Performance of solar air heater collector with jet impingement and V-corrugated absorber plate: A comprehensive investigation towards high-efficiency applications in sustainable buildings trends

This study presents a comprehensive review on the advancements in solar air heater (SAH) technologies with a particular focusing on their integration into smart and energy-efficient. The review also critically examines the role of solar air heaters in thermal management, air quality control, and renewable energy utilization within the built environment. The verified experimental and numerical studies are presented to evaluate the influence of absorber plate geometries, flow configurations, and hybrid integrations-such as phase change materials (PCMs), jet impingement, and multi-pass channels-on system performance. The review study reveals that the geometrically optimized and hybrid SAH designs can increase thermal efficiency from traditional 40–50% levels to more than 80% and significantly reducing energy demand for space heating and lowering CO 2 emissions in building applications. Moreover, the economic evaluations discussed in the literature indicated that these systems offer short payback periods and contribute to sustainable energy management in residential and institutional facilities. Finally, this work provides a detailed and critical synthesis of existing research, emphasizing the potential of advanced solar air heaters as a core component in smart, low-carbon building technologies aimed at achieving environmental and energy sustainability goals.