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Review
a,*
a
Centre for Sustainable Technologies, University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim BT37 0QB, UK
Warwick Institute for Sustainable Energy and Resources, School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
Received 9 August 2006; received in revised form 9 April 2007; accepted 9 April 2007
Available online 14 May 2007
Communicated by: Associate Editor Jean-Louis Scartezzini
Abstract
Research and development of transparent insulation systems (TI-systems) has been ongoing for 20 years with transparent insulation
materials (TIMs) used to replace standard opaque insulation materials. TIM not only performs similar functions to opaque insulation,
reducing heat losses and controlling indoor temperatures, but allows solar transmittance of more than 50%. With a thickness of less than
20 cm, it can provide a nancial return to building occupants when applied to building facades, maximising occupiable and sellable
spaces in urban areas, without compromising thermal comfort within buildings.
In this review of TI-systems for building applications, drawbacks to previous applications, cost trends, and analysis of the limitation
in information from previous studies are discussed. A major drawback in the development of TI-systems identied is the lack of cost
information; the payback periods for TI-systems used in previous renovation projects are virtually unknown. Simple payback period
calculations were undertaken based on information available from a demonstration project documented by the Solar Heating and
Cooling (SHC) Programme of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Task 20 Solar Energy in Building Renovation. The calculations
indicated an encouraging 58-year payback period for this particular case study. It was concluded that the simple payback period
calculation may be used for feasibility studies to indicate the time required to recoup investment when installing TI-systems and to
provide initial guidance for building designers when evaluating the potential application of TI-systems in their buildings.
2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Transparent insulation material (TIM); Transparent insulation system (TI-system); Building applications
Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Historical background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Classification of TIMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Materials used for TIMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Physical properties of TIMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.1. Theoretical analysis of optical and thermal properties of TIMs . . . . . .
5.2. Experimental characterisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 028 90368014; fax: +44 028 90368239.
E-mail addresses: ing.wong@ulster.ac.uk, xijiayu@hotmail.com (I.L. Wong), P.C.Eames@warwick.ac.uk (P.C. Eames), s.perera@ulster.ac.uk (R.S.
Perera).
0038-092X/$ - see front matter 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.solener.2007.04.004
6.
Applications of TIMs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.1. Flat-plate solar collectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.2. Honeycomb roof cover system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.3. Integrated collector storage for domestic hot water supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.4. Space heating and daylighting for buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7. Simulations of transparent insulation systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8. Barriers to the development and implementation of transparent insulation systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.1. Imperfection in manufactured TIMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2. Low working temperatures of plastic TIMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.3. High investment cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4. Overheating problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9. Limitations in current knowledge evident from previous studies on transparent insulation applications in buildings . . . .
9.1. Potential for commercial building applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9.2. Design guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9.3. Suitability for new building applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9.4. Insufficient/inadequate cost information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10. Calculation of simple payback period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11. Discussion and conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Acknowledgement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Nomenclature
g
A
n
Greeks
/
azimuth angle ()
q
solar reectance (%)
1. Introduction
Standard insulation materials reduce the transmission of
heat through conduction, convection and radiation in opaque walls (Kaushika and Sumathy, 2003). Depending on the
building codes and regulations across dierent countries,
the thickness of insulation materials used is typically
around 2530 cm (IEA, 1997). This results in a wall thickness of up to 50 cm, which reduces the letable or occupied
space of buildings for a given building foot print (Hastings,
2004). TI has been used to overcome this problem and add
value with solar energy transmittance of more than 50% and
thermal conductivity of less than 0.2 W/m2 K (IEA, 1997).
2. Historical background
In the context of solar energy systems, the idea of suppressing convective heat losses emerged long before the
term transparent insulation was introduced. In 1929,
a
s0
a0
s
h
K
(sae)
1060
In the past 20 years, theoretical and experimental investigations have been undertaken to improve suppression of
natural convection using large-celled and small-celled honeycomb structures. A uorinated ethylene propylene (FEP)
large-celled honeycomb structure with 20 lm thick walls
and 10 mm hydraulic diameter was proposed as a CSD
for use in at-plate collectors, achieving a solar transmittance of 92% at a 45 incidence angle (Hollands et al.,
1992). In the early 1990s, large-celled honeycomb structures made of highly transparent lms, such as, polypropylene, polycarbonate (PC) and uorised lms with U-values
of approximately 2 W/m2 K and working temperatures of
between 60 C and 100 C were produced and commercialised (Platzer, 2001).
