving motors 6a, 8a for actuating the
inlet damper 6 and the outlet damper 8, respectively.
[0074] As shown in FIG. 7, the solar battery 22 is an amorphous
silicon solar battery 22 layered on the steel plate 37 of the roof
plate 1 via a filler material 38. then, a fluororsin 39 is provided
as a resin coating and layered on the amorphous silicon solar
battery 22 via the filler material 38, resulting in a solar battery
module 40.
[0075] In this embodiment, the amorphous silicon battery 22 may be
comprises of a stainless steel thin plate (not shown) of 125 .mu.m
in thickness and an amorphous silicon thin film (not shown) applied
on the surface of the plate.
[0076] Accordingly, the solar battery 22 forms the solar battery
module 40 by integrally combining with the roof plate 1, so that it
is possible to perform the collection of heat on the roof plate 1
concurrently with the electricity generation on the solar battery
22. At this time, the efficiency of the solar battery 22 may be
several % of the obtained solar energy, so that there is no
substantial effect on the heat-collecting property.
[0077] Furthermore, the solar battery 22 forms the solar battery
module 40 by integrally combining with the steel roof plate 37, so
that the strength of the module 40 is increased because of backing
with the steel roof plate 37. Therefore, the solar battery module
40 can be bent up and down, and keeps its battery function even if
it is bent at an electric generating portion). Therefore, the solar
battery can be applied on various forms and styles of roof
materials.
[0078] In the amorphous silicon type solar battery, furthermore,
the solar battery can be maintained because of the following
reasons. That is, the decrease in an ability of electric generation
is comparatively low in response to the increase in temperature. In
addition, the roof plate is prevented from the increase in
temperature as the air passing through the air flow path that
extends along a roof pitch is formed immediately bellow the roof
plate.
[0079] Furthermore, the roof structure itself can be also used as a
support of the solar battery. Thus, it is possible to omit the cost
of the support. The solar battery can be simultaneously installed
when the roof is constructed, so that cost of constructing the
solar battery can be omitted.
[0080] As shown in FIG. 3, the driving motor 7a of the fan 7 is
connected to the solar battery 22. In addition, the rechargeable
battery 23 is connected to the solar battery 22 through a DC/DC
converter 33, so that the driving motor 7a is connected to the
rechargeable battery 23. Furthermore, the driving motors 6a, 8a are
also constructed to connect to the rechargeable battery 23.
[0081] Furthermore, the driving motor 7a of the fan 7 is connected
to a commercially available alternating current (AC) power supply
34 via an AC/DC converter 35.
[0082] A relay contact R5 is inserted into an electric circuit that
connects between the solar battery 22 and the fan 7 so that
electricity from the solar battery 22 is able to pass through the
driving motor 7a of the fan 7 and the rechargeable battery 23. In
this case, however, the electricity flows through the rechargeable
battery before turning on the relay contact R5 to activate the fan
7. After that, the fan 7 receives the electricity after turning on
the relay contact R5.
[0083] An electric circuit of the rechargeable battery 23 activates
a basic control. The relay contact R5 is responsible for turning on
or off the fan 7, the relay contact TR1-4 is responsible for
opening or closing the driving motors 6a, 8a of the dampers, and
the relay contact R6 is responsible for turning on or off the
hot-water pumping circulation pump 19.
[0084] The solar battery 22' is only responsible for activating the
hot-water pumping circulation pump 19. In this embodiment, however,
it is synchronized with the activation of the fan 7 for the purpose
of increasing the efficiency.
[0085] The use of the solar battery 22 will be described. In the
case of using the solar battery during the winter season, it is
just as in the case of the conventional example. In the wee hours
of the morning, the sunlight is not yet on the roof plate 1, the
temperature of air in the ridge duct 4 is low. In this case, the
back-flow damper 6 closes its opening on the ridge duct 4. In
addition, the air-flow change damper 8 closes its opening on the
exhaust duct 9 to make a communication between the fan 7 and the
descending duct 10.
