How does solar radiation contribute to heat transfer through windows?

[yohanblake]

I am doing an assignment about heat energy transfer and passive cooling.
I understand that heat energy is transferred into rooms through windows by conduction, but I'm confused about if heat energy is also transferred through windows by solar radiation and where infrared radiation comes into play.
So is heat energy transferred through a window as solar radiation? and is infrared radiation created by the window that is heated through conduction, which causes the rest of the room to heat up?

 

[Andrew Mason]

I am doing an assignment about heat energy transfer and passive cooling.
I understand that heat energy is transferred into rooms through windows by conduction, but I'm confused about if heat energy is also transferred through windows by solar radiation and where infrared radiation comes into play.
So is heat energy transferred through a window as solar radiation? and is infrared radiation created by the window that is heated through conduction, which causes the rest of the room to heat up?

Hi yohanblake. Welcome to PF!

Since there is empty space between the sun and the Earth all the energy from the sun comes to us as radiation. If there are no clouds to reflect that radiation back into space, a small amount of that radiation may be absorbed by the air but most reaches down to the Earth surface. Some of the radiation is absorbed by the window itself and some may be reflected, but most of the solar radiation energy that is incident upon a window on a sunny day will be transferred through the window as radiation into the room.

AM

 

[hmmm27]

So is heat energy transferred through a window as solar radiation? and is infrared radiation created by the window that is heated through conduction, which causes the rest of the room to heat up?

Long story short : sunlight comes in the window and that energy is absorbed by stuff in the room. The stuff gets a bit warmer and emits more infrared radiation (heat). Glass reflects infrared, so it doesn't escape, but gets bounced back into the room where the stuff reabsorbs it. Also known as the "greenhouse effect".