EXERGY-ENTROPY PROCESS OF PASSIVE SOLAR HEATING AND GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS

The mechanism of a passive solar heating system and its relation to th e mechanism of the global environmental system are discussed using the concepts of entropy and exergy. The reason that we use both of these concepts is to make it clearer how the systems work and hence why the passive solar heating system is called environmentally friendly. The m echanism of the systems is described as a process in which exergy is s upplied, its portion consumed, and the resultant generated entropy is finally given off. We call this process ''exergy-entropy process''. A numerical example of the exergy-entropy process of the passive solar h eating system and the global environmental system revealed the followi ng. Generated entropy within the passive solar heated room is discarde d into the outdoor environment through glass windows and concrete floo rs. The global environmental system has a mechanism that disposes of a ll the generated entropy resulting from the solar exergy consumption o n the Earth's surface into the universe. Passive solar heating systems therefore fit inside the global environmental system, on which they i mpose almost no burden. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.