Sun Lizard Solar Heat Collector -- How Effective is it?

Works when there is sunlight
The Sun Lizard relies on the sun. The performance is directly related to how much sun you get each day and will vary depending on your location and level of solar radiation you receive. To calculate how much sunlight you receive at your location click here.

Increases air temperature by 30 C
Each collector can raise the temperature of air by 30 C over the inlet air temperature. Each collector is designed to allow up to 6m3/min of air to pass through in order to reach this temperature. More air flow will reduce the temperature and increase resistance and the energy required to run the fans. Less airflow will result in higher temperatures.

Additional collector in series raises temperature by up to 50%
Combining collectors in series will result in an increase in temperature but reducing the effectiveness by a factor of approximately 50% for each collector, eg. Two collectors will add 30 degrees plus 15 degrees, three collectors will add 30 plus 15 plus 7 degrees. So there is a diminishing return. If a higher temperature gain is critical, we recommend slowing down the air flow and adding collectors in parallel.

Recommended area of up to 100m2 and ceiling height of up to 3m.
Each collector can naturally warm an area of 50-100m2 of a typical domestic or commercial building. Ceiling heights over 3m will lower the effective heating area.

To calculate the potential heating and cooling you can get from the Sun Lizard visit the Bureau of Meteorology web site to view maps of the average daily sunshine hours for each area of Australia

From here, you can observe the number of sunlight hours received for your local area over each month, year or season.

The following table gives typical results for the amount of hours of clear skies per day in winter, received for all major centres and the potential kilowatt hours produced from each Sun Lizard solar heat collector.

City
Average Winter Sunlight Hrs per day
(May- Sept)
Average Potential Solar Heating per day per collector (kilowatt/hrs) *

Sydney
6-7 hours
7.8–9.1 kwh

Melbourne
4-5 hours
5.2-6.5 kwh

Brisbane
7-8 hours
9.1-10.4 kwh

Adelaide
5-6 hours
6.5-7.8 kwh

Perth
5-6 hours
6.5-7.8 kwh

Hobart
4-5 hours
5.2-6.5 kwh

ACT
5-6 hours
6.5-7.8 kwh

* Multiply the number of hours of sunlight by 1300 watts which is the heat potential of each collector to obtain your average potential for solar heating.