Solar chimney

Based in part on German utility data, Schlaich calculated that a 400-megawatt solar chimney plant would at first produce electricity at a cost of DM 0.14 per kilowatt (8 cents at mid-1998 exchange rates), versus DM 0.12 (7 cents) for a coal-fired plant and DM 0.1035 (6 cents) for a combined-cycle plant. These costs, he predicted, would drop by about two-thirds over the 60-years-plus life of the solar chimney.24... 

A possible drawback of solar chimneys is that their efficiency in converting solar energy to electricity energy is fairly poor. For the 200-megawatt plant planned for India, Schlaich s office projects an efficiency of only about 3 percent—a lot less than the double-digit efficiencies claimed for the trough solar plants in the Mojave Desert. 

Tore Schlaich, The Solar Chimney—Electricity from the Sun (Edition Axel Menges, 1995). 

Similar to the burrows, a solar chimney is a tube that needs air velocity to function properly. The solar radiation heats up the air in the cavity, inducing the rise of the air, which is further enhanced by an appropriately designed upper air outlet. Obviously, this is supposed to be at the highest position of the building to extract exhaust air in a natural way and without additional use of fans. 

Due to the high light transmittance of PFTE and ETFE a solar chimney can be covered with these textile materials, as shown in Figs 13.16 and 13.17. 

Functionality of the proposed solar chimney for the RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology), Melbourne, Australia (Hoe, 2009). 

Natural ventilation is airflow that can be induced either by solar radiation or through openings in combination with the built form. Examples showed that outlet or inlet elements can be made of foils and solar chimneys can be covered with larger-scale cushions. The variable transmission through a second printed foil within a three-layer component can even regulate the temperature inside by changing the solar transmission. 

Application ideas have been provided for vertical fagades, such as ETFE for solar chimneys, fagade areas and others. Framed and smaUer-sized elements could accelerate the degree of creativity and design freedom... 

Membrane structure ETFE cushions for solar chimney fagade... 

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