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Solar Energy 86 (2012) 2432–2442

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Performance of coupled novel triple glass and phase change

material wall in the heating season: An experimental study
Yusuf Ali Kara a,⇑, Aslıhan Kurnucß b
a
Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey
b
Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Erzincan University, Erzincan, Turkey

Received 8 December 2011; received in revised form 3 May 2012; accepted 9 May 2012
Available online 11 June 2012

Communicated by: Associate Editor H.-M. Henning

Abstract

A Trombe wall that uses a phase change material (PCM) as the heat storage medium is usually called a PCM Trombe wall or PCM
wall. A research project was conducted to investigate the performance of coupled novel triple glass (NTG) and PCM wall, which is
simply called PCM wall in this paper, as a solar space heater. The south facßade of a test room was constructed using PCM walls. Rubi-
thermÒ GR35 and GR41 were incorporated into the plaster of the walls as PCM. The ratio of the solar energy gain provided by the PCM
walls to the heat load of the test room per month varied from 4% to 70%; daily overall efficiency of the PCM walls varied from 20% to
36%; and solar transmittance of the NTG varied from 0.45 to 0.55 during the heating period. The overall efficiency of the PCM wall
including GR35 was higher than that of the PCM wall including GR41.
Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Phase change material (PCM); Solar space heating; PCM wall; PCM Trombe wall

1. Introduction Kenisarin and Mahkamov, 2007; Khudhair and Farid,

Solar energy storage for heating or cooling of buildings
requires an efficient thermal energy storage system. Latent
heat storage in phase change materials (PCMs) is an effi-
cient method for thermal energy storage because PCMs
have a high energy-storage density over a relatively narrow
temperature range. Solar energy can be absorbed and
stored in a building structure as latent heat by incorporat-
ing PCMs into the standard building materials, such as
concrete, gypsum board, and plaster. Solar energy storage
in a building structure depends on many factors, such as
the use of suitable PCMs, the method of PCM encapsula-
tion into building materials, transparent insulation
materials (TIMs), and the architecture of the building
(Hauer et al., 2002; Kaushika and Sumathy, 2003;
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 442 2314845; fax: +90 442 2360957.
E-mail address: yalikara@atauni.edu.tr (Y.A. Kara).
2004; Pasupathy et al., 2008; Sharma et al., 2009; Tyagi
and Buddhi, 2007). Manz et al. (1997) built a prototype
TIM–PCM external wall system for both solar space heat-
ing and daylighting. The wall consisted of a glass container
filled with a translucent PCM, an air gap, the TIM, an air
gap with a roller blind, and glass. The overall efficiency of
the wall system, calculated for the month with the lowest
irradiation, was 27%. Stritih and Novak (2002) designed
a solar wall that absorbed and stored solar energy in black
paraffin wax. The stored heat was used for heating the ven-
tilation air of the house. The facßade consisted of glass, a
transparent plastic container filled with black paraffin
wax, an air cavity, insulation, and a standard plaster ele-
ment. The wall was tested under laboratory conditions
using a solar simulator with a heat flux of 500 W/m2.
Weinläder et al. (2005) designed a PCM-facßade panel to
provide day lighting and room heating. The facßade panel
consisted of a double glazed unit combined with a plastic

0038-092X/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2012.05.012
 Y.A. Kara, A. Kurnucß / Solar Energy 86 (2012) 2432–2442 2433

Nomenclature

Symbols h heater
A area (m2) i incident
cp specific heat (J/kg K) lv lower vent
g solar transmittance m monthly, mean
E energy (J) o overall
I instant solar radiation (W/m2) s surface
m_ mass flow rate (kg/s) t transmitting
N day number of a month uv upper vent
Q_ heat rate (W)
T temperature (°C) Abbreviations
t time (s) HVAC heating, ventilating and air
V velocity (m/s) conditioning
g efficiency NTG novel or new triple glass
q density (kg/m3) PCM phase change material
PID proportional, integral, derivative
Subscripts RSEG ratio of solar energy gain to heat load
a air of test room
c cross-sectional SEG solar energy gain
d daily, duct ST solar transmittance
g gain TIM transparent insulation material

