An assembly including: a central enclosure including: an inner wall that is water-resistant and non-corrosive, an outer wall that is transparent, the inner and outer walls hermetically sealed together to form a watertight compartment defined between the inner and outer walls, an inlet port located on a lower portion of the central enclosure, an outlet port located on an upper portion of the central enclosure, and a solar collector member disposed inside the watertight compartment, the member being disposed between the inner and outer walls; an external glass pane spaced apart from the outer wall and defining an external insulation layer of gas between the external glass pane and the outer wall; and an internal partition spaced apart from the inner wall and defining an internal insulation layer of gas between the internal partition and the inner wall.

The present invention provides a solar absorber incorporated bilayer foam solar evaporator for seawater and wastewater purification including a plurality of solar absorbers partially incorporated into a porous polymer framework and partially forming a thermal insulation layer proximal to solar irradiation. In particular, low-cost commercially available B.sub.4C powders are embedded into a porous polymer foam in a one-pot method to form a scaffold of boron carbide bilayer foam (BCBF) with good hydrophilic wettability, heat-shielding, and solar-thermal conversion. The boron carbide bilayer foam (BCBF) of the present invention enables a high cost-performance seawater desalination and wastewater purification at a high evaporation rate of 2.8 kg/m.sup.2/h with 93% solar evaporation efficiency under 1 sun illumination (or 1 kW/m.sup.2). The present invention thereby provides an excellent and cost-effective solar evaporator tool for industrial-level water purification. Following the present method to prepare the BCBF solar evaporator, the fabrication cost can be as low as 3.6 $/m.sup.2.

A system of solar thermal collectors and an HVAC controller draw heated air through a solar thermal absorbing needle-punched propylene geotextile with limited permeability to air flow, into the interior of poultry livestock house. In various embodiments, the poultry livestock house is divided into zones. Groups of collectors are joined with breather holes on opposite sides of the collectors and solid sides on the ends of each group. Groups of collectors serve each zone of the poultry livestock house. In an embodiment of the system the Environmental Optimization System (“EOS”) provides a system for the intelligent control and monitoring the broiler poultry livestock structure environment through the utilization of a variety of environmental and livestock behavior sensors, apparatus for controlling the thermal collection and existing interior heating/air conditioning/ventilation (“HVAC”) systems, and Internet or cloud based intelligent control and monitoring capabilities of the system. In various embodiments central sensor data aggregation is utilized to provide improved optimization control for livestock zones within individual structures based on data from multiple structures.

A silica aerogel having a mean pore size less than 5 nm with a standard deviation of 3 nm. The silica aerogel may have greater than 95% solar-weighted transmittance at a thickness of 8 mm for wavelengths in the range of 250 nm to 2500 nm, and a 400° C. black-body weighted specific extinction coefficient of greater than 8 m.sup.2/kg for wavelengths of 1.5 μm to 15 μm. Silica aerogel synthesis methods are described. A solar thermal aerogel receiver (STAR) may include an opaque frame defining an opening, an aerogel layer disposed in the opaque frame, with at least a portion of the aerogel layer being proximate the opening, and a heat transfer fluid pipe in thermal contact with and proximate the aerogel layer. A concentrating solar energy system may include a STAR and at least one reflector to direct sunlight to an opening in the STAR.

A silica aerogel having a mean pore size less than 5 nm with a standard deviation of 3 nm. The silica aerogel may have greater than 95% solar-weighted transmittance at a thickness of 8 mm for wavelengths in the range of 250 nm to 2500 nm, and a 400° C. black-body weighted specific extinction coefficient of greater than 8 m.sup.2/kg for wavelengths of 1.5 μm to 15 μm. Silica aerogel synthesis methods are described. A solar thermal aerogel receiver (STAR) may include an opaque frame defining an opening, an aerogel layer disposed in the opaque frame, with at least a portion of the aerogel layer being proximate the opening, and a heat transfer fluid pipe in thermal contact with and proximate the aerogel layer. A concentrating solar energy system may include a STAR and at least one reflector to direct sunlight to an opening in the STAR.

A solar vapor generator includes an absorber to absorb sunlight and an emitter, in thermal communication with the absorber, to radiatively evaporate a liquid under less than 1 sun illumination and without pressurization. The emitter is physically separated from the liquid, substantially reducing fouling of the emitter. The absorber and the emitter may also be heated to temperatures higher than the boiling point of the liquid and may thus may be used to further superheat the vapor. Solar vapor generation can provide the basis for many sustainable desalination, sanitization, and process heating technologies.

A cladding panel that collects and/or emits thermal energy, which includes: a first panel; a second panel with an extrados adhered to an intrados of the first panel, forming a leaktight seal, with a low-relief channel, the channel being attached to the intrados of the first panel to form a conduit; an inlet connector for heat-conducting fluid, connected to a first end of the channel; and an outlet connector for heat-conducting fluid, connected to a second end of the channel, wherein the first panel is made of calibrated laminated ceramic with a flat, smooth intrados and a flat, smooth extrados and has a uniform thickness of 3-6 mm, and the second panel is made of waterproof heat-insulating plastic that is stable up to 120 C.

A silica aerogel having a mean pore size less than 5 nm with a standard deviation of 3 nm. The silica aerogel may have greater than 95% solar-weighted transmittance at a thickness of 8 mm for wavelengths in the range of 250 nm to 2500 nm, and a 400 C. black-body weighted specific extinction coefficient of greater than 8 m.sup.2/kg for wavelengths of 1.5 m to 15 m. Silica aerogel synthesis methods are described. A solar thermal aerogel receiver (STAR) may include an opaque frame defining an opening, an aerogel layer disposed in the opaque frame, with at least a portion of the aerogel layer being proximate the opening, and a heat transfer fluid pipe in thermal contact with and proximate the aerogel layer. A concentrating solar energy system may include a STAR and at least one reflector to direct sunlight to an opening in the STAR.

A silica aerogel having a mean pore size less than 5 nm with a standard deviation of 3 nm. The silica aerogel may have greater than 95% solar-weighted transmittance at a thickness of 8 mm for wavelengths in the range of 250 nm to 2500 nm, and a 400 C. black-body weighted specific extinction coefficient of greater than 8 m.sup.2/kg for wavelengths of 1.5 m to 15 m. Silica aerogel synthesis methods are described. A solar thermal aerogel receiver (STAR) may include an opaque frame defining an opening, an aerogel layer disposed in the opaque frame, with at least a portion of the aerogel layer being proximate the opening, and a heat transfer fluid pipe in thermal contact with and proximate the aerogel layer. A concentrating solar energy system may include a STAR and at least one reflector to direct sunlight to an opening in the STAR.

A recoverable and renewable heat recovery system includes a variable speed inverter compressor in fluid connection with a first heat exchanger and a second heat exchanger via a fluid circuit. The system further includes a solar thermal collection module positioned on top of the compressor and in fluid communication with the compressor, the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger via the fluid circuit. A light intensity sensor is configured to determine light intensity on the solar thermal collection module. The solar thermal collection module is configured to retain solar energy thermal energy to increase fluid pressure in the compressor.