The general trend, as we see, has been that of a “prolonged summer”. Many even crowded beaches and holiday resorts just two weeks ago. Extreme by extreme, we will now plausibly experience a wave of cold and bad weather with equally anomalous characteristics.
The contingent situation of energy crisis requires alternative solutions to heat our homes. One of these is quite interesting and unusual: it's called R'booster, and transforms a metal cladding into a heat exchanger: heated walls? More or less.
What is R'Booster?
It doesn't matter what your house is made of: R'booster promises to heat it. In fact, this system exploits the power of solar energy without using any photovoltaic panel. Its strong point is a coating that concentrates the light and allows it to generate more the energy.
The covering of these walls can heat up to 60°C when it is only 10° outside: in other words it is like having a radiator as large as the entire wall of a house. Or as big as ALL the walls in your house.
How do “solar walls” work?
The system works on all metal cladding, old or renovated, and turns the building into a heat exchanger. The coating absorbs solar energy which, through a air system recovers the heat to reinject it into the building.
Seen from the outside, R'Booster looks like a classic metal cladding, with the difference that an electrogalvanized steel plate is glued behind it before installation. This detail allows the air to circulate through the channels inserted in the fitting. The air then heats up when it comes into contact with the sheet metal. A fan is installed behind the cladding to redistribute the air in the building.
Someone on our Facebook page (generally those who won't read the article) are already squawking things like “60 degree walls? But this way the people at home are fried!".
Apparently this is not the case. The system heats in winter and cools in summer: in the first case the air can be reinjected via an aerothermal solution, an air handling unit or even a heat pump. In the second case, as soon as the temperature fluctuates between 12 and 16°C during the night… The system activates and introduces fresh air into the buildings.
How much ?
Here come the sad notes. From a little calculation to the impression, the first "tooth" to be removed is not tiny. Air Booster, the manufacturer of R'Booster, estimates the installation cost between 20.000 and 25.000 euros: with the savings obtained, the return on investment would be between 2 and 7 years.
The company declares a significant overall saving of 83% on bill costs, and considering that the power in winter is 600Wp/m², it declares a yield 3 times greater than a photovoltaic system. Don't shoot the pianist: the data belongs to the company, I'll pass it on to you as I receive it!
Among the possible applications, even those in the agricultural sector: covering the walls of storage silos with this solar coating can allow cereals, wood, pellets and more to dry faster, naturally taking care not to toast them.
