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Solar Energy 81 (2007) 10581071

www.elsevier.com/locate/solener

Review

A review of transparent insulation systems and the evaluation


of payback period for building applications
I.L. Wong
b

a,*

, P.C. Eames b, R.S. Perera

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

I.L. Wong et al. / Solar Energy 81 (2007) 10581071

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

total energy transmittance (%)


aspect ratio (length divided by hydraulic diameter)
number of cell wall interaction for the incoming
light beam

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)

solar absorptance (%)


model t parameter representing eective transmittance
model t parameter representing eective
absorption
solar transmittance (%)
angle of incidence ()
thermal conductance (W/m2 K)
eective transmittanceabsorptance product (%)

Russian researchers investigated the possibility of using


low-conducting and solar absorbing walls as a thermal
insulation material. A honeycomb made of paper was
introduced between the glass cover and absorber plate
in a at-plate solar collector. The studies performed in
1929 were reported by Veinberg (1959) in his publication.
This inspired Francia (1961) to use glass tubes in a solar
collector designed to work at high absorber temperatures.
Subsequently a theoretical study of honeycomb structures
between absorber and outer glass cover of a at-plate
solar collector to suppress convective heat transport
was undertaken by Hollands (1965). The earliest TIMs
were used as absorbers or convective suppression devices
(CSDs) in solar collectors. Until 1969, plastic honeycombs with desired thermal characteristics and transparency were still not available for at-plate solar collectors
(Tabor, 1969). In the 1980s, to achieve energy conservation, TIMs were integrated into buildings when being
renovated.

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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

(Fig. 1a) consist of a cover, comprising of either multiple


glazing elements or transparent plastic lms parallel to
the absorber surface. The number of cover layers can be
increased to reduce heat loss, but resulting in an increase
in optical reection and solar gain reduction, thus such systems fail to meet the criteria of high transmission and low
heat loss as required for solar collectors.
Absorber-perpendicular structures (Fig. 1b), such as,
parallel slat arrays, honeycombs or capillaries, have low
optical reection losses and reect and transmit the incoming beam radiation eectively towards the absorber. This
structure is widely used in various TIM applications, particularly, for solar collectors, avoiding the high reection
losses occuring in the absorber-parallel structures. The cavity structures (Fig. 1c) combine both absorber-parallel and
absorber-perpendicular structures, they consist of duct
plates or multiple plastic lms that eectively suppress convective heat loss while maintaining approximately the same
transmittance as a multiple lm cover. Quasi-homogeneous
structures (Fig. 1d) include TIMs made of glass bre or
aerogel and are characterised by both scattering and
absorption of the incident radiation within the TIM. The
structure can be as clear as a glass pane although it is
porous, with a high density (9095%) of approximately
1030 nm diameter pores distributed uniformly throughout the materials (Platzer, 2001; Kaushika and Sumathy,
2003).
4. Materials used for TIMs
Over the past 30 years, dierent types of materials, such
as, plastics, glass, and aerogels, have been used to produce
TIMs. The materials used for dierent types of TIM are
detailed in Fig. 2. Various types of plastics widely used in
the productions of small-celled capillary and honeycomb
structures are PMMA, polyethylene (TPX), polytetrauorethylene (HFL), polyestercarbonate (APEC), polyether-

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.

I.L. Wong et al. / Solar Energy 81 (2007) 10581071

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Fig. 2. Illustration of dierent types of materials used for transparent insulation materials.

sulfone (PES), FEP teon (FEPT) and PC (Platzer, 2001;


