Passive Solar: Trombe Walls

Since I was a teenager I have been fascinated by the concept of passive solar Trombe walls. It seems such an elemental, obvious, low tech way of heating!

The figure below from Energy-efficiency gain by combination of PV modules and Trombe wall in the low-energy building design is the most straightforward I have seen of diagramming the concept:

One of the earliest Trombe Wall houses was the Solar House built by Jaques Michel & Félix Trombe in Odeillo, Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via, France in 1967 (see below).

(Photo: © Michèle François.)