Energy 149 (2018) 354e363

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Viability of integrating Solar Water Heating systems into High Energy

Performance housing in Algeria
S. Sami a, b, *, D. Semmar b, A. Hamid b, R. Mecheri c, M. Yaiche a
a
Centre de D
eveloppement des Energies Renouvelables, CDER, BP 62, 16340 Bouzar
eah, Algiers, Algeria
b
Facult

e de Technologie, Universit

e Saad Dahleb-Blida 1, BP 270, 0900 Blida, Algeria
c
Centre de Recherche en Astronomie, Astrophysique et G
eophysique, CRAAG, BP 63, 16340 Bouzar
eah, Algiers, Algeria

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In the framework of the new Algerian energy policy, we investigate in this contribution the energetic and
Received 14 July 2017 the economic viability of the integration of Solar Water Heating (SWH) systems into High Energy
Received in revised form Performance (HEP) housing in Algeria. The case studies are houses situated in four different locations
1 February 2018
each one representing a distinct Algerian climatic zone. In order to efficiently design the SWH systems to
Accepted 9 February 2018
Available online 14 February 2018
be installed, we use a simple method based on the determination of the optimum collector area that
minimizes the costs of the installation via considering both economic factors and system parameters. The
solar fraction, needed for this analysis, has been calculated using the F-Chart method with monthly
Keywords:
F-chart method
meteorological data characterizing each region. The results revealed very promising high values of the
Solar fraction solar fraction in almost all the studied regions and that an adequate funding policy will permit to
Solar collector establish a good balance between system performance and system design resulting in a higher
Optimum surface competitiveness of solar energy against conventional energy.
Energy management © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction regions in the world, particularly Mediterranean countries, the

The economic development which occurred in Algeria during
the last decade has led to a noticeable improvement in living
standards of Algerians and thus a significant increase in energy
requirements. Additionally encouraged by the subsidy policy of
electricity and gas implemented in Algeria since 1962, the national
energy needs reached 55.9 Mtoe in 2014, representing an increase
of 7.8% as compared to 2013 [1]. However, the economy of Algeria
heavily depends on hydrocarbons export (oil and natural gas) and
the current fall in oil prices caused an economic crisis which
prompted the government to review its energy policy in a new
program that encourages and promotes the use of renewable
energy.
The average sunshine duration in Algeria is about 2560 h/year
for coastal regions, 3000 h/year for highlands regions and
3500 h/year for desert regions. Therefore solar energy, whose use is
still very limited in Algeria, presents an enormous potential for
several applications among which water heating. Indeed, in many
* Corresponding author. Centre de De
veloppement des Energies Renouvelables,
CDER, BP 62, 16340 Bouzare
ah, Algiers, Algeria.
E-mail address: s.sami@cder.dz (S. Sami).
utilization of Solar Water Heating (SWH) systems for domestic use
have proven their huge potentiality both from the energetic and the
economic sides [2e7]. However, an adequate design of SWH
systems is important to ensure the maximum benefit to the user,
especially for domestic utilization. This involves proper sizing of the
different components of the system, in particular the collecting
area, on the basis of the predicted solar fraction and hot water
demand.
A number of workers have investigated methods for optimizing
SWH systems based, among other things, on the determination of
optimal collector area which minimizes the cost of the system. The
earliest methods concerned direct computer dynamic simulations
of the solar system using numerical softwares such as TRNSYS [8],
SIMSHAC [9] and SIMPLEX [10]. More recent methods, simpler to
use for designers, concern iterative methods which are character-
ized by lengthy calculations repeated iteratively [11e13] and direct
methods, which are presented as simple mathematical formulas
suitable for a rapid computation [14e21].
Optimization methods of SWH systems have been performed
in several different contexts. For instance, Abou-Zeid and Hawas
[2] studied the economic viability of using SWH systems in the
town of Benghazi in Libya. The obtained results permit a

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2018.02.040
0360-5442/© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 S. Sami et al. / Energy 149 (2018) 354e363 355

Nomenclature Np number of person in the apartment

Na number of apartment in the building
PT annual operating cost of the solar system (DA, 1DA z V hot water demand per building per day (l/day)
0.0092 USD) Pc cost of the collector per unit of area r density of water ¼ 1 kg/l
(DA/m2) cp heat capacity of water ¼ 4181.3 ( J/kg. K)
Pt cost of the storage tank per unit of volume (DA/m3) Nk number of day in kth month
P1 other costs related to collector (DA) Td desired hot water temperature ( C)
Pf cost of the conventional energy unit (DA/J) Tik monthly average temperature of the inlet cold water
P2 other costs not related to the collector (DA) in kth month ( C)
b proportionality constant between storage volume Tak monthly average ambient temperature in kth
and collecting area (m) month ( C)
S collector area (m2) Ta annual average ambient temperature ( C)
R capital recovery factor FR heat exchange coefficient of the collector
E auxiliary energy (J) UL collector overall loss coefficient (W/m2. C)
r annual interest rate Dtk total number of seconds in kth month
n number of payment years (ta) weighted average transmittance-absorbance product
F fraction of the annual heating load supplied by solar Hk monthly average daily radiation incident on collector
energy (J) surface per area unit in kth month ( J/m2)
L annual heating load for water heating (J) E0 auxiliary energy needed for S ¼ 0 ( J)
M hot water demand per person and per day (l/per/day) a auxiliary energy consumption decay constant

