A paradigm shift in solar collectors

In the early 1980s a truly new inflatable solar collector design was patented. It was lightweight, inexpensive (typically one-tenth the installed cost of metal and glass equivalents), self-supporting and self-erecting/storing. Moneys raised in the ensuing public offering were depleted and the energy crisis ended before the development company, and the market, could exploit the true potential of the product. In this paper the product is re-evaluated in light of two contemporary applications; the inexpensive heating of building make-up air (to avoid the “sick building” syndrome and Radon concerns) and as an inexpensive platform for photovoltaic arrays. It is shown that payback for the system applied to heating make-up air can occur within the first year of operation