Kaushika and Sumathy, 2003). Despite exhibiting UltraViolet (UV) stability (Platzer, 2001), plastics do not withstand the high stagnation temperatures of solar collectors
due to their low melting temperatures of between 120 C
and 150 C (Rommel and Wagner, 1992; Platzer, 2001;
Kaushika and Sumathy, 2003).
Glass is an ideal substitute for plastic TIMs in solar collector applications due to its high working temperature of
up to 550 C (Platzer, 2001). It is able to withstand the high
stagnation temperatures of more than 250 C that can
occur in many solar collectors (Rommel and Wagner,
1992; Platzer, 2001), however, glass is fragile due to the
average cell thickness of 100 lm (Kaushika and Sumathy,
2003). Silica aerogel is available in both monolithic
(MSA) and granular (GSA) forms. It has been used to ll
the space between double glazed collector covers or windows (Rubin and Lambert, 1983; Goetzberger, 1991; Platzer, 2001; Jensen et al., 2004). The high-embodied energy
required (processing temperature of up to 250 C) has been
a major obstacle in the production of this material.
5. Physical properties of TIMs
Standard thermal solar energy applications involve the
conversion of solar radiation into heat at the absorber.
The temperature of the heated surface reaches a steady
state when an energy balance between the solar gain and
thermal losses occurs. When a transparent cover, such as,
a glass pane, is included in the solar collector, convection
heat losses are suppressed and the temperature at which
an energy balance between solar gains and thermal losses
is achieved is increased (Goetzberger, 1991). The performance of a TI-system depends on the fraction of solar
input absorbed and the portion of the heat produced.
These are inuenced by solar transmittance, s, at the cover,
absorptance, a, at the absorber, and thermal insulation
(U-value) of the system (Goetzberger, 1991). Angular
dependent transmittance, s(h), and a of TIMs have been
investigated both theoretically and experimentally.

5.1. Theoretical analysis of optical and thermal properties of


TIMs
Theoretical analysis can be used to determine both thermal and optical properties of TIMs made of dierent materials with dierent geometrical layouts. Mathematical
models have been developed by various researchers to
assess the physical properties of dierent TIMs, particularly, thermal conductance, K, s(h), s, and the eective
transmittanceabsorptance product (sae) (Hollands, 1965;
1978; Symons, 1982; Platzer, 1987, 1992a,b,c; Arulanantham and Kaushika, 1994; Kaushika and Sumathy,
2003). The earliest theoretical model was developed by
Hollands (1965) to calculate s(h) for a square honeycomb
cell structure for various incidence angles, h, taking into
consideration cell thickness, depth and width. The predictions however, were not subjected to experimental verication. A more precise model detailed in Eq. (1), derived
from the summation of all individual rays transmitted or
reected at the cell walls was used to calculate s(h)
(Symons, 1982; Platzer, 1987, 1992a,b).
sh s/ q/n 1  a/n

where n = A tan h for square honeycomb cell and n = 2A


tan h for circular honeycomb cell. The average number of
cell wall interactions for the incoming light beam, n, azimuth
angle, /, reectance, q, and a at the cell wall were taken
into consideration (Symons, 1982; Platzer, 1987, 1992a,b).
Platzer (1992b) developed an approximate model, as
detailed in Eq. (2), determining parameters required to t
s(h) for 10 dierent types of honeycombs and capillaries:
sh s0 expa0  tanh

The model was based on an idealisation and conceals real


factors in the measured data, which are deviations from
the idealised model. Surface imperfections and bulk eects
of the cells are included in the calculated data, incorporated
in the constants, a0, and s0, both representing the eective
absorption and eective transmittance. The constants
have been used for ten dierent types of capillary and

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1.0
rectangular
hc (eq 1)

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).

honeycomb (Platzer, 1992b). Fig. 3 shows the values of s(h)


for dierent TIMs calculated using Eqs. (1) and (2) (Platzer,
1987, 1992a,b) and that due to Buchberg et al. (1971). It was
concluded that, the values of s(h) calculated using the dierent analytical models agreed well for most TIMs for smaller
incidence angles. Despite theoretical calculations that indicate high s(h) of more than 90% for all TIMs, when h is 0,
this value decreases dramatically after 70. The models are
however, only developed for a limited number of TIM samples (Platzer, 1992a,b).
5.2. Experimental characterisation
Experiments undertaken to validate theoretical predictions of s(h) for TIMs were part of the TIM system optimisation process (Symons, 1982; Platzer, 1987, 1992a,b,c;
Goetzberger, 1991). In order to measure direct-diuse transmittance at absorber-perpendicular structures, instruments
used included integrating spheres for diuse transmittance
measurement and a rotating support disc for angular measurements. A pyroelectric radiometer was used to sense the

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).

