초록 ▼

A solar-heating system having an inflatable solar collector connected to a housing that can be installed, e.g., in a sash window of a house. The housing has an air blower that draws air from the interior of the house and directs it into the inflatable solar collector, which is positioned outside the

A solar-heating system having an inflatable solar collector connected to a housing that can be installed, e.g., in a sash window of a house. The housing has an air blower that draws air from the interior of the house and directs it into the inflatable solar collector, which is positioned outside the window. The collector has a flexible permeable membrane that serves as a transpired absorber of solar radiation. The air flowing through the collector is heated when it percolates through the membrane exposed to solar light. The heated air is returned back to the interior of the house, thereby providing space heating. In certain embodiments, in addition to serving as a transpired absorber, the membrane can also serve as an air filter that removes particles, odor-causing pollutants, and/or allergens from the drawn air.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A system, comprising: a housing having an air-intake register and an air-exhaust register; andan inflatable solar collector operatively connectable to the housing, wherein: the housing comprises an air blower configured to draw air through the air-intake register and direct the drawn air into a t

1. A system, comprising: a housing having an air-intake register and an air-exhaust register; andan inflatable solar collector operatively connectable to the housing, wherein: the housing comprises an air blower configured to draw air through the air-intake register and direct the drawn air into a tube connectable to the inflatable solar collector;the inflatable solar collector comprises a first chamber and a second chamber separated by a flexible permeable membrane;in operation, air pressure generated by the air blower causes the drawn air to flow through the tube into the first chamber, percolate through the permeable membrane into the second chamber, and exhaust from the second chamber through the air-exhaust register;the inflatable solar collector comprises a plurality of tubular chambers, each divided by the permeable membrane into a respective first sub-chamber and a respective second sub-chamber;the first sub-chamber is part of the first chamber; andthe second sub-chamber is part of the second chamber. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the housing is adapted to be mounted in an opening of a structure having an interior and an exterior so that (i) the air-intake register and the air-exhaust register are located in the interior and (ii) the inflatable solar collector is located in the exterior. 3. The system of claim 2, wherein: the opening is a sash window; andthe housing comprises a movable lip for engaging a sash of the sash window. 4. The system of claim 2, wherein, if the housing is mounted in the opening, then the air blower is located in the exterior. 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the inflatable solar collector comprises means for engaging one or more tethers to secure the inflatable solar collector in a desired position. 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the tube is shorter than about 1 m. 7. The system of claim 1, wherein: the permeable membrane is adapted to serve as a transpired absorber of solar radiation; anda flexible wall of the first chamber is adapted to serve as a glazing layer for said absorber. 8. The system of claim 1, wherein: the permeable membrane is adapted to transmit at least a portion of solar radiation impinging thereupon; anda wall of the second chamber comprises a reflective layer adapted to reflect said portion back toward the permeable membrane. 9. The system of claim 1, wherein: in an inflated state of the inflatable solar collector, the second sub-chambers are semi-cylindrical sub-chambers; andwalls of said semi-cylindrical sub-chambers form an array of crude parabolic minors adapted to reflect radiation transmitted or emitted by the permeable membrane back toward the membrane. 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the inflatable solar collector comprises an air-distribution manifold adapted to distribute a stream of air received through the tube substantially evenly between the first sub-chambers. 11. The system of claim 1, wherein the inflatable solar collector comprises an end panel having (i) an air-distribution manifold adapted to distribute a stream of air received through the tube between the first sub-chambers and (ii) an air-exhaust manifold adapted to collect air from the second sub-chambers and direct the collected air toward the exhaust register, wherein the end panel comprises an airtight barrier that serves as a shared wall for said manifolds. 12. The system of claim 11, wherein an edge of the barrier is mated with an edge of the permeable membrane. 13. The system of claim 1, wherein the tubular chambers are parallel to each other. 14. The system of claim 1, wherein the inflatable solar collector comprises an inflatable shell that encloses the plurality of tubular chambers. 15. The system of claim 1, wherein, in operation, the permeable membrane serves as an air filter adapted to perform one or more of the following: (i) remove particles having a size between about 10 μm and about 100 μm from the drawn air;(ii) remove an odor-causing pollutant from the drawn air; and(iii)remove an allergen or a pathogen from the drawn air. 16. The system of claim 1, wherein the permeable membrane comprises one or more layers selected from a set consisting of: (i) a woven fabric;(ii) a sheet of porous permeable polymer;(iii) a sheet of pin-perforated material;(iv) a permeable non-woven fabric; and(v) a sheet of permeable composite material. 17. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a control module; andone or more temperature sensors operatively coupled to the control module to provide to the control module one or more temperature readings from corresponding locations in the system, wherein the control module is adapted to turn ON and OFF the air blower based on said one or more temperature readings. 18. The system of claim 1, wherein the inflatable solar collector is reversibly compactable to occupy a volume that is smaller than about 15% of the volume of said collector in a fully inflated state. 19. A system, comprising: a housing having an air-intake register and an air-exhaust register; andan inflatable solar collector operatively connectable to the housing, wherein: the housing comprises an air blower configured to draw air through the air-intake register and direct the drawn air into a tube connectable to the inflatable solar collector;the inflatable solar collector comprises a first chamber and a second chamber separated by a flexible permeable membrane;in operation, air pressure generated by the air blower causes the drawn air to flow through the tube into the first chamber, percolate through the permeable membrane into the second chamber, and exhaust from the second chamber through the air-exhaust register; andthe housing comprises a compartment for storing the inflatable solar collector in a deflated state.