[0086] The solar battery 22 generates electricity when it catches
the sunlight. Subsequently, the rechargeable battery 23 is
recharged by the solar battery 22 through the control device 20. If
the rechargeable battery 23 is sufficiently recharged, then the
circuit in the control panel of the control device 20 is activated.
In addition, the fan 7 and the back-flow damper 6 in the handling
box 5 and the air-flow change damper 8 are actuated in
synchronization with the circuit in the control panel.
[0087] If the temperature of the inside of the ridge duct 4
increases over the predetermined temperature as the roof plate 1
catches the sunlight, the back-flow damper 6 is reversed so that it
opens the side of the ridge duct 4. Then, the fan 7 starts to its
rotation to collect solar heat. The outside air enters from the
ambient air intake 3 of the eaves or the like into the air flow
path 2 formed immediately bellow the roof panel 1 where the air is
heated by the roof plate 1 being heated by the sunlight.
Subsequently, the heated air is collected by the ridge duct 4 and
then introduced into the handling box 5. It is noted that the
presence of the solar battery 22 on the roof does not prevent the
air flow path 2 from the heating by the roof plate 1 because the
solar battery 22 occupies not much of surface area of the roof
plate 1. The heated air introduced in the handling box 5 passes
downwardly through the descending duct 10 and then enters into the
air-circulating space 13 between the dirt-floor concrete 11 and the
floor panel 12. Then, the heated air is allowed to perform three
different heating actions of directly heating the underside of the
floor via the floor panel 12, being accumulated in the dirt-floor
concrete 11, being provided as warm air that is directly blown into
the interior of the room through a floor air outlet 14. As a
result, the room temperature is gradually increased.
[0088] Regarding the intake of hot water is performed by actuating
the circulation pump 19 by pressing a specific button on the
control device 20 to circulate the hot water between the hot-water
pumping coil 15 and the hot-water reserving tank 17 through the
circulation piping 16. By the way, the temperature of the inside of
the hot-water reserving tank 17 by repeating the circulation of
thermal medium so as to be flown into the hot-water pumping coil
15. If the temperature of the hot-water reserving tank 17 increases
over the predetermined temperature, the pumping behavior is stopped
and then the intake of hot water is braked.
[0089] At the time of activating the fan 7, a cooling fan 28
installed in the fan 7 is activated to cool the driving motor of
the fan 7. Therefore, before catching the sunlight, the control
relay (the relay contact R5) is being opened. Thus, the
rechargeable battery 23 becomes exhausted. If the solar battery 23
is exposed to the sunlight, it generates electricity to recharge
the rechargeable battery 23 (the electricity passes through the
DC/DC converter 33, so that it becomes a constant voltage charge
when it reaches within the predetermined range of voltages). After
that, the lateral duct bimetal thermostat (MSS (MUNE Switch Summer)
in the summer, MSW (MUNE Switch Winter) in the winter) is switched
on, which can be synchronized with a first thermal sensor 25a
described later to be used in the temperature control. After that,
the rechargeable battery 23 is naturally charged up and then the
electricity flows directly through the control relay (relay contact
R5). If the solar battery 22 performs the insufficient electric
generation, which is not enough to drive the fan 7, in case of rain
or the like in spite of catching the sunlight, the charging of the
rechargeable battery 23 is only performed. Therefore, by repeating
the charge and discharge, it becomes a circuit (autonomous control)
without using the commercially available alternating current (AC)
supply 34 in terms of energy. On the other hand, when the heat is
collected during the daytime of the summer or the season without
requiring heating, the back-flow damper 6 is opened on the ridge
duct 4. Also, the air-flow change damper 8 closes the fan 7 and the
descending duct 10, allowing the communication between the fan 7
and the opening on the exhaust duct side. Accordingly, the fan 7 is
activated as described above, the heated air collected in the ridge
duct 4 from the ambient air intake 3 of the eaves or the like to
the air flow path 2 is introduced into the handling box.
Subsequently, the heated air heats the hot-water pumping coil 15
and then exhausted from the exhaust duct 9 to the exterior of
house.
