Performance Analysis of a Solar Water Heater for Space Heating in Residential and Commercial Buildings

Author(s):  
David Alejandro Arguello Bravo ◽  
Javier Martínez-Gómez ◽  
Esteban Francisco Urresta Suárez ◽  
David Rodger Salazar Loor ◽  
Gonzalo Guerrón
2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-234
Author(s):  
Robert Hendron ◽  
Mark Eastment ◽  
Ed Hancock ◽  
Greg Barker ◽  
Paul Reeves

Building America (BA) partner McStain Neighborhoods built the Discovery House in Loveland, CO, with an extensive package of energy-efficient features, including a high-performance envelope, efficient mechanical systems, a solar water heater integrated with the space-heating system, a heat-recovery ventilator (HRV), and ENERGY STAR appliances. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Building Science Consortium conducted short-term field-testing and building energy simulations to evaluate the performance of the house. These evaluations are utilized by BA to improve future prototype designs and to identify critical research needs. The Discovery House building envelope and ducts were very tight under normal operating conditions. The HRV provided fresh air at a rate of about 35L∕s(75cfm), consistent with the recommendations of ASHRAE Standard 62.2. The solar hot water system is expected to meet the bulk of the domestic hot water (DHW) load (>83%), but only about 12% of the space-heating load. DOE-2.2 simulations predict whole-house source energy savings of 54% compared to the BA Benchmark (Hendron, R., 2005 NREL Report No. 37529, NREL, Golden, CO). The largest contributors to energy savings beyond McStain’s standard practice are the solar water heater, HRV, improved air distribution, high-efficiency boiler, and compact fluorescent lighting package.


2018 ◽  
Vol 141 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinod Kumar Soni ◽  
R. L. Shrivastava ◽  
S. P. Untawale ◽  
Kshitij Shrivastava

Concentrated solar power (CSP) is a mature and efficient technology to cater the large-scale demand of hot water. Conventional reflectors/mirrors in CSP share 50% of total system cost. High installation as well as O&M cost is the major concern in reflector-based CSP. Apart from the above, manufacturing defects and adverse service environment cause premature degradation of reflectors and substantial drop in efficiency and service life. Performance analysis of an innovative optically concentrated solar water heater (OCSWH) using plurality of Fresnel lenses of poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) is presented in the work. Size and yield of any solar water heater (SWH) are mainly dependent on its aperture area, output temperature, and mass flow rate, which are termed herein as critical parameters. Series of experimentations is carried out by varying critical design and operating parameters viz. aperture area, outlet temperature, and rate of mass flow, and similar experimentation is also carried out on commercially available flat plate SWH to compare its performance. Loss of heat from riser and header pipes is restricted by application of effective insulation. Substantial improvement in collector efficiency, increase in rate of mass flow, and rise in discharge temperature with reference to flat plate collector are noted. Economics is also studied covering life cycle cost (LCC), life cycle saving (LCS), and energy payback period.


Author(s):  
Robert Hendron ◽  
Mark Eastment ◽  
Ed Hancock ◽  
Greg Barker ◽  
Paul Reeves

Building America (BA) partner McStain Neighborhoods built the Discovery House in Loveland, Colorado, with an extensive package of energy-efficient features, including a high-performance envelope, efficient mechanical systems, a solar water heater integrated with the space-heating system, a heat-recovery ventilator (HRV), and ENERGY STAR™ appliances. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Building Science Consortium (BSC) conducted short-term field-testing and building energy simulations to evaluate the performance of the house. These evaluations are utilized by BA to improve future prototype designs and to identify critical research needs. The Discovery House building envelope and ducts were very tight under normal operating conditions. The HRV provided fresh air at a rate of about 75 cfm (35 l/s), consistent with the recommendations of ASHRAE Standard 62.2. The solar hot water system is expected to meet the bulk of the domestic hot water (DHW) load (>83%), but only about 12% of the space-heating load. DOE-2.2 simulations predict whole-house source energy savings of 54% compared to the BA Benchmark [1]. The largest contributors to energy savings beyond McStain’s standard practice are the solar water heater, HRV, improved air distribution, high-efficiency boiler, and compact fluorescent lighting package.


2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
John L. Sustar ◽  
Jay Burch ◽  
Moncef Krarti

As homes move toward zero energy performance, some designers are drawn toward the solar combisystem due to its ability to increase the energy savings as compared to solar water heater (SWH) systems. However, it is not trivial as to the extent of incremental savings these systems will yield as compared to SWH systems, since the savings are highly dependent on system size and the domestic hot water (DHW) and space heating loads of the residential building. In this paper, the performance of a small combisystem and SWH, as a function of location, size, and load, is investigated using annual simulations. For benchmark thermal loads, the percent increased savings from a combisystem relative to a SWH can be as high as 8% for a 6 m2 system and 27% for a 9 m2 system in locations with a relatively high solar availability during the heating load season. These incremental savings increase significantly in scenarios with higher space heating loads and low DHW loads.


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