I.L. Wong et al. / Solar Energy 81 (2007) 10581071

Heat Conductance, (W/m2K)

PMMA capillaries (Platzer, 1992c)

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PC capillaries (Platzer, 1992c)

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.

studies used plastic or glass honeycombs and capillaries


to replace the conventional glass pane aperture covers of
solar collectors (Hollands, 1965; Tabor, 1969; Symons,
1984; Hollands and Iynkaran, 1985; Goetzberger, 1991;
Goetzberger et al., 1992; Nordgaard and Beckman, 1992;
Rommel and Wagner, 1992; Ghoneim, 2005). The working
temperature of the solar collectors using TIM cover could
be increased from 90 C to 150 C or higher (Symons,
1984). The energy absorbed was calculated as eective
transmittanceabsorptance product, (sae), taking into
account both s at the cover and a at the absorber, which
lead to approximately 2% higher optical eciency compared to the product of s multiplied with a (Rommel and
Wagner, 1992; Symons, 1984; Platzer, 1992c). Fig. 6 shows
prototypes of solar collectors integrated with PC honeycombs, glass capillaries (Rommel and Wagner, 1992;

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

a) Glass capillary flat-plate solar collector (Rommel


and Wagner, 1992)

b) Polycarbonate honeycomb flat-plate solar


collector (Rommel and Wagner, 1992)
8

13

2
4

1
3
5
6

10
11

12

1) low-iron glass panes; 2) 80mm or 100mm glass


capillaries; 3) 20mm air gap; 4) absorber; 5) 20mm
microporous high temperature insulation material; 6)
100mm mineral wool; 7) 60mm polyurethane foam; 8)
22mm wooden frame; 9) 20mm mineral wool; 10)
30mm foam glass; 11) wooden support frame; 12)
aluminium weather protection; 13) aluminium frame
c) Monolithic silica aerogel flat-plate solar collector
(Nordgaard and Beckman, 1992)
4

1
2
3

1) 4mm low-iron glass pane; 2) 50mm or 100mm


PC honeycombs; 3) 20mm air gap; 4) selective
absorber (: 0.95 and emittance: 0.1); 5) 1.5cm
microporous high temperature insulation
material; 6) 60mm polyurethane foam; 7) 15mm
wooden frame with aluminium weather
protection; 8) aluminium frame
d) Polycarbonate honeycomb bifacial absorber
solar collector (Goetzberger et al., 1992)
1

6
7
5

1) stainless steel seal; 2) steel frame; 3) copper foil


supporter; 4) 4mm low iron glass pane; 5) 20mm MSA;
6) copper foil; 7) copper tube

1) absorber sheet (: 0.95; emittance: 0.1); 2)


24mm air gap; 3) 50mm PC honeycomb; 4) 4mm
low-iron glass pane; 5) semi-cylindrical mirrors

Fig. 6. Illustration of dierent types of transparently insulated at-plate solar collectors.

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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

6cm FEPT honeycombs


(Symons, 1984)

Fig. 7. Comparison of the (sae) at various h for at-plate solar collectors developed by various authors.

Goetzberger et al., 1992) and MSA (Nordgaard and Beckman, 1992).


Rommel and Wagner (1992) presented a solar collector,
comprised of a 4 mm single low-iron glass pane, a 50 mm or
100 mm honeycomb slab, a 20 mm air gap and an absorber
(a: 0.95; emittance: 0.1). Research showed that when the
absorber temperature was at more than 80 C, the front
cover heat losses were reduced to 0.9 W/mK, optical eciency, (sa) of between 0.7 and 0.9 were recorded at incidence angles of between 0 and 30 (Rommel and
Wagner, 1992). A signicant setback to PC honeycomb
was that it did not withstand the high stagnation temperature of 261 C achieved. Thus, glass capillaries of 8 mm
diameter and 50 mm or 100 mm thickness were used in preference to PC honeycombs (Rommel and Wagner, 1992).
Goetzberger et al. (1992) presented a bifacially irradiated at-plate solar collector, which had 50 mm PC honeycombs on both sides of an absorber sheet. A system
eciency of 72% and (sae) of 64% were measured at the
operating temperatures, which were close to the ambient
temperatures, which ranged between 10 C and 10 C
(Goetzberger et al., 1992). A solar collector comprised of
FEPT honeycombs, encapsulated by a low-iron glass cover
with anti-reection coatings, which had (sae) of more than
0.9, was presented by Symons (1984). It was concluded that
an optimised solar collector aperture should have a 2
4 mm thick low-iron glass cover, a 320 mm air gap below
a TIM of thickness of between 50 mm and 100 mm and an
absorber with a of at least 0.95. Fig. 7 shows the optical
performance of at-plate collectors integrated with various
aperture cover systems.
For at-plate solar collectors integrated with PC honeycombs, the value of (sae) decreases at greater incidence
angles, with a negative inuence in the performance of
the solar collectors (Rommel and Wagner, 1992). The integration of MSA into the aperture cover of a at-plate solar
collector achieves eciencies of more than 60% at temperatures below 80 C and increased the annual energy gain by
41% (Nordgaard and Beckman, 1992).