container filled with a translucent PCM. The light trans-
mittance of the facßade panels ranged between 0.4 and
0.9. Here, the heat losses in winter and the solar heat gains
in summer through the PCM-facßade panel were reduced by
approximately 30% and 50%, respectively, as compared
with a double-glazed unit without the PCM. Cabeza
et al. (2007) studied the thermal performance of a new
innovative concrete wall that included a PCM with a melt-
ing point of 26 °C. The results of the study showed that the
PCM improves the thermal inertia of the concrete wall.
Zhang et al. (2011) developed a model based on an
enthalpy–porosity technique to investigate the thermal
response of brick walls filled with PCM. They found that
the use of PCM in brick walls is beneficial for thermal insu-
lation, temperature hysteresis, and thermal comfort.
In this study, the south-facing external wall of a test
room in Erzurum, Turkey, was constructed using coupled
novel triple glass (NTG) and a phase change material
(PCM) wall (simply called PCM wall in this paper) com-
posed of brick walls, plasterboards containing PCMs,
and novel triple glass (NTG). The outer surface of the brick
walls were fitted with the plasterboards enhanced with
encapsulated PCMs and covered with NTG. The plaster-
boards included RubithermÒ GR41 and GR35 as the
PCM. RubithermÒ GR41 and GR35 are granulate encap-
sulated paraffin. The NTG, which included PrismasolarÒ
glass, was placed in front of the PCM walls to prevent
overheating in the summer, because PrismasolarÒ glass
transmits the majority of sunlight in winter and reflects it
in summer. The tests were conducted in outdoor conditions
continuously for a 1 year period in order to observe the
performance of the PCM walls during both heating and
cooling periods. This paper only discusses the performance
of the PCM walls in the heating period. Preliminary results
of the current study were previously presented by Kara
et al. (2009a, 2009b).
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Design goals and motivation
A classical Trombe wall has two main disadvantages: (1)
because it stores solar energy as sensible heat, a thicker or
massive masonry wall is necessary; (2) it has an overheating
problem in summer because ordinary glass is placed in
front of the wall. The main motivation of this study is to
overcome these disadvantages of classical Trombe walls.
Because PCMs exhibit high energy-storage density over
a narrow temperature range, solar energy was stored as
latent heat in PCMs in order to overcome the massive wall
problem. Determining the proper melting temperature of
PCM is important in PCM wall applications. The typical
supply air temperature that is common in heating, ventilat-
ing, and air conditioning (HVAC) applications is 50 °C,
and the comfortable indoor temperature in heating mode
is typically 22 °C. Therefore, air temperature supplied from
a PCM wall should be greater than 22 °C and closer or
equal to 50 °C. Thus, the melting temperature range of a
PCM used in a PCM wall should be in the range of 22–
50 °C. The south facßade of the test room consisted of
two PCM walls for simultaneously testing two PCMs with
different melting temperatures. RubithermÒ GR35 and
2434 Y.A. Kara, A. Kurnucß / Solar Energy 86 (2012) 2432–2442
GR41 were used as the PCM. The melting temperature
ranges of GR35 and GR41 were 13–41 °C and 13–51 °C,
respectively. Considering the typical supply air temperature
in HVAC applications, the GR41 was used to provide war-
mer supply air (at around 50 °C) from the GR41 PCM
wall.
In order to compare the thermal performance of the
PCM walls, they were constructed identically and tested
under the same conditions. The dimensions of the PCM
walls were the same; the equipment such as fan, duct,
and air vent, were identical; the fans were operated at the
same speed; and the incorporation ratios of the GR35
and GR41 into plaster were the same. Only the PCMs
incorporated in the plasterboards were different. At the
same time, because there was no wall inside the test room
separating the two PCM wall systems, as can be seen in
Fig. 1, both of the PCM walls were exposed to the same
indoor air conditions as well as the same outdoor ambiance
conditions.
On the other hand, instead of ordinary glazing, novel
triple glass (NTG) was placed in front of the PCM wall
to eliminate the overheating problem in summer. The
NTG was designed to serve two objectives: the former
was to reduce heat loss from the wall in winter, and the lat-
ter was to transmit the most incident sunlight in winter in
order to maximise heat storage in the PCM walls, and to
reflect the most incident sunlight in summer in order to
minimise heat storage in PCM walls.
The heat load of a building can be defined as the energy
requirement for maintaining the indoor air at a specific
comfortable temperature. In order to determine the heat
load of the test room and the ratio of solar energy gain
(RSEG) provided by the PCM walls to the heat load of
the test room, the test room was equipped with electrical
Fig. 1. The test room during the construction stage.
heaters to prevent the room temperature from falling below
20 °C in case the PCM walls did not provide enough energy
to match the heat loss of the test room. The heaters were
activated by a digital thermostat when the indoor air tem-
perature fell below 20 °C and were deactivated when the
indoor air temperature rose above 23 °C. The electrical
heaters were considered a primary heating system, while
the PCM walls were considered a secondary or assistant
heating system for the test room.
2.2. Outdoor testing facility
Two PCM walls were placed on the south facßade, on
either side of a window (Figs. 1 and 2). The structures of
the two PCM walls were the same; however, different
PCMs were used. The cross sections of the PCM walls,
from outside to inside, consisted of NTGs, air gaps,
PCM-enhanced plasterboards, bricks, and insulation, as
shown in Figs. 3 and 4. There were electrical heaters in
the test room serving as a primary heating system. There
were no walls or thermal barriers inside the room separat-
ing the two PCM walls. Both of the PCM walls were
exposed to the same indoor air conditions.
The GR35 PCM plasterboards and GR41 PCM plaster-
boards shown in Fig. 1 included RubithermÒ GR35 and
RubithermÒ GR41 as the PCM, respectively. The PCM
plasterboards were constructed by pouring PCM grouts
into moulds with dimensions of 2.5 cm deep, 41 cm wide,
and 41 cm long. The PCM grouts were prepared by incor-
porating GR35 and GR41 into standard plaster grouts, i.e.
sand, cement and water. The incorporation ratio of the
GR35 and GR41 was 33% of the aggregate by mass. The
PCM plasterboards were fixed on the wall to achieve a por-
table construction, as shown in Fig. 1.
 Y.A. Kara, A. Kurnucß / Solar Energy 86 (2012) 2432–2442 2435