generalization applicable to other locations in Lybia. In the work financial analysis. Based on the results of their techno-economic
of Lewis [22], the utilization of three different methods to esti- feasibility study, Abd-ur-Rehman et al. [28] presented the opti-
mate the optimum collector area of SWH systems in Nyanga, mum selection criteria for SWH systems to be used in domestic
Zimbabwe, led to comparable values making the solar system sector in ten different cities in Saudi Arabia. In particular, the
utilization as a viable proposition. Under meteorological condi- authors pointed out the importance of the minimization of the
tions of Singapore, Hawlader et al. [23] showed that both life cycle initial cost in order to preserve the economic viability of the
saving and annual life cycle cost based methods lead to similar project. A more detailed bibliography concerning studies related
values of the optimum collector area. In Akinoglu et al. [3], the to technical and economical aspects of SWH systems and their
authors determine the optimal surface and the storage capacity applications can be found in the recent review by Gautam et al.
for several sites in Turkey while comparing low and high perfor- [29].
mance solar collectors. In Jordan, Kablan [4] made a comparative In Algeria, to our best knowledge there is no published work
study for the economic feasibility between SWH systems and gas dealing with the feasibility of integrating SWH systems into resi-
geyser systems. They demonstrated that under typical Jordan dential sector taking into account typical characteristics of the
weather conditions the solar systems are more economical and different climatic zones. This kind of studies is a crucial prerequisite
have much longer optimal operation life. Kalogirou [5] showed to any solar investment project in order to guaranty its technical
that the use of passive SWH systems under Mediterranean and economical viability. In this perspective, the present work
weather conditions can provide a considerable fraction of do- enters in the framework of the new Algerian energy policy and
mestic hot water needs with in addition a very promising financial concerns the design and optimization of flat-plate collector SWH
attractiveness. Al-Badi [24] demonstrates that using SWH systems systems (Fig. 1) integrated to High Energy Performance (HEP)
in all the cities in Oman can save up annually an energy which is buildings. The buildings are part of the ECO-BAT program [30,31]
equivalent to the annual energy produced by a power station of which aims the realization of 600 energy efficient housing to help
212 MW size. However, the study shows that the diffusion of SWH
systems in Oman requires setting policy that motivates people to
use them. A detailed long-term dynamic performance and
thermo-economic studies by Hazami et al. [6,25] revealed that the
utilization of domestic SWH systems in Tunisia is very efficient
and profitable in terms of life cycle savings. The techno-economic
analysis done by Nikoofard et al. [26] in Canadian context showed
that with the help of an encouragement policy from the govern-
ment, it is possible to make SWH systems economically attractive
resulting in a significant diminution in conventional energy use
with an associated reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
of about 2%. In accordance to the latest Greek regulation on the
energy performance of buildings, Martinopoulos et al. [27] per-
formed a techno-economic evaluation of solar space and water
heating system for isolated housing utilization and showed the
possibility of a subsequent minimization of energy costs as well as
gas emissions. In their energy analysis, Allouhi [7] have proven the
significant potential of using SWH systems in Morocco for six Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of Solar Water Heating (SWH) systems. It consists of
flat-plate solar collectors field connected to a hot water storage tank. The tank is in
different climatic zones. However, in order to support their re- turn connected to an electric auxiliary heater which heats the water in the tank when
sults, the authors recommend a complementary economic and the solar contribution from the collectors is insufficient.
356 S. Sami et al. / Energy 149 (2018) 354e363