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

Fig. 8. Schematic of a honeycomb roof cover system, redrawn and


adopted from Kaushika et al. (1987, 1992).

6.2. Honeycomb roof cover system


Kaushika et al. (1987, 1992) applied honeycombs on top
of the concrete roof slab of buildings for passive space
heating in the winter season. The roof cover system illustrated in Fig. 8, consisted of a cover glass, a square cell
honeycomb slab, a 416 cm air gap, a blackened absorber
and a concrete slab for thermal storage.
The square cell (1.25 cm 1.25 cm) honeycombs were
made of 0.076 mm thick lexan lms or 1 mm thick acrylic
sheets (Kaushika et al., 1987). Calculations showed that
s(h) of the lexan lm system was greater than 0.9, compared to around 0.6 for the acrylic sheet system for 060
incidence angles (Kaushika et al., 1987). Positive solar
gains were calculated for more than 10 h for a typical winter day in the USA when the thickness of honeycombs was
increased from 5 cm to 15 cm. It was concluded that the
optimum thickness of the honeycomb slab for a roof cover
was approximately 1015 cm (Kaushika et al., 1992).
6.3. Integrated collector storage for domestic hot water
supply
Integrated collector storage systems (ICS) enhanced
with PC honeycombs were developed to provide hot
water for domestic houses and reported by various
researchers (Goetzberger and Rommel, 1987; Schmidt
et al., 1988; Schmidt and Goetzberger, 1990; Goetzberger, 1991; Goetzberger et al., 1992; Rommel and Wagner,

I.L. Wong et al. / Solar Energy 81 (2007) 10581071


a

d
g

a) Glazing
b) PC honeycombs
c) Roof beam
d) Reflector
e) Absorber
c f) Stainless steel storage tank
g) Opaque insulation

Fig. 9. Illustration showing a cross section of a collector storage system


for solar domestic hot water production, adopted from Rommel and
Wagner (1992).

1992; Kaushika and Reddy, 1999). A prototype ICS


shown in Fig. 9 was constructed and tested at the FISES
and consisted of a cylinder shaped stainless steel storage
tank with a black absorbing surface (Rommel and Wagner, 1992).
The collector was mounted on a south-facing test stand,
inclined at an angle of 45, for testing under central European outdoor winter climates. Water was stored inside the
tank under standard pressure conditions and the aperture
cover was transparently insulated to reduce heat losses
through the aperture (Rommel and Wagner, 1992). The
ICS is more economical compared to conventional domestic hot water system, due to direct integration into the
domestic water circuit, avoiding an additional circulation
pump and control unit. When PC honeycombs were combined with the thermal storage mass, the system was prevented from freezing during the winter period and thus,
saved the cost of freeze protection. An ICS with a 2.8 m2
absorber recorded an annual system eciency of 0.4 compared to less than 0.25 for a conventional at-plate system
(Rommel and Wagner, 1992). A bifacial-absorber collector
as shown in Fig. 6d was used as part of the domestic hot
water system and mounted at 40 on a at roof of a solar
house in Germany. The system with 13.5 m2 collector area
supplied more than 90% of the hot water demand for four
persons (Goetzberger et al., 1992).
6.4. Space heating and daylighting for buildings
The concept of insulating external building walls using
TIMs emerged more than 20 years ago. It combines the
advantages of opaque insulation and solar collection. The
transmission heat losses of the wall are reduced and the
solar radiation transmitted through the TIM is converted
into useful heat at the dark painted wall surfaces (Goetzberger, 1991). As TIM possesses both light guiding and
solar energy transmission properties, the use of TIM in
buildings makes it suitable for capture of daylight and solar
heat at the same time, resulting in the reduction of both
lighting and space heating energy consumption for buildings (IEA, 1997).
The rst real outdoor experiments with TI-walls were
undertaken in 1982 by the FISES using 16 mm thick
PMMA foam, where direct monthly heat gains of between
1 kWh/m2 and 3 kWh/m2 were measured during the winter

