Solar Combustion Air is a patented method that utilizes solar energy for preheating air to a natural gas burner. It can be used with a hot water heater, but more significantly, it can preheat air to a coal-burning power plant.
The system’s solar collectors concentrate sunlight to produce hot air, which is compressed and then blown beneath a special pavement, similar to a typical parking lot. Underneath the parking lot is a network of pipes that transport the hot, compressed air to the firebox of a power plant. Since the pipes are underground and insulated, they trap the heat and provide efficient transfer.