Solar Energy Progress Report—1965

1966 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. I. Yellott
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Power Systems ◽  
Life Support ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Progress Report ◽  
Solar Still ◽  
Water Heaters ◽  
Economic Significance ◽  
Solar Water Heaters ◽  
Solar Batteries

Spectacular successes in space for helioelectric systems using silicon solar batteries and a gradual emergence into economic significance of heliothermal processes on earth are the outstanding achievements which are discussed in this fourth biennial Progress Report. Solar batteries, still far too expensive for any but the most specialized applications here on earth, have become the standard sources of power for satellites and space probes. In Japan, Africa, Australia, Israel, and many of the Mediterranean nations, solar water heaters are now competitive with electric and fuel-burning heaters, while solar stills capable of supplying drinking water for entire towns are now being built on many Greek islands. Some progress is reported for mechanical power systems, but the goal of a simple, low-cost replacement for primitive muscle-powered pumps has not yet been achieved. Because of the importance of the space program to the nation’s economy, this report deals at some length with satellite power problems. Life-support systems based on solar energy will soon be equally important, since algae culture for oxygen recovery and solar still techniques for water regeneration are being studied for use in the lengthy space missions which are now being contemplated.

Solar Energy Progress Report—1963

1964 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 475-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
John I. Yellott
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Energy Utilization ◽  
Moderate Pressure ◽  
Water Heaters ◽  
Solar Energy Utilization ◽  
Cell Arrays ◽  
Solar Pump ◽  
Solar Water Heaters

The most spectacular successes in solar-energy utilization in 1963 have been scored by the communications satellites, all of which are powered by megacell arrays of silicon solar batteries. So many satellites are now in orbit that it has literally become impossible to keep track of them. For the second generation of spacecraft, which will venture closer to the sun and also will need more power than today’s silicon cell arrays can conveniently produce, thermionic and thermoelectric converters and high-accuracy concentrators are now in the preflight test stage. On the earth’s surface, solar water heaters and low-capacity stills are gaining commercial acceptance in regions where fossil fuels and electricity are expensive. Production of drinking water from the sea and from brackish wells is receiving substantial research support, and encouraging progress is reported for both small and large solar stills. The much-needed solar pump and refrigerator are still awaiting the breakthrough which will result in low-cost collectors capable of generating steam or other vapors at moderate pressure. These projects urgently need financial support.

Solar Energy Progress Report—1961

1962 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
John I. Yellott
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
National Physical Laboratory ◽  
Energy Utilization ◽  
Tropical Regions ◽  
Water Heaters ◽  
The People ◽  
Actual Operation ◽  
Solar Powered ◽  
Solar Water Heaters

1961 has been a year of outstanding success in celestial applications of solar energy since, at the year’s end, no less than a dozen satellites are in orbit, carrying solar-powered radio and television transmitters. The first satellite to carry silicon cells into orbit, Vanguard I, is still transmitting after nearly four years of service, despite serious deterioration of its silicon cells due to the intense radiation of the Van Allen belt. Three major scientific conferences on solar energy were held during the year, with the addition of nearly two hundred papers to the growing body of literature on the subject. The largest of these gatherings, the United Nations Conference on New Sources of Energy, brought more than 500 participants from 80 nations together in Rome. A major improvement in small vapor-cycle power plants, developed at the National Physical Laboratory of Israel, was described and demonstrated in actual operation. Significant progress in direct solar-electrical converters of three types was reported, but costs are still far too high for terrestrial use. Solar water heaters continue to be the only commercially available devices which use the sun’s heat; 350,000 are now in use in Japan, while more than 20,000 units have been manufactured in Israel. The most pressing need for solar-activated equipment is found to exist in the field of refrigeration for the preservation of food and medicine in tropical regions where electricity from conventional sources lies far in the future. Intensified research is needed in all aspects of solar energy utilization to bring costs down to the point where the people of the world can afford to use the “free energy” from the sun.

scholarly journals Air-Heating Solar Collectors for Humidification-Dehumidification Desalination Systems

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward K. Summers ◽  
John H. Lienhard ◽  
Syed M. Zubair
Keyword(s):  
Material Properties ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Cycle Performance ◽  
Solar Collectors ◽  
Current Collectors ◽  
Water Heaters ◽  
Air Heating ◽  
Solar Water Heaters ◽  
Normalized Gain ◽  
Better Than

