ARDIENTE

DESIGN
Thermal Energy
To further develop the basic solar chimney principle,
a solution was sought to be able to extract the hot air
from even when there is no sun to heat the chimney up.
The energy was somehow to be stored in the daytime
and used when there is no sun. Two options were
discussed. First one was to store the thermal energy
of the sun with a phase change material (PCM). The
heated PCM would give its heat to the inside of the
module when it is cooler and keep the mechanism
functioning. This idea was inspired by the Double Face
2.0 project run by the lead researchers Dr. ir. Martin
Tenpierik and Dr. Michela Turrin of TU Delft. Double
Face 2.0 is a contemporary Trombe wall incorporating
an insulator and PCM heat storage on either side of a
rotatable element. In winter it captures and re-radiates
heat from the sun. In summer it captures and disposes
of internal heat. However, PCM is a relatively new
approach and is not mature enough to be used in such
a concept.
FIGURE 10: FACADE APPLICATION
Energy production
The other one was to place photovoltaic (PV) cells on
the outer surface of the module, harvesting energy
and storing it in batteries to be used at night to extract
the air from the room. As in the hot water collection,
different options were decided to be offered in electricity
production and storage. As PV cells generate direct
current (DC) and most of the appliances in the hospital
run on alternating current (AC), some conversion steps
are of necessity. The first option would be converting
the DC to AC in a central system and connect it to the
grid. The second one would be the usage of a central
battery as preparation of transition to DC smart grid.
The third option would be placing individual batteries
in the façade modules and running the fans over them.
Shape
The initial idea of the solar chimney integrated into the
facade unit incorporated chimneys with a rectangular
section. When they were taken out, they had to
withstand the wind loads on their own with less support.
Thus, a more streamlined section was needed. In this
case, either a curved semi-circular or a polygonal
section was needed. In addition, the outer surface/s
would have to host PV cells. There are different types
of PV cells, both flexible, as Amorphous silicon, Copper
Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS), or organic PV and
rigid, as Monocrystalline silicon, Polycrystalline silicon
and Cadmium Telluride (CdTe). The design was desired
FIGURE 11: 2-PART MODULE
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