在新产品的正常评估过程中，通常在实验室条件下对其进行测试。合理确定设计后，进行现场试验，以便在实际使用条件下对产品进行评估。对于太阳能加热系统，现场测试有助于评估设备的机械可靠性、耐用性、系统运行特性，以及与日常运行条件下的预测值相比所输送的能量。1976年开发了空气式太阳能供暖系统后，启动了一个现场测试项目，以评估整个系统的性能。 由于太阳能加热系统相对于其他用于加热空间和生活用水的系统而言是资本密集型的，因此该项目的最高优先事项之一是验证该系统提供的预测能量是否符合全尺寸加热应用的预期。引文:俄亥俄州辛辛那提ASHRAE学报第87卷第2部分研讨会

During the normal evaluation of new products it is commonplace to test them under laboratory conditions. When the design has been reasonably established, field tests are conducted so the product can be evaluated under actual use conditions. In the case of a solar heating system, field testing helps evaluate mechanical reliability of equipment, durability, system operating characteristics, and the amount of energy delivered compared to predicted values under everyday operating conditions. After developing an air-type solar heating system in 1976, a field test program was initiated to evaluate complete system performance. Because solar heating systems are capital intensive in relation to other systems used to heat space and domestic water, one of the highest priorities of this program was to verify that predicted energy delivered from the system met expectations in full scale heating applications.