Solar collecting panel "set-up"

[bilbar25]

To all you "experts" in solar heating!

I have been giving thought to placing a solar panel outside my home..located on the ground. I just don't like the idea of mounting it on my roof.

My initial thoughts are (forgive my lack of knowledge here)---to somehow run my hot air from the panel through my skirting and connect to my furnace ductwork under the house (about 6-8 ft).

Then I have to figure out how to move the air to the rest of the house using my furnace blower...the solar connector will be at the far end of the duct run from the furnace! Problems?

My main question though is this. I notice that panel set-ups that I have seen online, including Mark's, has a hot air feed and a cool air return going through the wall of the house. IF I can successfully run my feed to my furnace duct, is it ABSOLUTELY necessary to provide a return INSIDE the house back to the panel---OR can I pick up air from the backside (shade side) of the panel and send it through the heating up process in the panel?

Will that work, and will it work adequately?

I will wait for your EXPERT answers!

I won't be doing any of this until Spring now, but just trying to gain a bit of knowledge here now.

Thanks

[Jim from Canada]

It won't work quite like you are thinking. Your heating system is a balanced system and you sound like you are adding a lot of ducting for the rated CFM.
The air has to circulate through the solar system, the air needs a way in, and a way out, the air going in will only heat up so much. If you introduce outside air at 0 degrees, you will freeze in your home unless you have a huge, highly efficient solar collector, which would be one I haven't seen yet.
If you want to use your existing ducting from your furnace, you would likely have to install an air-to air heat exchanger inside the furnace plenum and circulate the air from the exchanger to the solar collector. At this point it would probably be better to have a liquid medium for your solar system with a liquid-to-air heat exchanger in the plenum.
Hope this answers the question, Marks system seems to be one of the best, low cost systems around. To get any better, you are getting into tracking systems and all kinds of do dads that can go wrong and also cost money.

Jim

[bilbar25]

Thanks Jim---after giving it some more thought, I came up with the same answer as you did....too hard to heat up the extremely cold air !

I was simply trying to find away of easily distributing the air house-wide, rather than dumping it all into the one room that is at the southern-most end of my home.

I guess I have no alternative but to make a couple holes in my wall!!!

Back to the drawing board!

[DigitalDreams]

You could do what I done with my second panel where cutting a hole was not a option in the wall.
I ran insulated flexible duct to cold side of house and put intake duct in floor there across room from furnace
duct then put hot air duct from panel in floor in room
opposite side of house ,same end or or other end if you only have one panel.

It causes the flow to move from one room to another and evens out temp on cold end of my house which is at end of furnace run anyway.

Just make sure you put dampers in line both ends or you will get cold backdraft at night but works well during days.

My two four by 8 panels have been working well anytime sun is out and falling on them no matter how cold outside temp has been.