Small-celled honeycomb structures with improved optical and thermal properties (U-values of less than 1 W/
m2 K) have been made of glass or plastic, with square or
circular cells. They are easier to produce compared to
large-celled honeycomb structures. The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy System (FISES) were the main pioneer in this area of research using dierent materials to
suppress heat transfer by convection and radiation (Platzer, 2001). Today, TIMs produced commercially are made
of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), PC (Okalux Kapillarglas GmbH, Advanced Glazings Ltd., Schott, Hauptsitz
Sto AG, and Glaswerke Arnold GmbH+ Co., KG), acrylic
translucent foam (Prokuwa Kunststo GmbH) and aerogels (Airglass AB). Their optical and thermal performance
are both inuenced by the uniformity and quality of the
cells produced.
3. Classication of TIMs
TIMs are classied into four generic types in accordance
with the geometrical layout of the materials, each has a
unique pattern of solar transmission and physical behaviour, as illustrated in Fig. 1. Absorber-parallel structures
Absorber-parallel structures
Cavity structures
Absorber-perpendicular structures
Quasi-homogeneous structures
Fig. 1. Classication of transparent insulation materials (Goetzberger, 1991; Platzer, 2001; Kaushika and Sumathy, 2003): (a) absorber-parallel structures;
(b) absorber-perpendicular structures; (c) cavity structures; (d) quasi-homogeneous structures.
1061
Fig. 2. Illustration of dierent types of materials used for transparent insulation materials.
1062
0.9
0.8
rectangular
hc (Buch)
( )
0.7
15mm PC
cp (eq 2)
0.6
0.5
60mm PC
hc (eq 2)
0.4
0.3
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
rectangular
hc (eq 1)
80
(degree)
Fig. 3. Comparison of angular dependent direct-diuse transmittance, s(h) calculation with analytical models for rectangular honeycomb (hc) (Platzer,
1987, 1992a), rectangular honeycomb (Buch) (Buchberg et al., 1971), 15 mm polycarbonate (PC) capillary (cp) (Platzer, 1992b) and 60 mm PC honeycomb
(Platzer, 1992b).
solar wavelength range from 300 nm to 2500 nm. The experimental setup and procedure adopted were described in detail by Buchberg et al. (1971), Symons et al. (1982), Symons
(1982), Platzer (1987, 1992b) and Goetzberger (1991).
Fig. 4 shows the comparison of experimental measurements reported by dierent researchers. The experimental
results show s(h) of more than 90% for h in the range of
060, agreeing well with the calculated results. Research
shows that errors associated with spectrometry measurements that aect the precision of results may be reduced
by taking more measurements (Platzer, 1992b).
To measure the heat transport and thermal conductance
within the TIMs, a hot plate apparatus that consisted of
400 mm 400 mm hot and cold copper plates, heat ux
meters and temperature sensors was used (Goetzberger,
1991; Platzer, 1992a,c). The hot plate was electrically
heated up to 230 C, the cold plate was thermostatically
controlled in the temperature range between 5 C and
60 C, the total apparatus could be tilted in the angular
range from 0 to 180. The radiative and conductive heat
transport of TIMs of up to 120 mm thickness were
1.0
FEPT square
hc
FEPT parallel
slat
FEPT V-slat
0.9
( )
0.8
Tubular glass
0.7
0.6
FEPT parallel
wall
100mm hc
0.5
100mm PC cp
0.4
100mm PC hc
10
20
30
40
(deg re e)
50
60
70
80
Fig. 4. Comparison of angular dependent transmittance, s(h) for experiments undertaken by Symons (1982) (FEPT square honeycomb (hc), parallel slat,
V-slat and tubular glass), Symons et al. (1982) (FEPT parallel wall), Platzer (1987) (100 mm honeycomb) and Platzer (1992b) (100 mm PC honeycomb and
capillary).
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5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
1
6
7
Thickness (cm)
10
11
Fig. 5. Experimental results of total heat conductance, K of PMMA and PC capillaries of various thicknesses.
measured. Fig. 5 shows the heat conductance, K experimentally determined for PMMA and PC capillaries with
dierent thicknesses by Platzer (1992c). The comparisons
of experimental results and theoretical calculations showed
approximately 3.6% deviation (Arulanantham and Kaushika, 1994), for h of between 0 and 55, which is acceptable.