Fig. 2. The test room after construction was completed.

RubithermÒ GR is a heat storage granulate that uses
paraffin as a PCM within a secondary supporting structure
to ensure that the PCM, when in liquid form, does not leak
out of the granulate. The granule size of GR35 and GR41
ranges between 1 and 3 mm (Rubitherm Techno, 2010).
The melting temperatures of GR35 and GR41 at peak heat
of fusion are approximately 34 and 45 °C, respectively. The
physical properties of GR35 and GR41 are presented in
Section 3.1.
The NTG was placed at the front face of the south facß-
ade of the test room. The NTG (Fig. 3), from outside to
inside, consisted of ordinary glass (4 mm), an air gap
(9 mm), PrismasolarÒ glass (6 mm), an air gap (9 mm),
and low-e glass (4 mm), reducing heat loss. Spacer bars
were placed between the glass layers to provide an air cav-
ity. The glass layers and spacer bars were joined together
and sealed along the edges. The spacer bars included a
desiccant, and their inner surfaces were perforated for
moisture absorption in order to maintain dry air in the
cavities.
Although the NTG appears to be similar to standard tri-
ple glass, it has an entirely different function than that of

NTG air gap PCM plasterboards

brick

sunlight has
a higher
incidence sunlight has
angle in a lower room air
the summer incidence circulation
angle
in the winter

