AIR HEATED SOLAR COLLECTORS AND THEIR APPLICABILITY

This paper describes the results of the investigation, the aim of which was to find new air heating solar collector constructions and easily accessible materials which may be used as absorbers. We tested the inflatable air heating solar collector construction. An inflatable solar collector gives good correlation with the air heating degree and radiation (r=0.93). This type of collectors is very sensitive to radiation changes, a response time is only about 1 minute. The given type of air heating solar collectors has a good efficiency, the efficiency coefficient is eta=0.63. Absorber materials (seed boxes made of polypropylene, black colored energy drink cans situated on a steel-tinplate) are tested for room heating. Stationary air heating solar collectors for room heating are used when sun radiation exceeds 300 W/m(2), otherwise it is not effective or ambient air temperature is cooling room air. These collectors should be well insulated, especially if they are to be used in early spring, when ambient temperatures are low. These researches show the applicability of air heated collectors in drying agricultural production and in room heating at Latvia weather conditions.