Abstract:
1. Snow bound areas have acute shortage of energy resources
during extremely cold weather for ?arming their houses. The
situation is further aggravated due to absence of road
communication in these conditions. The local population therefore
resorts to cutting trees for warming their houses which results in
deforestation and associated problems. There living conditions are
therefore very bad. A concept of utilizing solar energy to reduce
and possibly alleviate the problem of warming accommodation was
proposed.
2. A Solar Tent to accommodate 2 to 3 persons has been fabricated
out of light aluminum structure and 5 mm window pane glass. The
Solar Tiles specially designed for this purpose have been used as
the heat absorber material and also as floor of the solar tent. A
thermopore sheet below the tent was used to reduce the heat loss
through the floor. The tent was initially designed to have two
portions i.e. Sleeping Area and Heat Absorbing Area, it was however
found that entire tent got very warm and it was not possible to
sleep in it in the months of July, August & September. The air
temperature inside averaged a 72°C at noon in these months while
reducing to slightly above ambient temperatures at night.
Additional sensible heat storage was carried out in 65 Kilograms of
water placed in plastic bottles. This proved slightly better and
resulted in temperatures slightly higher than ambient temperatures at night and at dawn. Covering the entire tent with insulating
cover gave better results, however, wind tended to drift the top
insulating cover. Considering the heat gain, the tent is now being
attached with fiber glass accommodation to as a heat source. It is
now proposed to use Phase Change Materials (PCMs) to enhance the
utility of the Solar Tent in colder environments and to store the
energy for longer periods.
3 . The concept of using solar energy to heat space has been
proved and effort is being made to improve the profile, strength of
structure and reduce heat loss. The insulating cover also needs
improvement and relocation inside the tent to avoid drifting due to
strong winds.