insulation
prismasolar
ordinary glass

low-e glass spacer bars

Summer Winter

Fig. 3. Cross-section of the PCM wall and working principle of the novel triple glass.
2436 Y.A. Kara, A. Kurnucß / Solar Energy 86 (2012) 2432–2442
4 2
V A
A : Air temperature sensor
HG : Heat flux sensor for glass
A
HW : Heat flux sensor for wall
P : Pyranometer
5
S : Surface temperature sensor
SG : Soil temperature sensor
V : Velocity transmitter
3 6
Air circulation
7 HW
6 8
Side view
standard triple glass. The middle layer in the NTG consists
of PrismasolarÒ glass manufactured by Lamberts Glas Gm
(2010). PrismasolarÒ glass transmits solar rays that have a
lower angle of incidence and reflects solar rays that have a
higher angle of incidence. The incident angle of solar rays is
lower in the winter and higher in the summer. Therefore,
the majority of sunlight incident on the NTG is transmitted
in the winter and reflected in the summer by the Prismaso-
larÒ glass (Fig. 3). Consequently, the heat storage in the
PCM plasterboards is at a minimum in the summer and
a maximum in the winter. The NTG was designed by the
project team and manufactured by Regal Co. (2010).
Each PCM wall compartment was equipped with an
upper and a lower air vent, an air duct, and a fan (Fig. 4).
Each fan had a digital controller embedded into the data
logger housing. The digital controllers communicated with
the data logger. The sensors of the digital controllers were
fixed on the surface of the PCM plasterboards; therefore,
each controller activated or deactivated the corresponding
fan according to the surface temperatures of the PCM
plasterboards.
The digital controllers of the fans should be set to a tem-
perature close to the temperature of the peak heat of fusion
of the PCMs to ensure complete phase change of the entire
mass of the PCM incorporated into the plasterboards.
Setting the controller to a lower temperature than that of
the peak heat of fusion may result in an incomplete phase
change, which would decrease the storage efficiency. The
fan of the GR41 PCM wall was activated by the controller
when the surface temperature of the GR41 PCM plaster-
boards exceeded 45 °C, which is the temperature of peak
P
A 1. GR41 PCM plasterboards
4 2. Novel triple glass (NTG) 4
3. Air vent
7
4. Duct and fan
S 5. Brick
6. Data logger & digital controllers
7. Heater
HW 8. Air gap
9. GR35 PCM plasterboards V
P A
S V
HG
A
A
S 5 5 S
A
S 1 S 9
SG HG P P S
S
2 A P 2
GR41 PCM wall Window GR35 PCM wall
Top view
Fig. 4. Layout of the test room.
heat of fusion for GR41; the fan of the GR35 PCM wall
was activated when the surface temperature of the GR35
PCM plasterboards exceeded 35 °C, which is the tempera-
ture of peak heat of fusion for GR35. The controllers deac-
tivated the fans when the temperature of the plasterboards
decreased to 25 °C.
The PCM wall operated based on the following princi-
ples. In winter, the majority of the solar radiation coming
from the sun was transmitted through the NTG (Fig. 3)
and struck the PCM plasterboards where it was absorbed
and converted to heat; this caused a phase change in the
PCM located in the plasterboards. The PCM plasterboards
served as a heat storage medium, and the absorption of
solar energy increased the temperature of the PCM plaster-
boards. When the surface temperature of the plasterboards
reached the set values, which was 35 °C for GR35 PCM
wall and 45 °C for GR41 PCM wall, the digital controllers
activated the fans, which then circulated air between the
PCM wall and the test room. The stored heat was extracted
from the body of the PCM plasterboards and conveyed
into the room via air circulation. When the surface temper-
atures of both GR35 and GR41 plasterboards dropped
below 25 °C, digital thermostats deactivated the fans,
which would otherwise cool the indoor air when the tem-
perature of the PCM plasterboards was lower than that
of the room. Shutters located at the end of each duct closed
when the fans were deactivated in order to prevent natural
air circulation between the air gap and the room. However,
during the summer, the PrismasolarÒ glass reflected the
majority of the incident solar radiation and prevented heat
storage in the PCM walls (Fig. 3).
 Y.A. Kara, A. Kurnucß / Solar Energy 86 (2012) 2432–2442 2437