Relative to solar water heaters, solar air heaters have received relatively little investigation and have resulted in few commercial products. However, in the context of a Humidification-Dehumidification (HDH) Desalination cycle, air heating accounts for advantages in cycle performance. Solar collectors can be over 40% of an air-heated HDH system’s cost, thus design optimization is crucial. Best design practices and sensitivity to material properties for solar air heaters are investigated, and absorber solar absorptivity and glazing transmissivity are found to have the strongest effect on performance. Wind speed is also found to have an impact on performance. Additionally a well designed, and likely low cost, collector includes a double glazing and roughened absorber plates for superior heat transfer to the airstream. A collector in this configuration performs better than current collectors with an efficiency of 58% at a normalized gain of 0.06 K m2/W.

Transient Heat Delivery and Storage Process in a Thermocline Heat Storage System

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon T. Van Lew ◽  
Peiwen Li ◽  
Cho Lik Chan ◽  
Wafaa Karaki ◽  
Jake Stephens
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Power Systems ◽  
Heat Storage ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Storage System ◽  
Filler Material ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Efficient Computation ◽  
Concentrated Solar Energy ◽  
Feasible Option

Parabolic trough power systems utilizing concentrated solar energy have proven their worth as a means for generating electricity. However, one major aspect preventing the technologies widespread acceptance is the deliverability of energy beyond a narrow window during peak hours of the sun. Thermal storage is a viable option to enhance the dispatchability of the solar energy and an economically feasible option is a thermocline storage system with a low-cost filler material. Utilization of thermocline storage facilities have been studied in the past and this paper hopes to expand upon that knowledge. The current study aimed to effectively model the heat transfer of a working fluid interacting with filler material. An effective numerical method and efficient computation schemes were developed and verified. A thermocline storage system was modeled under specific conditions and results of great significance to heat storage design and operation were obtained.

scholarly journals Air-Heating Solar Collectors for Humidification-Dehumidification Desalination Systems

2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward K. Summers ◽  
John H. Lienhard ◽  
Syed M. Zubair
Keyword(s):  
Material Properties ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Cycle Performance ◽  
Solar Collectors ◽  
Current Collectors ◽  
Water Heaters ◽  
Air Heating ◽  
Solar Water Heaters ◽  
Normalized Gain ◽  
Better Than

Relative to solar water heaters, solar air heaters have received relatively little investigation and have resulted in few commercial products. However, in the context of a humidification-dehumidification (HDH) desalination cycle, air heating accounts for advantages in cycle performance. Solar collectors can be over 40% of an air-heated HDH system’s cost; thus, design optimization is crucial. Best design practices and sensitivity to material properties for solar air heaters are investigated, and absorber solar absorptivity and glazing transmissivity are found to have the strongest effect on performance. Wind speed is also found to have an impact on performance. Additionally a well designed, and likely low cost, collector includes a double glazing and roughened absorber plates for superior heat transfer to the airstream. A collector in this configuration performs better than current collectors with an efficiency of 58% at a normalized gain of 0.06 K m2/W.

System Design of Testing System for Truck-Mounted Solar Collector

2012 ◽  
Vol 562-564 ◽  
pp. 578-582
Author(s):  
Yuan Chao Deng ◽  
Yu Ning Zhong ◽  
Tao He
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Heat Pipe ◽  
Solar Collector ◽  
System Stability ◽  
Testing System ◽  
Solar Collectors ◽  
Water Heaters ◽  
Reduced Volume ◽  
Solar Water Heaters ◽  
Force Calculation