1065

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.,

1066

I.L. Wong et al. / Solar Energy 81 (2007) 10581071

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

Braun et al. (1992)

Capillaries and honeycombs for


south-facing wall application

The estimates of solar energy gains are


only applicable to a particular TI-wall

Twidell et al. (1994)

1040 m2 PC honeycombs for south


facing wall application
Capillaries for south-facing TIglazing
Thirty square meter novel polymer
lm for south facing wall of a testing
house

Solar energy gains of 100200 kWh/


m2 year; space heating demand of
43 kWh/m2 year
40% reduction of energy use

Lien et al. (1997)


Wallner et al. (2004)

20% reduction of heating energy


consumption
Heat gain uxes of up to 50 W/m2 in
cold January; solar energy eciency of
44%

30% nancial saving; 20 years payback;


maintenance costs not considered
Optimisation of the TIM thickness and
area was crucial
The development of TI-system with easy
site installation can be used for building
renovation

Table 3
Summary of annual heating energy demand for demonstration projects after TI-application
Types of TI-system

TIM
area

Demonstration projects
(oor area)

Specic energy yield

Heating energy
demand

References

TI-compound with PC capillaries

53 m2

Cast-glass elements with 4 cm


acrylic glass capillaries
TI-wall with 10 cm PC honeycombs

7500 m2

Villa Tannheim, Germany


(750 m2)
Salzgitter, Germany
(43,000 m2)
Sonnenaeckerweg,
Germany (400 m2)
Aolternstrasse,
Switzerland (702 m2)
Niederurnen, Switzerland
(966 m2)
Wurzen, Germany
(4100 m2)

86 kWh/m2of TIfacade area

75 kWh/m2of
oor area
72 kWh/m2of
oor area
43 kWh/m2of
oor area
40 kWh/m2of
area

heated

Voss et al. (1996) and


IEA (1997)
Voss et al. (1996) and
IEA (1997)
IEA (1997)

oor

IEA (1997)

120 m2
63 m2

TI-wall with 10 cm acrylic


capillaries
TI-wall

84 m2

TI-wall

300 m2

2004; Wallner and Lang, 2005; Wallner et al., 2005a,b;


Wallner et al., 2006). Optimum optical and thermal properties from more than 80 polymer lm samples of dierent

160 kWh/m2of TIfacade area


141 kWh/m2of TIfacade area
161 kWh/m2of TIfacade area

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

I.L. Wong et al. / Solar Energy 81 (2007) 10581071

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.

1067

HAUSSIM, a modied TRNSYS version (Type 56


Multi-Zone Building Model), a detailed explicit nite difference model and ESP-r were used to predict the thermal
performance of multi-zone building models with integrated
TIMs. These programs are able to perform simulations
that include detailed airow analysis for realistic building
conditions. Table 4 shows the energy performance of buildings with integrated TI-systems as reported by various
researchers.
A 278 mm thick external wall system, combining TIM
and phase change material (PCM) as a thermal storage
medium or absorber was simulated in Switzerland (Manz
et al., 1997). The system consisted of a 80 mm thick salt
hydrate PCM lled glass container, a 20 mm thick air
gap and a 4 mm thick low-iron oxide content double-glazing unit. The double-glazing unit was lled with 120 mm
thick PMMA capillaries with a 50 mm air gap with a roller
blind installation. A total energy ux of 13.3 W/m2 and
system eciency of 27% were predicted behind the TI-wall
in December (Manz et al., 1997). Heim (2004) performed
simulations of a TI-wall integrated with a PCM, which
consisted of an external glazing, a 100 mm TIM honeycomb structure, a 250 mm PCM-ceramic composite with
air gaps between each layer in a triple zone building model.
The latent heat stored inside the PCM enabled 5% more
stable temperature on the internal surface to be obtained
during winter (Heim, 2004).
The thermal performance of a 3 m 3 m 3 m outdoor
test room with a south-facing TI-wall was predicted using
an explicit nite dierence numerical simulation model in
cold sunny days in Canada (Ramadan and Athienitis,
1998; Athienitis and Ramadan, 1999). The TI-wall consisted of an exterior single glazing, lexan honeycomb slab,