2.3. Measurements where m_ a denotes the mass flow rate of the air circulated
between the air gap and the test room (Fig. 4), cp,a is the
The following parameters were measured: the solar radi- specific heat of the circulated air, and Ta,uv(t) and Ta,lv(t)
ation before and after the NTG (i.e. incident and transmit- are the instantaneous air temperatures at the upper and
ted solar radiation), heat flux through both the NTG and lower vents, respectively. The mass flow rate was calculated
PCM plasterboards, inner and outer surface temperatures as follows:
of the NTG, front and back surface temperatures of the m_ a ¼ qa V m Ac;d ; ð2:3Þ
PCM plasterboards, air temperatures at the inlet and outlet
of the air gaps, indoor air temperature, temperature and where Vm is the mean velocity of air for the cross-section of
humidity of the outdoor air, soil temperature, air velocity the duct and Ac,d is the cross sectional area of the duct. The
in the ducts, and electricity consumption of the heaters. maximum velocity was measured at the centreline of the
A data acquisition system from Tesla Measurement and duct and the mean velocity for the cross-section was calcu-
Control Systems Co. (2010), which consisted of a data log- lated according to the flow regime.
ger, two digital controllers, a PC and software, was used to The daily solar energy (J/day) incident on the NTG was
collect and record the aforementioned parameters. calculated as follows:
Platinum PT100 sensors were used for temperature mea- Z
surements. The uncertainty of the PT100 sensors was Ei;d ¼ I i ðtÞAs;NTG dt; ð2:4Þ
±(0.15 + 0.002  measured value in °C). FLA613GS pyra-
nometers from AHLBORNÒ were used for global solar where As,NTG is the surface area of the NTG.
radiation measurements. The uncertainty of the pyranom- The energy extracted from the PCM wall and conveyed
eters was ±0.6. EE57 air velocity transmitters from E + E to the test room, which is called the solar energy gain
ElektronikÒ were used to measure the air velocity. The (SEG) (J/day) in this paper, was calculated on a daily basis
transmitters have an uncertainty of ±(0.2 m/s + 0.03  as follows:
Z
measured value). The Model G version of the EE23 trans-
mitter from E + E ElektronikÒ was used to measure the Eg;d ¼ Q_ g ðtÞdt: ð2:5Þ
outdoor air temperature and humidity. The Model G ver-
sion of the EE23 series is designed for meteorological appli- The daily overall efficiency of the PCM wall was calcu-
cations. The temperature sensor element of the Model G is lated as follows:
platinum PT1000 that is equipped with a radiation shield. Eg;d
The uncertainty for the PT1000 was ±0.3 °C over a mea- go;d ¼ : ð2:6Þ
Ei;d
surement range of 40 to +60 °C. The uncertainty of the
humidity sensor was ±2.3% RH. HFP01 and PU11 heat The SEG per month (J/month) and solar energy (J/
flux sensors from HuksefluxÒ were used to measure the month) incident on the NTG per month were calculated
heat flux through the PCM plasterboard and NTG, respec- as follows:
tively. HFP01 is designed for wall applications, whereas the X
N

PU11 is primarily used for window applications. The Eg;m ¼ Eg;d ; ð2:7Þ
uncertainty of the sensors was ± 5% at 20 °C, and the i¼1

temperature dependency was 17% K. The M300 electric X

N

metre from MakelÒ was used to measure the electricity Ei;m ¼ Ei;d ; ð2:8Þ
i¼1
consumption of the heaters; and the uncertainty of the
metre was < ±1%. where N is the number of days in each respective month.
The ratio of solar energy gain (RSEG) was calculated by
2.4. Calculations dividing the total SEG provided by two PCM walls into the
heat load of the test room on a monthly basis by using the
The solar transmittance (ST) of the NTG, i.e. the g- following equation:
value, was calculated as follows: P
Eg;m
RSEG ¼ P ; ð2:9Þ
I i ðtÞ Eh;m þ Eg;m
gðtÞ ¼ ; ð2:1Þ P
I t ðtÞ where Eg,m is the total SEG from both of the PCM walls
where Ii(t) is the solar radiation (W/m2) incident on the per month, and Eh,m is the electricity consumption of the
NTG and Ii(t) is the solar radiation transmitted through heaters per month (J/month). The denominator of Eq.
the NTG. (2.9) represents the heat load of the test room per month.
The heat rate (W) extracted from the wall and conveyed The RSEG indicates the fraction P of heat load provided
to the room, which is called solar heat gain in this paper, by both of the PCM walls. Eg,m was calculated as
was calculated as follows: follows:
X
_
QðtÞ ¼ m_ a cp;a ½T a;uv ðtÞ  T a;lv ðtÞ; ð2:2Þ Eg;m ¼ Eg;m;GR41 þ Eg;m;GR35 ; ð2:10Þ
2438 Y.A. Kara, A. Kurnucß / Solar Energy 86 (2012) 2432–2442

