Field study of performance of solar chimney with air-conditioned building

The study examines the performance of a solar chimney (SC) within an air-conditioned building. To this end, a single-room house of 25 m3 volume was used. Two configurations of SC were used: the roof solar collector (RSC) composed of CPAC monier concrete tile, 14 cm air gap and gypsum board, and the modified trombe wall (MTW) composed of a masonry wall, 14 cm air gap and gypsum board. To control the induced air flow rate, as excess incoming hot ambient air will increase air-conditioner (AC) load, the size of the SC inlet opening was used as a means of ventilation control and three opening sizes were considered per each SC configuration. Experiments were performed throughout a period of six months (March–September). A split type AC of 1 t nominal capacity was installed.