Effect of solar radiation on the temperature of house walls facing the four cardinal points in the summer in Ouled Sidi Brahim (Algeria)

Abstract

The current experimental study conducted in Ouled Sidi Brahim (Algeria) seeks to understand how the direction of the walls affects their temperature in the summer. A small red brick house of 20×20×20 cm3 was used for the test, and throughout the experiment, the temperature was recorded every minute at the center of each wall facing the four cardinal points (East, West, North, and South) for 24 h (day and night). A digital acquisition device based on an Arduino board was realized to record the temperature on different days at the end of June, July, August, and the beginning of September. Only when solar radiation is present during the day can the influence of the walls' orientation be detected. The temperature of the walls remains nearly constant at night and drops from sunset to daybreak. The wall facing east is the hottest in the morning during the summer. The west-facing wall, on the other hand, is the coolest, especially in the morning. In the early summer, the west-facing wall is the hottest in the afternoon. It will, however, be replaced by the south wall at the end of the season. The temperature of building walls is significantly affected by the sun's daily and annual trajectory.