where Eg,m,GR41 and Eg,m,GR35 are the SEG provided by
GR41 and GR35 PCM walls per month.
The monthly mean overall efficiency of the two PCM
walls was calculated as follows:
P 34 °C. On the other hand, the heat of fusion of GR41 in
Eg;m
go;m ¼ : ð2:11Þ
Ei;m
An error analysis was completed using Kline and
McClintock’s method, as described by Holman (1994),
and the uncertainties for the solar energy gain, solar
transmittance, and overall efficiency were calculated to be
±12%, ±11%, and ±13.4%, respectively.
2.5. Experimental work
The test room was monitored continuously for a 1 year
period from October 2008 to October 2009, and the mea-
sured parameters were recorded at 1 min intervals by the
data acquisition system. The recorded data was analysed
on a diurnal, monthly, and annual basis, employing the
mathematical model described in Section 2.4 to determine
the time-dependent variations of the parameters, including
the SEG, solar transmittance of the NTG, and overall
efficiency.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Differential scanning calorimetric analysis
Thermal characteristics of GR35 and GR41 were tested
by DSC in the Central Laboratory of Middle East Techni-
cal University (2012). The testing instrument was a Perkin
Elmer Diamond DSC, which has an accuracy of ±0.1 °C
and < ±1% for temperature and calorimeter, respectively.
The heat of fusion of GR35, i.e. the latent heat storage
capacity, in the temperature range of 13–41 °C is 41 kJ/
kg, and the temperature at the peak heat of fusion is
the temperature range of 13–51 °C is 55 kJ/kg, and the
temperature at the peak heat of fusion is 45 °C.
3.2. Hourly and daily analysis
Hourly and daily analyses were completed for each day
of the experiment, from October 2008 to October 2009.
However, there were too many outcomes and graphics to
present in a single work. The outcomes of the current study
were evaluated in detail by Kara et al. (2010) and Kurnucß
(2010).
The daily overall efficiency of the GR35 PCM wall var-
ied from 22% to 37% in the period from October to the end
of February, whereas the efficiency of the GR41 wall varied
from 20% to 33% for the same period (Fig. 5). The daily
overall efficiency of the GR35 PCM wall was slightly
higher than that of the GR41 PCM wall. On the other
hand, the difference between the temperatures of the supply
air at the upper vents of the GR41 and GR35 walls was
insignificant (Fig. 6). However, since the melting tempera-
ture of GR41 is higher than that of GR35, we would expect
to measure warmer supply air (approaching 50 °C, which is
the typical supply air temperature in HVAC applications)
from the GR41 wall. The high-energy storage temperature
of GR41 resulted in lower efficiency due to higher heat
losses. Consequently, it can be concluded from these obser-
vations that GR35 was the more efficient PCM in this
study because its energy storage temperature was lower.

60 60
daily overall efficiency of the
GR41 PCM wall
50 daily overall efficiency of the 50
GR35 PCM wall
solar transmittance (ST) of the
Daily Overall efficiency (%)

Solar Transmittance (%)

NTG
40 40

30 30

20 20

10 10

0 0
11.10.2008
18.10.2008
25.10.2008
01.11.2008
08.11.2008
15.11.2008
22.11.2008
29.11.2008
06.12.2008
13.12.2008
20.12.2008
27.12.2008
03.01.2009
10.01.2009
17.01.2009
24.01.2009
31.01.2009
07.02.2009
14.02.2009
21.02.2009
28.02.2009
07.03.2009
14.03.2009
21.03.2009
28.03.2009
04.04.2009
11.04.2009
18.04.2009
25.04.2009
02.05.2009
09.05.2009
16.05.2009
23.05.2009
30.05.2009

Selected sunny days

Fig. 5. Variations of the daily overall efficiency and daily solar transmittance.
 Y.A. Kara, A. Kurnucß / Solar Energy 86 (2012) 2432–2442 2439

40
GR41 wall on Jan. 10, 2009
GR35 wall on Jan.10, 2009
35
GR41 wall on Nov.10, 2008
GR35 wall on Nov.10, 2008

Temperature (ºC)
30

25

20

15

10
00:01
01:00
02:00
03:00
04:00
05:00
06:00
07:00
08:00
09:00
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
16:00
17:00
18:00
19:00
20:00
21:00
22:00
23:00
Time

Fig. 6. The supply air temperature at the upper vents of the walls on selected days.