6. Applications of TIMs
6.1. Flat-plate solar collectors
Prior to the application of TIMs to building facades,
optical and thermal properties of circular capillaries and
square-celled honeycombs were analysed theoretically with
tests undertaken in at-plate solar collectors in a range of
scaled experiments (Platzer, 1987, 1992b,c). Numerous
13
2
4
1
3
5
6
10
11
12
1
2
3
6
7
5
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5cm PC honeycombs
(Rommel and Wagner,
1992)
5cm PC honeycombs
(Goetzberger et al.,
1992)
10cm PC honeycombs
(Rommel and Wagner,
1992)
10cm glass capillaries
(Rommel and Wagner,
1992)
2cm MSA (Nordgaard
and Beckman, 1992)
1.0
0.9
0.8
(e)
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
(degree)
80
90
Fig. 7. Comparison of the (sae) at various h for at-plate solar collectors developed by various authors.
a
b
c
d
e
f
a) Glass cover
b) Honeycomb slab
c) 4cm to 16cm air gap
d) Blackened surface
e) Concrete slab
f) Indoor space
d
g
a) Glazing
b) PC honeycombs
c) Roof beam
d) Reflector
e) Absorber
c f) Stainless steel storage tank
g) Opaque insulation
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period (Braun et al., 1992). In 1983, a TI research programme was initiated by the German government and led
several research institutes and companies to produce and
market TI for application in buildings. Under the IEA
SHC Programme Task 20, TIMs have been used for building renovation to improve daylighting and thermal performance (IEA, 1997; Braun et al., 1992; Voss, 2000;
Dalenback, 1996). To date, over 5000 m2 of TI-walls have
been installed in more than 20 projects throughout Europe,
which involve mostly low-rise, uncomplicated domestic
buildings. Small-scale experiments were also conducted
by Rubin and Lambert (1983), Kaushika et al. (1987),
Raicu et al. (2002) and Wallner et al. (2004). Table 1 details
various types of TI-systems presented in previous case
studies.
A well-designed TI-wall requires a massive wall for thermal storage, a mechanical shading device to control excessive solar gain and a south orientation (IEA, 1997; Braun
et al., 1992; Voss, 2000). TI-glazing consists of honeycombs
or monolithic silica aerogel (MSA) (Jensen et al., 2004)
sandwiched between two sets of glazing, which improves
the potential use of daylight in the room (IEA, 1997). A
glazing with 15 mm thick MSA has a center heat loss coefcient of less than 0.7 W/m2K and transmittance of 76%
(Jensen et al., 2004). Yearly solar energy gains of between
100 kWh/m2 and 200 kWh/m2 and solar conversion eciencies of between 15% and 30% have been calculated in
buildings with TI-systems (Braun et al., 1992; Voss,
2000). Table 2 and Table 3 show the energy savings of
TI-applications in the demonstration projects.
A large scale TI-system was applied to the south facades
of two blocks of ve-storey university residential buildings
in Glasgow, UK. The system consisted of 100 mm thick,
3 mm 3 mm square size PC honeycombs, encapsulated
by an external glass layer. Positive heat gains at the south
facades were measured experimentally and it was found
that the buildings consumed 40% less energy when compared to the good category in ocial UK indicators over
the winter period (Twidell et al., 1994).
In Norway, Lien et al. (1997) applied capillaries of various thicknesses (35 mm, 100 mm and 200 mm) to the
south facades of dwelling houses, replacing standard windows. The implications of TIM thickness and area on the
energy performance of the models were studied. When a
5 m2 TI-glazing made of 100 mm thick capillaries was
used, 43 kWh/m2 heating energy consumption or 16%
reduction compared to a reference case was recorded.
The heating energy consumption dropped to 29 kWh/m2
(20% reduction) when the TI-glazing area was increased
to 10 m2 (Lien et al., 1997). It was concluded that the
increase in TIM thickness contributes very little to the
heating energy reduction, but increases the investment cost
signicantly.
Another type of TIM, made of novel polymer lms,
such as, cellulose triacetate (CTA) and polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) was applied to the south-facing facade of a low-energy solar house in Austria (Wallner et al.,
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Table 1
Specications of dierent transparent insulation systems, adopted from IEA (1997)
Table 2
Comparison of the TI-systems for building facade applications
Authors
TI-systems
Energy balance
Remarks
Table 3
Summary of annual heating energy demand for demonstration projects after TI-application
Types of TI-system
TIM
area
Demonstration projects
(oor area)
Heating energy
demand
References
53 m2
7500 m2
75 kWh/m2of
oor area
72 kWh/m2of
oor area
43 kWh/m2of
oor area
40 kWh/m2of
area
heated
oor
IEA (1997)
120 m2
63 m2
84 m2
TI-wall
300 m2
heated
heated
IEA (1997)
IEA (1997)
thicknesses and cell geometries were obtained from theoretical model calculations. A solar energy collection eciency
of 44% and heat gain uxes of up to 50 W/m2 were
achieved in the experimental characterisation of the optimised TI-wall in a demonstration building during a cold
sunny week in January (Wallner et al., 2004).