[0090] During the nighttime in the summer, it is just in the case
of that during the daytime with the exception that the back-flow
damper 6 opens the side of the lateral duct 4. The air-flow change
damper 8 makes a communication between the fan 7 and the side of
the descending duct 10 while closes the fan 7 and the side of the
exhaust duct 9. The electric supply for the driving motor 7a of the
fan 7 is changed from the rechargeable battery 23 to the AC/DC
converter 35 to be connected with the alternating current (AC)
power supply 34.
[0091] Under this condition, the radiational cooling can be
performed by rotating the fan 7 in the handling box 5 to introduce
the chill of the night from the ambient air intake 3 of the eaves
or the like to the air flow path 2 formed immediately bellow the
roof plate 1. Then, the chill is collected into the lateral duct 4,
followed by flowing downwardly through the descending duct I 10.
Consequently, the chill is introduced into the air-circulating
space 13 between the heat-accumulating dirt-floor concrete 11 and
the floor panel 12. It performs two different cooling actions of
being accumulated in the dirt-floor concrete 11 and being provided
as cool wind directly blowing into the interior of room from the
air outlet 14 (radiational cooling operation during the
nighttime).
[0092] Furthermore, the solar system house of the present
embodiment performs the following temperature control to the
effective use of the solar system house in a reasonable manner with
respect to the energy-efficiency of using the solar battery 22 and
the rechargeable buttery 23, or with respect to the radiation
cooling and the intake of the air during the nighttime in the
summer.
[0093] As shown in FIG. 3, a first thermal sensor 25a is installed
for detecting the heat-collecting temperature in the ridge duct 4
and the inside thereof, and also a second thermal sensor 35b is
installed as a high-temperature sensor for detecting the
heat-collecting temperature in the handling box 5.
[0094] Furthermore, a thermostat 24 is installed for switching the
heating and the exhaust of the interior of room. In the hot-water
reserving tank 17, a third thermal sensor 25c is installed as a
low-temperature sensor that corresponds to the second thermal
sensor 25b provided as the high-temperature sensor. Furthermore, a
fourth temperature sensor 25d is installed as a room-temperature
sensor for the intake of the air during the nighttime in the summer
or the like, and also a fifth temperature sensor 25e is installed
as a room-temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the
air. For detecting the humidity of the air, the humidity sensor 26
is installed.
[0095] These thermal sensors 25a to 25e and the humidity sensor 26
are connected to the control device 20 connecting to the driving
motor and the motor of the fan 7 in the handling box 5, circulation
pump 19, solar battery 22, rechargeable battery 23, and so on.
[0096] In the wee hours of the morning, the temperature of the air
in the ridge duct 4 is detected as a low one by the thermal sensor
25a because the roof plate 1 is not yet exposed to the sunlight. IN
this case, the back-flow damper 6 closes its opening on the side of
the lateral duct 4. In addition, the air-flow change damper 8
closes its opening on the side of the exhaust duct 9 to make a
communication between the fan 7 and the descending duct 10.
[0097] If the solar battery 22 catches the sunlight, it starts to
generate electricity and then the rechargeable battery 23 is
recharged through the control device 20. If the rechargeable
battery is recharged up, the circuit in the control panel is
actuated. The roof plate 1 becomes exposed to the sunlight, and the
temperature of the inside of the ridge duct 4 becomes over the
predetermined temperature. Then, the back-flow duct is reversed to
open its opening on the side of the lateral duct 4. Subsequently,
the fan 7 starts its rotation to collect the solar heat. At first,
the air is introduced from the ambient air intake 3 of the eaves or
the like to the air flow path 2 formed immediately bellow the roof
plate. Then, the air is heated by the roof plate 1 which is already
heated by the solar radiation and then collected by the lateral
duct 4, followed by being introduced into the handling box 5.
[0098] The heated air flows from the handling box 5 to the
descending duct 10 in the downward direction. Then, the heated air
performs three different actions of directly heating the underside
of the floor via the floor panel 12, being accumulated in the
dirt-floor concrete 11, being provided as warm air that is directly
blown into the interior of the room through a floor air outlet 14.