In other words, a low storage temperature led to lower Fig. 7 shows that the room temperature was more likely
absorber temperatures and lower heat loss, and thus to bet- to exceed the comfortable indoor air temperature (typically
ter efficiency. 22 °C for the heating mode) during the winter months with
The daily overall efficiency of the walls decreased shar- more light, such as in October and November, due to high
ply after March 21st. The “solar transmittance curve”, energy transfer to the room during the daytime. Overheat-
shown in Fig. 5, explains the reason for the decrease. It ing of the indoor air in winter was not only dependent on
shows the variations in the solar transmittance (ST) of the thermal performance of the PCM wall but also on the
the NTG for selected sunny days. The ST data provided architecture of the test room. If the present test room were
here represent the mean values between 11 a.m. and 1 extended towards the north, for instance, by adding a room
p.m. It can be seen from Fig. 5 that the ST varied between beside the north wall, the heating space behind the PCM
0.50 and 0.55 from October 1st to January 31st; it then wall would increase, while the surface area of the PCM wall
decreased to a range between 0.45 and 0.50 in February. would remain unchanged. In other words, the SEG from
The ST dramatically decreased to below 0.25 after March the PCM wall would remain constant while the heat load
21st and ranged between 0.20 and 0.25 from April to the would rise. In this case, indoor air temperature would
end of May. There was a sharp decrease in the ST after decrease. The ratio of the air volume of the heating space
March 21st, as shown in Fig. 5. March 21st is the equinox to the surface area of the PCM wall can be used to consider
when the incident angle of solar rays increases dramati- this kind of architectural effect on overheating during the
cally. If the incident angle increases, the ST of the NTG heating period.
will decrease because the PrismasolarÒ glass transmits solar The fan speed affected the heat extraction rate and thus
rays that have a lower angle of incidence and reflects solar the temperature increase of indoor air. The fan speed can
rays that have a higher angle of incidence, as discussed in be adjusted by using, for instance, a proportional–inte-
Section 2.2. This explains the sharp decrease in the ST gral–derivative (PID) controller to ensure that the heat
and daily overall efficiency after March 21st. extraction rate transferred to the test room matches the
The ST decreased to its minimum value approximately heat loss of the test room. The fan speed can be decreased
2 month before the end of the heating season in Erzurum. during the daytime when the heat load of the test room is
Therefore, the current NTG is not suitable for cities like lower, and can be increased during night when the heat
Erzurum, where the annual heating degree day is 4856. load is higher. On the other hand, delaying energy transfer
This NTG is more suitable for cities where the annual heat- until night will result in higher heat loss because the out-
ing degree day is around 1450. On the other hand, since the door air temperature decreases sharply at night.
ST of the NTG decreased by nearly 100% during the sum- Consequently, a regulatory mechanism for indoor air
mer as compared to winter, the NTG sufficiently fulfilled its temperature is necessary. There is a good solution for
design goal. Reducing the energy storage during the sum- avoiding overheating of the indoor air in winter. Gypsum
mer period was the design goal to avoid overheating, as boards enhanced with PCM can be applied to the inner
was mentioned in Section 2.1. The low solar transmittance surface of walls or the ceiling of the room. In this case,
during the summer prevented the PCM walls from over- the melting temperature of the PCM incorporated into
heating. The overheating problem in the summer is the gypsum boards should be in the range of 22–24 °C.
discussed in more detail by Kara and Kurnucß (2012). In winter, the PCM gypsum boards inside the room absorb
2440 Y.A. Kara, A. Kurnucß / Solar Energy 86 (2012) 2432–2442

33
20 October 2008
31 10 November 2008
16 December 2008
29 10 January 2009
7 February 2009
Temperature ºC 27

25

23

21

19

17

15
00:01
01:00
02:00
03:00
04:00
05:00
06:00
07:00
08:00
09:00
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
16:00
17:00
18:00
19:00
20:00
21:00
22:00
23:00
Time

Fig. 7. Variations of the indoor air temperature in the test room on selected days.

any excess energy during energy transfer into the room and 3.3. Monthly analysis
prevent indoor air temperature from increasing; then, the
absorbed energy is released by the PCM gypsum boards The monthly variation of the SEG from the PCM walls
during the night when the room temperature decreases. is shown in Fig. 8. The SEG from the GR35 wall was
On the other hand, the PCM gypsum boards inside the higher than that of the GR41 wall because the GR35
room shift the peak cooling load to the night in summer. performed better, as discussed in Section 3.2. The SEG
The solar heat gain through the building envelope is from the PCM walls were decreased in March and were
absorbed and stored by the PCM gypsum boards during zero in April and May because of the sharp decrease in
the day time, and can be drawn off using mechanical ven- the ST of the NTG, as discussed in Section 3.2.
tilation during night time in summer. This provides users The monthly variations of the total solar energy incident
with additional economical merits because of the discount on the two PCM walls, the total SEG provided by the two
tariff for electricity usage at night. PCM walls, and electricity consumption of the heaters are