Table 4
Simulation predictions for TI-systems used in building facade applications
Authors

Applications

Programs

Predicted results

Wilke and Schmid (1991)

70% south-facing TIglazing and TI-wall


TI-wall of an
apartment
TI-wall

WANDSIM

Approximately 223.7 kWh/m2 and 231.7 kWh/m2 were predicted for


south-facing TI-wall and TI-glazing per annum
The dierence between the measured and predicted absorber and inside
wall temperatures was less than 3 C
The dierence between the measured and predicted absorber and inside
wall temperatures was less than 5 C. Minimum space heating demand
of 410 kWh/year was predicted with southeast and southwest TIM
facades
The dierence between the measured and predicted temperatures within
the TI-wall was less than 5 C The simulation results represent the
actual building performance and can be used to investigate design
alternatives
Predicted temperatures and total energy ux agreed well with
experimental results. Mean energy ux of 13.3 W/m2 into the room was
predicted
Signicant energy savings with no auxiliary heating on cold sunny days
under Canadian climates. TI-wall surface temperatures were less than
29 C and other room surface temperatures were less than 25 C when
mean outside temperature was 15 C
Annual total energy gains of 110140 kWh/m2 compared to 90 kWh/
m2 for double low-e glazing
Latent heat storage allows 5% more stable internal surface temperature
compare to standard material

Sick and Kummer (1992)


Braun et al. (1992)

TRNSYS
TRNSYS,
HAUSSIM

Strachan and Johnstone (1994)

TI-wall for low-rise


residential blocks

ESP-r

Manz et al. (1997)

Prototype TI-wall
integrated with PCM

Monte Carlo
Simulation

Ramadan and Athienitis (1998)


and Athienitis and Ramadan
(1999)

Outdoor test room


with TI-wall
application

Finite
dierence
model

Matuska (2000)

TIM for trombe wall


application
TI-wall with PCM

ESP-r

Heim (2004)

ESP-r

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I.L. Wong et al. / Solar Energy 81 (2007) 10581071

200 mm concrete wall slab, interior gypsum board with air


gaps between each layer. When the mean outside temperature was 15 C, the TI-wall surface temperature was more
than 33 C and approached a maximum of 40 C, when
room air temperature was less than 21 C. To enhance
the transfer of solar energy stored in the concrete mass,
air was circulated through the TI-wall to the room with
blinds shut when TI-wall surface temperature exceeded
29 C. The TI-wall room surface temperature was lowered
to less than 30C with no auxiliary heating required (Ramadan and Athienitis, 1998; Athienitis and Ramadan, 1999).
8. Barriers to the development and implementation of
transparent insulation systems
8.1. Imperfection in manufactured TIMs
Thin-celled plastic TIMs are imperfect and far from the
idealisation often used in simulations due to bulk eects,
such as, tilted cells, broken or irregular cell edges, inhomogeneous cell sizes, diameters or thicknesses (Platzer,
1992b). High cutting temperatures result in melting at the
cut edges of plastic TIMs, which aects the transparency
of the TIMs (Lien et al., 1997). Glass honeycombs are fragile and thus not suitable for building applications (Kaushika and Sumathy, 2003).
8.2. Low working temperatures of plastic TIMs
Plastics must have low working temperatures, in general
less than 80 C and thus do not satisfy the higher operating
temperatures requirements of solar collectors, which are in
general between 80 C and 250 C (Rommel and Wagner,
1992; Kaushika and Sumathy, 2003). Plastic TIMs are also
potentially exposed to re hazards when applied to facades
of high-rise buildings (Twidell et al., 1994).
8.3. High investment cost
High investment cost has been a barrier to commercialisation of TIMs. To date, only a number of TIMs, such as,
PC and PMMA are commercially available for various
applications with most materials still in the small-scale
experimental and at a premature phase for large scale
implementation (Braun et al., 1992; Platzer, 2001; Kaushika and Sumathy, 2003). With increasing fuel costs, however, initial TIM systems costs may be a less signicant
consideration than life-time costs.
8.4. Overheating problem
In previous research, it was reported that problems of
overheating are signicant in the summer when too much
solar radiation is absorbed, due to either an excessive area
of TI-systems or wall mass when applied to south-facing
building facades (Lien et al., 1997; Athienitis and Ramadan, 1999; Ramadan and Athienitis, 1998; Wilke and Sch-

