See-through solar collector

Claim 1

A see-through building facade module for use in a wall of a room in a building comprising: a frame adapted to be mounted in said wall; interior and exterior transparent parallel panes mounted within said frame to define an air space therebetween; a louvered radiant solar energy absorbing screen centrally located within said air space and coextensive with the area of said panes, said louvered screen being characterized by a screen thickness, said louvered screen having louvers sloping downward toward said exterior pane, the vertical separation of individual louvers being sufficiently small so as to subtend no more than approximately 2 arc minutes at the mean viewing distance within said room said louvers including an absorptive coating thereon; said louvered screen being spaced apart from the nearest faces of each of said interior and exterior panes by a distance at least 10 times said screen thickness; said frame being provided with air flow slots at its top and bottom to establish an upward flow through said air space, said small louver spacing promoting substantially turbulent air flow in the region of said louvered screen to promote effective heat transfer from said louvered screen to said flowing air in the vicinity of said louvered screen, said separation of at least 10 times said thickness preventing said region of turbulence from extending to said interior and exterior panes, thus allowing laminar flow proximate said panes to reduce heat transfer through said panes, thus providing effective heat collection and effective shielding of said room.