Difference Between Active and Passive Solar Heating
Contents
Comparison Between Active and Passive Solar Heating
Summary:
The Major Difference Between Active and Passive Solar Heating is that Active Heating takes sunlight, either as heat or electricity, to augment heating systems. While, Passive Heating takes heat from the sun as it comes into your home through windows, roofs, and walls to heat objects in your home.
Comparison Chart
| Passive Heating | Active Heating |
|---|---|
| This system operates without pumps, blowers, or other mechanical devices. | In this system, pumps, blowers, or other mechanical devices require to circulate the working fluid for transportation of heat. |
| Special building design is necessary. | Special building design is not necessary. |
| In this system, the solar radiations are collected by an element of the structure itself. The various elements of the buildings like walls, roof, windows, partitions, etc., are so selected and so architecturally integrated that they participate in the collection, storage, transportation and distribution of thermal energy. |
. In this heating system, the solar radiations are collected using some kind of separate collectors. Solar energy may be stored in sensible heat storage materials, or in latent heat storage materials and the energy is redistributed in the building space using pumps, blowers, fans, etc. |
| These systems are suitable where there are ample winter sunshine and an unobstructed southern exposure is possible. |
Active system can be employed at almost any location and type of building. |
| It is less expensive than the active system to construct and operate. | It is more expensive than the passive system to construct and operate. |
Passive Solar Space Heating Systems
- Passive solar heating is classified as
- Direct gain,
- The thermal storage wall (indirect gain),
- Thermal storage roof (indirect gain),
- Attached sunspace and
- Convective loop
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