Low-Cost Solar Water Heating Research and Development Roadmap

Hudon, Kate; Merrigan, Tim; Burch, Jay; Maguire, Jeff

doi:10.2172/1050127

Cited by 20 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…When applying for a new building of the solar system to remove many obstacles, i.e already during the design it is planned with the installation of solar collectors, thereby minimizing the additional indirect costs. However, 15-25 year product lifetime with high system and component reliability and performance seems to be still insufficient (Hudon et al, 2012). Solar thermal is the most costeffective way to use the sun's energy.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Utilisation of Solar System in Combined Heating System of Water

Jobbágy

Krištof

Findura

et al. 2017

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun.

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The paper assessed the topicality and returns of solar system utilization to heating of water. Practical measurements were conducted after reconstruction of the family house. (in Nesvady, Slovak republic), on which the solar system were assembled. The system consists of the gas heater, solar panels, distributions and circulation pump. The solar system was assembled due to decreasing of operation costs and connected with conventional already used gas heating system by boiler Quantum (V = 115 L). The conventional system was used for 21 days to gather basic values for evaluation. At this point it was observed that 11.93 m 3 of gas is needed to heat up 1 m 3 of water. Used water in this case was heated from initial 16.14 °C to 52.04 °C of output temperature. Stand by regime of boiler was characterized by 0.012 m 3 .h -1 consumption of gas. The rest of the measurements represent the annual (from 03/2013 to 02/2014) operation process of boiler Tatramat VTS 200L (trivalent) with 200 litres of volume (as a part of Thermosolar solar system). The solar collectors TS 300 are also part of the solar system. An input and output temperatures of heating water we observed along with water and gas consumption, intensity of solar radiation and actual weather conditions. The amount of heat produced by solar system was then calculated. Total investment on solar system were 2,187.7 € (1,475.7 € with subsidy). Therefore, return on investment for the construction of the solar system was set at 23 years even with subsidy.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Utilisation of Solar System in Combined Heating System of Water

Jobbágy

Krištof

Findura

et al. 2017

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun.

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“…In the 2000s, DBS were still a way to achieve low-cost systems, using cheap materials, avoiding components like the pressurized expansion vessel or resorting to water as HTF (Stork and Siegemund, 2001;Thiesen, 2009). If the potential for cost reductions with DBS is high, as it was highlighted in a study from due to the possibilities described above, they are not always the ultimate solution selected to drop down system costs (Hudon et al, 2012). Section 4 focuses on presenting the current state-of-the-art of hydraulic components for DBS and the specific requirements they have to fulfil.…”

Section: Components and Materials For Dbsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Piping 4.6.1. Materials The large majority of SWH systems are currently built with copper pipes (Hudon et al, 2012). For DBS, the use of plastic material for piping has also been presented as advantageous notably in order to achieve cost reductions.…”

Section: Heat Transfer Fluidmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Polybutylene (PB), chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) ) and more recently cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) (NABCEP, 2012) have been proposed for use in combination with DBS. One of the main issues with these polymers is their maximum continuous temperature withstanding capacity, in the range of 82-99 °C depending on the materials Hudon et al, 2012;NABCEP, 2012). Other drawbacks mentioned by these authors are the low UV stability, the higher risk of sagging (depending on mechanical properties) and the performance of the fittings, not always made in an appropriate material.…”

Section: Heat Transfer Fluidmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another solution is to develop frost withstanding materials. Recent research showed that some PEX pipes are able to resist at least 500 freezing cycles (Hudon et al, 2012). Further investigations to understand the real causes of freeze damages could help developing safe prevention methods in this direction.…”

Section: Heat Transfer Fluidmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Drainback solar thermal systems: A review

et al. 2016

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Although solar drainback systems have been used for a long time, they are still generating questions regarding smooth functioning. This paper summarizes publications on drainback systems and compiles the current knowledge, experiences, and ideas on the technology. The collective research exhibits a lack of scientific publications dedicated to the drainback technology, however a significant number of patents have been published, detailing innovative technical solutions towards improvements and reliability. Based on the evaluation of drainback hydraulics, a detailed classification of this technology has been developed, with a brief description of each hydraulic typology. The operating modes have been split into three stages: filling, operation, and draining, which have been studied separately. A difference in the minimal filling velocities for a siphon development in the solar loop has been discovered in various reports. Specific features of the operation mode have been described. For the draining, existing mechanisms to initiate the emptying process have been identified and categorised. Finally, stateof-the-art hydraulic components for drainback systems have been established, with emphasis on their requirements. Based on those findings, the authors suggest potential future research paths in order to fill the knowledge gap and disseminate the drainback technology.

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A Thermo-Economic Model for Aiding Solar Collector Choice and Optimal Sizing for a Solar Water Heating System

Hove

2018

Springer Proceedings in Energy

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The choice of solar collector type to employ and the number of chosen collectors to subsequently deploy, are important planning decisions, which can greatly influence the economic attractiveness of solar water heating systems. In this paper, a thermo-economic model is developed for the computation of a suitable metric that can aid in choosing the most cost-effective collector to use in a solar water heating system and to determine the optimal sizing of the solar water heater components once the choice collector has been picked. The energy-per-dollar comparison metric, calculated as the annual heat energy output of the collector in an average year, at the so-called "sweet-spot" size of the collector array, divided by the annualized life-cycle cost, based on warranty life and collector initial cost, was recommended as instructive for comparing cost-effectiveness of different solar collectors. For the determination of the sweet-spot size of collector to use in a particular solar water heating system, at which the energy-per-dollar is calculated, the Net Present Value of Solar Savings was used as the objective function to maximize. Ten (10) different models of liquid solar thermal collectors (5 flat plate and 5 evacuated tube type), which are rated by the Solar Ratings & Certification Corporation (SRCC), were ranked according to the energy-per-dollar criterion through the thermo-economic model described in this study. At the sweet-spot collector area for the solar water heating system, the corresponding volume of hot water storage tank and the optimal solar fraction are also simultaneously determined. The required hot water storage volume decreases as the deployed collector area increases while the solar fraction increases, with diminishing marginal increase, until it saturates at a value of unity. For the present case study where the required load temperature is 50°C and the solar water heating system is located in central Zimbabwe (latitude 19°S and longitude 30°E), the selected collector model happened to be a flat-plate type, which achieved the highest energy-per-dollar score

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Low-Cost Solar Water Heating Research and Development Roadmap

Cited by 20 publications

References 1 publication

The Utilisation of Solar System in Combined Heating System of Water

The Utilisation of Solar System in Combined Heating System of Water

Drainback solar thermal systems: A review

A Thermo-Economic Model for Aiding Solar Collector Choice and Optimal Sizing for a Solar Water Heating System

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