As a result, the room temperature is gradually increased.
[0099] The intake of hot water is performed by pressing a specific
button on a remote control operation device 27 to actuate the
circulation pump 19. Subsequently, the hot water starts to
circulate between the hot-water pumping coil 15 and the hot-water
reserving tank through the circulation piping 16. By the way, the
actuation of the pump requires the conditions in which the solar
battery 22 is exposed to the solar radiation and the temperature
difference between the thermal sensor 25b in the handling box 5 and
the thermal sensor 25c in the hot-reserving tank 17 is larger than
a predetermined level. At the time of starting the intake of hot
water during the morning, such a temperature difference is
considerably higher than the predetermined level. However, the
temperature of the inside of the hot-water reserving tank 17
decreases as the thermal medium repeats its circulation so as to be
introduced into the hot-water pumping coil 15. The temperature
difference becomes lower than the predetermined level, then the
intake of hot water is braked. In addition, if the room temperature
detected by the thermostat 24 of the interior of room becomes
larger than the predetermined temperature, the air-flow change
damper 8 opens its opening on the side of the exhaust duct 9 to
throw out of the heated air to the exterior of house. If it becomes
lower than the predetermined temperature, the air-flow change
damper 8 opens its opening on the side of the descending duct 10 to
perform the heating action. In this heating action, the fan 7, the
damper motor, and the circulation pump 19 are driven by the supply
of electricity from the solar battery 22, providing substantial
energy saving. In addition, the control device 20 can be also
driven by the supply of electricity from the solar battery 22, so
that it also provides substantial energy saving in the same
manner.
[0100] During the nighttime, if there is a temperature difference
between the thermal sensor 25e detecting the air and the thermal
sensor 25f detecting the room temperature and also the thermal
sensor 26 detecting the temperature of the air becomes less than
the predetermined temperature, the back-flow damper 6 opens its
opening on the side of the ridge duct 4 and the air-flow change
damper 8 makes a communication between the fan 7 and its opening on
the side of descending detecting duct 10.
[0101] Under this condition, the radiational cooling can be
performed by rotating the fan 7 in the handling box 5 to introduce
the chill of the night from the ambient air intake 3 of the eaves
or the like to the air flow path 2 formed immediately bellow the
roof plate 1. Then, the chill is collected into the lateral duct 4,
followed by flowing downwardly through the descending duct 10.
Consequently, the chill is introduced into the air-circulating
space 13 between the heat-accumulating dirt-floor concrete 11 and
the floor panel 12. It performs the cooling actions of being
accumulated in the dirt-floor concrete 11 and being provided as
cool wind directly blowing into the interior of room from the air
outlet 14 (radiational cooling operation during the nighttime).
[0102] Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 9, an outlet 41 directly
communicated with the inside of the room may formed on the position
near the lower end of the descending duct 10 as another embodiment
of the present invention. By the way, not shown in the figure, the
outlet 41 may be reclosable by providing the outlet 41 with an
open/close door. Furthermore, as another embodiment shown in FIG.
10, the descending duct 10 may be designed so that there is no
opening below the floor panel 12. The orifice 41 may be only formed
on the position near the lower end of the descending duct 10 so as
to be directly communicated with the inside of the room.
[0103] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, the warm wind is
directly introduced into the room without passing through the space
under the floor, so that it is optimized to warm the desired room
in a short time.
[0104] As described above, therefore, the solar system house of the
present invention is able to optimize the use of solar energy for
heating, cooling, ventilating, and dehumidifying the interior of a
room and supplying hot water in addition to the use of wind and
other climate conditions by constructing a residence or building
that flexibly adapts to the outside environmental conditions;
reduce running cost of the system by the use of a solar battery;
and allow the operation of the system in response to the quantity
of solar radiation.
[0105] The present invention has been described in detail with
respect to preferred embodiments, and it will now be obvious to
those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made
without departing from the invention in its broader aspects, and it
is the intention, fall within the true spirit of the invention.
* * * * *