So what's stopping a setup like this becoming standard? It's obviously generally superior, at least for new construction that's well-insulated. Right?
Meanwhile, the direct operating costs for natural gas heat aren't all that high.
Having rented for the past 6 years in 4 different houses, I've become convinced that this is one of the most significant factors for why so many house aren't enjoyable to live in.
Even if the overall design and layout of the house is good (I'm talking about the Christopher Alexander sense of good design), there are always small and not-so-small features that would never have been built that way had the person designing or building the house been intending to occupy it. Or had they moved in, said problems would be remedied in short order.
Since the solar panel-system is passive in design, insertion into ductwork would be a new design issue.
In which case you can fit normal windows and achieve the same or better.
Windows are not the same:
- Windows do not passively aid circulation of warmed air, which the panels are particularly designed to do.
- Windows also do not passively reduce or eliminate overnight-losses of energy (heat) on a cold night (consider negative-centigrade temperature or less), which the linked-to design does do, by passively preventing circulation of air that would cool the building overnight
The design linked-to is specifically designed to passively deal with the prevention of the transfer of heat outside on a cold night, among other things, including limited cost, simple construction, and rapid payback over the life of the building in a cold winter environment. Windows fail as a passive solar source.
Diurnal intervention required for windows.