mid, 1991; Manz et al., 1997). Mechanical shading devices


used to overcome the problem are susceptible to failure and
thus, require frequent and expensive maintenance (Braun
et al., 1992).
9. Limitations in current knowledge evident from previous
studies on transparent insulation applications in buildings
9.1. Potential for commercial building applications
Previous studies have involved either residential, school
or industrial buildings of dierent geometries. Installation
of a TI-system is costly for private buildings but may be
more acceptable when applied to large scale commercial
building facades (IEA, 1997; Braun et al., 1992; Voss,
2000; Dalenback, 1996; Platzer, 2001). Despite this, no
oce buildings have been considered previously with previous studies limited to domestic applications. To explore the
potential of application in commercial buildings, comparative cost studies were proposed between TI-systems and
other commercial facade materials to enable building
designers to select suitable facade materials for use in
new low-energy building designs (Wong et al., 2005).
9.2. Design guidelines
Previous studies show that TIMs require excellent specication (such as, ideal TIM parameters) in order to prot
from optimum solar gains and added value with minimum
investment. Most demonstration projects to date have not
achieved such an ideal specications (Voss, 2000) and thus,
fail to provide useful guidelines for future TI-applications
(Wong et al., 2005). Non-ideal specication resulted due
to the fact that it is time consuming and costly to conduct
optimisation studies using dierent TIM parameters and
thus, was not performed for previous demonstration projects. A simulation program therefore is required for use
at the early design stage to enable a time and cost saving
parametric sensitivity analysis to be performed. Critical
TIM parameters can be further analysed and rened in
the design phase to obtain optimum performance of TI-systems, for particular building applications (Manz et al.,
1997; Lien et al., 1997).
9.3. Suitability for new building applications
The demonstration projects detailed renovation work for
existing buildings with the aim of improving the thermal
and/or daylighting performance (IEA, 1997; Braun et al.,
1992; Voss, 2000; Dalenback, 1996). The TI-systems have
been used to replace old facade materials to reduce heating
demand and electricity and gas consumption (Braun et al.,
1992; Twidell et al., 1994; Lien et al., 1997). With low fuel
prices, most researchers predicted that it would be hard
for TI-systems to compete unless environmental impacts
are taken into account (Braun et al., 1992; Dalenback,
1996; Platzer, 2001). With soaring fuel prices, however, fuel

I.L. Wong et al. / Solar Energy 81 (2007) 10581071

savings have become more signicant in recent years. It may


be more feasible and cost eective application of TI-systems
if they are incorporated into the facades of new buildings,
allowing the oset of capital and installation costs for other
facade materials (Wong et al., 2005).
9.4. Insucient/inadequate cost information
The cost of TI-systems is a major concern highlighted by
most authors (Kaushika and Sumathy, 2003; Braun et al.,
1992; Voss, 2000; Platzer, 2001), with high investment cost
a major disincentive to the application of TIM in the building sector. TI-system cost generally comprises the TIM
cost, shading device cost, mounting cost and glass cover
cost. The shading device used in the TI-wall system comprises 2030% of the total investment costs (Braun et al.,
1992; Voss, 2000). Most TI-systems are custom designed
for specic projects and it is dicult to determine typical
system costs as these vary with each project (Braun et al.,
1992) and type of TI-system installed (Platzer, 2001). Most
case studies have used a combination of solar renovation
concepts, which makes it dicult to isolate the specic
investment required for the TI-systems (IEA, 1997; Voss,
2000). Specic and detailed information relating to LCC
of TI-systems installed on buildings are not yet available.
It is important to increase the eciency of the whole
system, to deliver high quality products with reasonable
costs (Platzer, 2001). Table 5 details the various specic
TI-system costs, which are between 24 EUR/m2 and
1000 EUR/m2 (Braun et al., 1992; IEA, 1997).
Although the current information on TI-system costs is
limited and incomplete, it is evident that mechanical shading devices are a major factor contributing to expensive
system costs. Most authors therefore suggest replacement
of mechanical shading devices with cheaper alternatives
to reduce system costs (Braun et al., 1992; Voss, 2000; Platzer, 2001), however, no signicantly improved low cost
shading devices have been found to date.
10. Calculation of simple payback period
Payback period is the time taken for the total initial
investment of a product to be recovered by the total accumulated savings. A simple calculation of payback period
for an industrial production hall renovated with TI-glazing
in Salzgitter, Germany was assessed using Eq. (3). Design
details and energy saving features for this particular case

