A theoretical and experimental study was conducted in order to design highly efficient solar air heaters using porous material. Radiative characteristics of glass windows and porous absorbing media were correlated through spectral transmittances measured by the UV-Visible and the FT-IR spectrometers. Using those characteristics the efficiencies of collectors were numerically calculated with the use of the two-flux radiation model. Based on the theoretical results, an experimental solar collector was designed and constructed. Experimental results under various conditions show that the daily efficiencies are over 60% in general and agree well with the theoretically calculated ones.