The truck-mounted solar collector testing system is a flexible and convenient testing device. However design of thus a system is much more difficult than that of the fixed solar collector testing system, because it needs consideration in every respect so as to make sure the following: accurate testing, accommodation of the reduced volume of the testing system, stability of the testing system, addition of a removable device and so on. This article explores the systematic design of the truck-mounted solar collector testing system, points out the design issues to be considered, propose an appropriate design plan, and finally conducts the main force calculation. Solar energy is one of the cleanest sources; it is green and pollution-free. Today, environmental pollution is getting worse and worse; thus application of solar energy is becoming more extensive. A solar collector is defined as any of various devices that absorb the solar radiation and deliver the heat energy to the medium of heat transfer device. Solar collectors are not a direct consumer-oriented product, but key components that form various solar thermal systems, such as solar water heaters, solar energy dryers, solar industrial heaters and so on, of which the solar collectors are a core part of the system. At present solar heat pipe collectors and collector plates are the two most widely used products of solar collectors. Factory productions of such products are subject to inspection before they can be put on the market. Currently product testing of this kind is performed collectively in fixed locations; consequently, it is vulnerable to the geographical conditions, climate changes, and other factors in the location. A truck-mounted solar collector testing system is a system that integrates both testing systems, heat pipe collectors and collector plates, in a vehicle, which can be driven into the manufacturers that produce heat pipes and/or heat plates or other places where testing conditions can be met according to the requirements. By doing so, the problems associated with the fixed testing system can be solved. However, design of truck-mounted type solar collector testing system is much more difficult than that of fixed solar collector testing system. In addition to testing accuracy, it must also take the reduced volume of the testing system into account to ensure that the system can be accommodated into a smaller space of the vehicle. Furthermore, the stability of the testing system must be assured. Finally a removable device needs to be added to the system for convenience. In the following, we show our design of the truck-mounted solar collector testing system and calculations for the related stress analysis.

scholarly journals Thermal and Environmental Analysis Solar Water Heater System for Residential Buildings

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Reza Alayi ◽  
Nima Khalilpoor ◽  
Saeid Heshmati ◽  
Atabak Najafi ◽  
Alibek Issakhov
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Water Heating ◽  
Solar Water ◽  
Water Heaters ◽  
Solar Water Heaters

Due to the reduction of fossil resources, the replacement of renewable energy sources such as solar energy has become mandatory. Solar energy does not contain pollution and widely available in all parts of the world, especially in warm regions. Our country (IRAN) is geographically located in a hot and dry region, and with more than 280 sunny days per year, one of the nonpower applications of solar energy is heating space and water consumption of the building using solar thermal energy. Solar water heaters can be used to heat the water used in buildings, which is the main purpose of this study. Water heating consumes an average of 20% to 30% of the total energy consumption in the residential building. Therefore, using solar water heaters annually can provide 70% of the energy needed for water heating. The system designed in this research is able to provide 75% of the hot water consumption needs. If an auxiliary heat source is used next to this system, all hot water needs of the building can be met throughout the year. In this case, as much as 237.3 kWh, energy will be saved from fossil energy sources.

scholarly journals Decoupling the Monitoring of Solar Water Heaters and their Usage Profiles

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 3186
Author(s):  
Julian C. Nwodo ◽  
Ochuko K. Overen ◽  
Edson L. Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Housing Sector ◽  
Water Heating ◽  
Solar Water Heating ◽  
Solar Water ◽  
Water Heaters ◽  
Low Cost Housing ◽  
Solar Water Heaters ◽  
Evacuated Tube

South Africa is the most technologically advanced nation in Africa. However, the country is plagued with constant load shedding. The country receives about 2500 sunshine hours annually, with daily average irradiation levels of 4.5–6.5 kWh/m2. Despite these potentials, the use of electricity for domestic water heating is still prevalent in the country. The mass rollout of solar water heating (SWH) technologies in the low-cost housing sector across the country were met with massive failures. This study aims to assess the energy yield of a passive flat plate and an evacuated tube solar water heating system by evaluating the performance of these systems to address the energy crisis in South Africa. The flat plate (FP) and evacuated tube (ET) solar water heating systems were monitored for four days, characterised by varying sky conditions through instantaneous data measurement at 5 s. The parameters measured were water temperature, ambient temperature, irradiance at the plane of array, relative humidity, wind speed and direction. The results obtained show that a maximum irradiance of 1050 W/m2 was obtained on a clear day and corresponded to a hot water temperature of about 58 °C and 65 °C for the FP and ET, respectively. However, a cloudy day with a maximum irradiance of 400 W/m2 produced about 22 °C and 29 °C of hot water for the FP and ET, respectively. The results obtained in this study will guide stakeholders in the renewable energy sector towards employing SWH systems to replace or augment the electric geyser. Solar water heaters (SWH) can be used in the low-cost housing sector to provide hot water. Hence, the assessments in this study offer essential information for the deployment of these systems to reduce demand on the ailing South African electricity utility, Eskom, and mitigate climate change.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document