Abstract: An improved pebble bed heat storage means is provided for a solar heating system using air as the heat transfer medium. The pebble bed is confined in a crib or bin contained in an outer housing. The sides of the bin are air pervious and are spaced from the side walls of the housing to define enlarged plenum chambers. Baffles or partitions divide each of the plenum chambers into upper and lower plenum spaces. An upper warm air inlet is provided for the upper plenum space at one side of the pebble bed and is connected by a duct to the outlet from the solar collector panels. An upper warm air outlet is provided at the upper plenum space at the opposite side of the pebble bed and is connected through a conventional furnace with the room space to be heated. A lower cool air inlet is provided for the lower plenum space at the same side of the pebble bed as the upper warm air inlet and is connected to the room space by a cool air return duct.

Abstract: An air solar heating collector assembly is provided having a framework covered by a back plate and a transparent front cover with a thin metal absorber plate mounted centrally therebetween. Baffle members are mounted on both surfaces of the absorber plate and are arranged for alternately splitting and recombining the air flow along both surfaces of the absorber plate. The back plate has air inlet means at one end of the assembly and air outlet means at the other end of the assembly arranged so that the air is admitted simultaneously to and discharged simultaneously from the passages at both sides of the absorber plate. The baffle arrangement is complementary on opposite sides of the absorber plate so that in each region where splitting of the air flow occurs at one side of the plate, recombining of air flow occurs in the corresponding region at the opposite side of the plate.