ICAX
Asphalt Solar Collector
Asphalt Solar Collector
ICAX Limited designed the Asphalt Solar Collector as part of the ICAX Solar Road System for use in Interseasonal Heat Transfer. An Asphalt Solar Collector is an efficient means of collecting a large amount of warmth to raise the temperature of a ThermalBank from the natural temperature of the ground up to over 25°C.
Black roads tend to absorb the heat of the sun up to the point when they radiate heat as quickly as they are absorbing it: the surface temperature of roads in direct sunshine can often reach 15°C higher than the ambient air temperature. ICAX collects heat using fluid circulating through an array of pipes embedded in the surface of the road and deposits it in ThermalBanks constructed beneath the insulated foundation of buildings. The temperature across a large ThermalBank can be increased from its natural temperature of 10°C to over 25°C in the course of the summer months.
ICAX gives a second function (heat collection) to standard building fabric (roads or school playgrounds) that will need to be built in any event. The marginal extra cost of adding solar collection to a planned road is less than the cost of buying dedicated solar thermal panels. There is no visual impact.
ICAX places a ThermalBank beneath the foundation of a new building. This gives a second function (heat storage) to standard building fabric (the insulated foundation of a new building). There is no visual impact.
ICAX uses a heat pump to recover warmth from the ThermalBank in winter and deliver heat via underfloor heating into buildings to provide heat without burning fossil fuels.
Successful Trial
TRL reports on the successful trial of Asphalt Solar Collectors and Solar Road Systems for the Highways Agency in Toddington Results.
See Renewable Heat.