160

140 Solar energy gain provided by GR35 PCM wall

Solar energy gain provided by GR41 PCM wall
120

100
Energy (MJ)

80

60

40

20

0
Oct-2008

Dec-2008

Jan-2009

Feb-2009

May-2009
Nov-2008

Mar-2009

Apr-2009

Month

Fig. 8. Monthly variations of the solar energy gain from the PCM walls.
 Y.A. Kara, A. Kurnucß / Solar Energy 86 (2012) 2432–2442 2441

2000

1800 Total incident solar energy

1600 Total solar energy gain

Electrical consumption of the heaters

1400

Energy (MJ)
1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0
Oct-2008

Dec-2008

Jan-2009

Feb-2009
Nov-2008

May-2009
Apr-2009
Mar-2009
Month

Fig. 9. Monthly variations of the total incident solar energy, total solar energy gain, and electric consumption of the heaters.

70

Ratio of solar energy gain (RSEG) (%)

Monthly mean overall efficiency (%)
41

30
27
24 22 21
14
9 11
4 7
0 0 0 0
Oct-2008

Dec-2008

Jan-2009

Feb-2009

May-2009
Nov-2008

Mar-2009

Apr-2009

Month

Fig. 10. Monthly variations of the ratio of solar energy gain and monthly mean overall efficiency.

shown in Fig. 9. The heaters consumed electric energy from 2008, January and February 2009 because the heat load
October through May. Therefore, October, November, of the test room increased dramatically during the harsh
December, January, February, March, April, and May winter months. The PCM walls provided 14% of the heat
can be considered the heating period for Erzurum city, load on an annual basis. The monthly mean overall effi-
where the annual heating degree days is 4856. The amount ciency of the PCM walls is also shown in Fig. 10. The
of total incident solar energy was lower than the electric monthly mean overall efficiency varied between 21% and
consumption of the heaters in December, January, Febru- 30% from October to February.
ary and March. This indicates that if all of the incident
solar energy was converted into SEG, it still would not
be sufficient to overcome the heating load of the test room. 4. Conclusion
The total SEG in Fig. 9 was inserted into Eq. (2.9) to
calculate the ratio of the solar energy gain (RSEG). The The south facßade of a test room in Erzurum, Turkey,
RSEG indicates the fraction of the monthly heat load pro- was constructed using PCM walls consisted of brick wall,
vided by both of the PCM walls. The variation of the plasterboards including PCMs, and novel triple glass
RSEG on a monthly basis is shown in Fig 10. According (NTG) for heating the test room with solar thermal energy.
to Fig. 10, the PCM walls, i.e. both the GR41 PCM wall The outer surface of the brick walls were fitted with the
and the GR35 PCM wall, provided 70% and 41% of the plasterboards enhanced with encapsulated PCMs and cov-
heat load in October and November of 2008, respectively. ered with NTG. The plasterboards included RubithermÒ
On the other hand, both of the PCM walls provided only GR41 and GR35 as the PCM. The NTG was placed in
9% and 14%, respectively, of the heat load in December front of the PCM walls to prevent overheating in the sum-
2442 Y.A. Kara, A. Kurnucß / Solar Energy 86 (2012) 2432–2442
mer. The performances of the two PCM wall systems were
investigated.
The indoor air temperature rose above the comfortable
level during daytime in winter because of high energy trans-
fer from the PCM walls. In order to maintain the indoor air
temperature at a comfortable level, PCM-enhanced gyp-
sum boards can be applied on the interior surfaces of the
test room. On the other hand, the effect of the ratio of
PCM wall surface area to the volume of heating space
and fan speed on indoor air temperature rise during the
heating period should be investigated.
The GR35 wall performed better than the GR41 wall
because the energy storage temperature of the GR35 was
lower. The high-energy storage temperature of GR41
resulted in lower efficiency due to higher heat losses. The
ST of the NTG decreased nearly 100% during the summer
as compared to winter. The NTG reduced the energy stor-
age in the PCM wall and prevented the PCM wall from
overheating in summer. The NTG sufficiently fulfilled its
design goal.
The RSEG varied over a range of 4–70% from October
2008 to March 2009. However, the RSEG was zero for
April and May 2009 because the ST of the NTG decreased
to its minimum in those months. The RSEG was 14% on
an annual basis, which means that both of the PCM walls
provided 14% of the annual heat load of the test room.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the Scientific and Techno-
logical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) under
Project Number MAG-107M154.
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