Characteristics and application of road absorbing solar energy

Abstract

If the heat of road surface can be stored in summer, the road surface temperature will be decreased to prevent permanent deformation of pavement. Besides, if the heat stored is released, it can supply heat for buildings or raise the road surface temperature for snow melting in winter. A road-solar energy system was built in this study, and the heat transfer mechanism and effect of the system were analyzed according to the monitored solar radiant heat, the solar energy absorbed by road and the heat stored by soil. The results showed that the road surface temperature was mainly affected by solar radiation, but the effect is hysteretic in nature. The temperature of the solar road surface was 3°C–6°C lower than that of the ordinary road surface. The temperature of the solar road along the vertical direction was 2°C–5°C lower than that of the ordinary road. The temperature difference increased as the distance to the heat transfer tubes decreased. The average solar collector efficiency of the system was 14.4%, and the average solar absorptivity of road surface was 36%.

Keywords

solar energy / road-solar energy system / road surface temperature / solar absorptivity of road surface / solar collector efficiency of system

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Tianjin Municipal Science and Technology Commission (08ZHKFSF03700).

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg