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I would love to experiment with a passive solar collector piped into the basement. Unfortunately there is no way I'm going to be able to put the collector in the front yard which is south facing. The only place that something like this would be possible is in the backyard. With the angle of the sun in the winter this would mean it would be quite a ways from the house. Just wondering if anyone has ever tried to circulate air through a collector that is 15 to 20 feet behind the house with any success.
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No experiments using long ducting runs, but a fair amount of tinkering back in the day with home made solar thermal collectors. You'll have a hard time making it work effectively with long runs, particularly if it's a passive solar device. Assuming it's an air cooled flat plate collector, your best bet is with a blower assist and a LOT of ducting insulation. Same if H2O cooled, but the insulation will be a bit easier to accommodate.
Reason: Natural convection (gravity) driving force is pretty weak to expect it to sustain anything more than a minimum duct/piping pressure drop. That driving force is further weakened as the working fluid gets cooled by inadequate insulation in a long duct/pipe.
Put a fluid mover on the system and have fun. I did.
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