7. Simulations of transparent insulation systems
Computer simulation programs exist that predict the
thermal and optical implications of integrating TI-systems
on buildings before real systems are manufactured and
installed (Wilke and Schmid, 1991; Braun et al., 1992; Sick
and Kummer, 1992; Strachan and Johnstone, 1994; Manz
et al., 1997; Matuska, 2000). Compared to scale-models,
it is economic both in time and nance to conduct simulations due to the fact that parametric changes to TIMs can
be readily undertaken using simulation programs, thus,
oering guidance for design optimisation (Strachan and
Johnstone, 1994). Daylighting and heating performance
of buildings are strongly inuenced by TIM parameters,
as an excessive quantity of TIMs are not only uneconomical, but also cause problems of overheating.
To date, many building simulation programs have been
extended to handle TI-applications, particularly, WANDSIM (Wilke and Schmid, 1991), TRNSYS (Sick and
Kummer, 1992), HAUSSIM (Braun et al., 1992), nite difference model (Ramadan and Athienitis, 1998; Athienitis
and Ramadan, 1999) and ESP-r (Strachan and Johnstone,
1994; Matuska, 2000; Heim, 2004). Wilke and Schmid
(1991) predicted heat gains of TI-systems, as a result of
the reduction in articial lighting using WANDSIM.
TRNSYS was used by Sick and Kummer (1992) to predict
the eects of TI-walls on building energy requirements.
However, both WANDSIM and TRNSYS do not allow
the generation of detailed multi-zone building models.
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Table 4
Simulation predictions for TI-systems used in building facade applications
Authors
Applications
Programs
Predicted results
WANDSIM
TRNSYS
TRNSYS,
HAUSSIM
ESP-r
Prototype TI-wall
integrated with PCM
Monte Carlo
Simulation
Finite
dierence
model
Matuska (2000)
ESP-r
Heim (2004)
ESP-r
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Table 5
Summary of costs for a range of transparent insulation systems
Types of TI-system
EUR/m2(year)
References
Sealed TI-glazing
Prefabricated TI-wall with absorber (with solar gain control)
TI-wall and mounting
TI-compound (no solar gain control)
Cast-glass facades (no solar gain control)
Transom-mullion with massive wall (with solar gain control)
24 (1997)
400600 (1997)
51 and 51 (1991)
220250 (1997)
150250 (1997)
6001000 (1997)
IEA (1997)
IEA (1997)
Braun et al. (1992)
IEA (1997) and Voss (2000)
IEA (1997)
IEA (1997)
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Table 6
Cost parameters for TI-glazing installed in the industrial hall in Salzgitter
Assumed discount rates
(a) Initial investment paid o in the
Initial investment (EUR)
Total maintenance costs in PV
(EUR/20 years)
Total system costs (EUR/20 years)
Total energy cost savings in PV
(EUR/year)
Payback period
10%
8%
6%
rst year
180,000
61,296
180,000
70,402
180,000
82,584
241,296
73,603
250,402
75,976
262,584
80,460
3.28 years
3.30 years
3.26 years
366,660
70,402
313,848
82,584
437,062
68,551
396,432
76,121
6.38 years
5.21 years
xed or level payment is made each year to pay o the initial investment (Kreider et al., 1989). The calculation was
repeated taking into consideration the arrangement of series payments over the life span of the TI-glazing using a
capital recovery factor (CRF) (Kreider et al., 1989). In this
case, ve to eight year payback periods were calculated for
dierent discount rates. For a TI-system with an expected
life of 20 years without a shading device for this installation, it is clearly economically viable. Detailed studies are
required to fully assess the potential of TI-systems with
changing fuel prices and the installation cost.
11. Discussion and conclusions
Various types of TIM made of dierent materials have
been discussed; each has unique characteristics and physical properties. TIMs have been used extensively for atplate solar collectors prior to building applications and
experiments show that a (sae) value of more than 60%
can be achieved at angles between 0 and 60. TIMs can
also be integrated into the roof or facades of buildings to
provide space heating to the buildings during the winter
period. Approximately 100200 kWh/m2 year of solar
energy gains have been measured or predicted for various
buildings using dierent types of TI-systems. It is concluded that TI-systems with optimum design parameters
(area and thickness) can provide signicant solar energy
gains that are required by buildings, without increasing
investment cost and leading to overheating problem. Building simulation programs have been identied as an eective
tool for simulating the energy performance of buildings
integrated with TI-systems. Changes to the design parameters of a system can be easily undertaken, allowing design
optimisation of systems to be performed.
The potential for application of TI-systems to buildings
however has not yet been fully investigated, especially for
new oce and other types of commercial buildings. Previous projects involved only renovation work to existing
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