Solar heated maintenance building at Chickasha (80-07-1)

Abstract

In December, 1980, a solar heating system was installed at the Oklahoma Department of Transportation Maintenance Building in Chickasha, Oklahoma. The system is based on an air type flat plate solar collector with an aluminum absorber plate which absorbs and transfers the sun's radiation into heat. The system has no capacity for the storage of this heat so it is lost if not used immediately. The heat is transferred to the interior of the building much as it would be in a conventional furnace system. The air is circulated from the interior of the building across the absorber plates, where it is heated, and back into the building. Conventional duct work and air blowers are used for this process. Because of the simplicity of the design it is relatively inexpensive when compared to other solar systems. The objective of this installation is to determine if such a system is an economical method for supplementing the heating for this and other small buildings maintained by the State. The solar collectors are saving about 45 thousand cu. ft. of natural gas every year. This savings converts to about $194 a year at the present (1982) price of natural gas. The system should pay for itself in 10 to 15 years.