1069

study are available from the IEA SHC Programme, Task


20 (IEA, 1997). TIM was sandwiched between 7500 m2
U-shaped cast glass elements to form a self-supporting daylight wall that allowed penetration of daylight with good
thermal insulation properties, no shading device was
installed in the system (Voss, 2000). The equivalent energy
cost and annual energy savings have been estimated at
0.03 EUR/kWh and 72 kWh per gross oor area (m2),
whereas, the investment cost of the TI-system was
24 EUR/m2. The yearly maintenance and the expected
life-time were assumed to be 4% of the initial investment
and 20 years, respectively (IEA, 1997). The gross oor area
and total TI-glazing areas for the industrial production hall
are 43,000 m2 and 7500 m2, respectively (IEA, 1997). The
total energy saving (3,096,000 kWh/year or 92,880 EUR/
year) was calculated by multiplying 72 kWh/m2year by
the area, 43,000 m2, whereas, the initial investment (EUR
180,000) was calculated by multiplying 24 EUR/m2 by
the TI-glazing area of 7500 m2.
Payback period

Initial investment & Maintenance costs


Expected returns per year
3

It was assumed that the initial investment (EUR 180,000)


was paid o either in the rst year or over the system
life-time, and the yearly maintenance costs (EUR 7200)
over the rest of the system life-time. The annual benet
of the TI-system installation to the building is given in
terms of the total energy savings (kWh/year) and also in
a monetary value, the total energy cost savings (EUR/
year). The total energy cost savings and total maintenance
costs are reduced to their present value (PV) using the present worth factor (PWF) at assumed discount rates of 10%,
8% and 6% (Kreider et al., 1989). In economics, money has
a time value and a given amount of money will be worth
less in the future than it is today. Thus, the relation between present and future cash ows is embodied in the discount rate (Kreider et al., 1989). The PWF is used to reduce
a single payment or cash ow in the future (for examples,
maintenance costs) to present values. As shown in Table
6, 34-year payback periods were calculated at dierent
discount rates using Eq. (3), if the initial investment was
paid o in the rst year.
In some cases, it is common to convert the initial investment to a uniform series of payments made over the life
span of the system. When this occurs, it involves repayment
of a loan or mortgage for purchase of the system, with, a

Table 5
Summary of costs for a range of transparent insulation systems
Types of TI-system

TIM thickness (mm)

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)

40 (acrylic glass capillaries)


80140
100
80, 100, 120 or 140 (PC capillaries)
120
Variable

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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I.L. Wong et al. / Solar Energy 81 (2007) 10581071

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

(b) Initial investment paid o in 20 year


Initial investment (EUR)
422,856
Total maintenance costs in PV
61,296
(EUR/20 years)
Total system costs (EUR/20 years) 484,152
Total energy cost savings in PV
61,938
(EUR/year)
Payback period
7.82 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

schools, industrial buildings and residential houses. These


projects failed to conform to the optimum design parameters and thus fail to allow robust design guidelines for
future TI-system implementations to be developed. At
present, no parametric sensitivity studies can be performed
readily in real buildings. Current cost information relating
to TI-systems is inadequate and neither payback period nor
the LCC implications for TI-systems are available. The
simple payback period calculation for a selected installation indicates a less than 8-year payback period, for a discount rate of 10%. Research is required to develop design
guidelines to enable the determination of optimum and
eective TI-system designs for implementation in oce
buildings to be developed.
Acknowledgement
A University of Ulster research studentship is hereby
acknowledged by the rst author.
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