control the energy consumption of the residential sector. Algeria is

a country situated in the subtropical zone of northern Africa. Its X
12 X
12
L¼ Lk ¼ V r cp Nk ðTd  Tik Þ; (4)
climate is very different between regions from north to south and
k¼1 k¼1
from east to west. It is Mediterranean throughout the northern
fringe that covers the coast and the Tell atlas (hot and dry during where k stands for the month in the year and V¼M Np Na in which M
summer, wet and cold during winter). It is semi-arid in the high- represents the hot water demand per person and per day, Np the
lands situated in the center of the country and desert as soon as you number of person in the apartment and Na the number of apart-
cross the chain of the Saharan atlas [32]. Therefore, the buildings ment in the building. The quantities r and cp are the density and the
subject of our study are located in four regions each one repre- heat capacity of water. Nk, Td and Tik are the number of day in kth
senting a different climatic zone. We consider water heating needs month, the desired hot water temperature and the monthly average
for a typical average family characterizing each region. In order to temperature of the cold water in kth month.
efficiently design the SWH systems, we have chosen to use the The fraction of annual heat demand F provided by the solar
method developed by Chang and Minardi [17] which combines system given in Eq. (3) can be calculated from the monthly fraction
both economic factors and system parameters to calculates the Fk as follows:
optimal collecting surface corresponding to the minimum annual
operating cost of the system and maximum solar hot water supply P12 P12
Fk Lk k¼1 Fk Lk
to the building. SWH systems generally requires a source of auxil- F ¼ Pk¼1
12
¼ ; (5)
L k
L
iary (conventional) energy to satisfy the desired heating load. k¼1
Therefore, this optimization method consists in a cost-benefit
where Fk is given by the following polynomial function [33]:
procedure between the cost of the solar system and savings in
the use of auxiliary energy. The solar fraction, needed for this
Fk ¼ 1:029Yk  0:065Xk  0:245Yk2 þ 0:0018Xk2 þ 0:0215Yk3 ;
analysis, has been calculated using the F-Chart [33] method with
monthly measured meteorological data [34] characterizing each S F R UL
Xk ¼ ð100  Tak Þ Dtk ;
region subject of study. We will principally focus on the influence of Lk
(6)
both the collector cost and the auxiliary energy cost on the opti- S F ðtaÞ
mum design of the installation. Yk ¼ R Hk Nk ;
Lk
This paper is structured as follows. In Section 2, we present the
mathematical model used to calculate the solar fraction and the with 0 < Xk < 18 and 0 < Yk < 3
collector optimum surface. Then in Section 3, we present and
discuss the detailed results for the different climatic zones studied where the quantities Xk and Yk represent the monthly average
both from the energetic and economic sides. Finally our principal energy respectively lost and absorbed by the collector; both are
conclusions are summarized in Section 4. normalized to the monthly heating load Lk. In Eq. (6), FR represents
the heat exchange coefficient of the collector; UL the collector
overall loss coefficient; Tak the monthly average ambient temper-
ature in kth month, Dtk the total number of seconds in kth month;
(ta) the weighted average transmittance-absorbance product of
2. Solar fraction and optimization procedure the transparent cover and the absorber plate of the collector and Hk
the monthly average daily radiation incident on collector surface
The total annual cost PT of a solar system installation as pro- per unit area.
posed by Chang and Minardi [17] is given by the following According to Chang and Minardi [17], the required annual
expression: auxiliary energy E evolves as a function to the collector surface S
according to an exponential law:
PT ¼ ðPc þ Pt b þ P1 ÞS R þ E Pf þ P2 ; (1)
E ¼ E0 expð  a SÞ; (7)
where Pc is the collector cost per unit of area; Pt is the cost of the
storage tank per unit of volume; b is the proportionality constant where the quantities E0 (auxiliary energy needed for S¼0) and a
between storage volume and collecting area; P1 are other costs (auxiliary energy consumption decay constant) relate to the
related to collector (ex. Pipes, installation); S is the collector area; R characteristics of the auxiliary system and are calculated by
is the capital recovery factor; E is the annual load of auxiliary fitting Eq. (7) with Eq. (3). After inserting Eq. (7) into Eq. (1) and
energy; Pf the cost of the conventional energy unit; P2 are other differentiating with respect to S, the authors obtained that the
costs not related to the collector (ex. annual maintenance cost). The optimum surface Sop that minimizes the cost of the system PT is
capital recovery factor R is written as: given by:
 
1 E0 Pf a
rð1 þ rÞn Sop ¼ ln : (8)
R¼ ; (2) a ðPc þ b Pt þ P1 ÞR
ð1 þ rÞn  1

where r and n are respectively the annual interest rate and the
number of payment years.
The annual heating load E provided by the auxiliary energy is
given by the following relation [5]: 3. Results et discussion

E ¼ ð1  FÞL; (3) 3.1. The solar fraction

in which the total annual heating load L is obtained from the total In Table 1 are presented the characteristics of the different cities
monthly heating load LK is given by Ref. [35]:
tif and Bechar covering thus all the
studied which are Oran, Blida, Se
 S. Sami et al. / Energy 149 (2018) 354e363 357

Table 1 climatic zones of Algeria, respectively A, B, C and D [32]. The

Characteristics of the different climatic zones. monthly solar fraction Fk which represents the fraction of monthly
Latitude Longitude Altitude (m) Ta (ºC) Climatic zone heat demand covered by solar energy is a very important reference
Oran (A) 35.63 N 0.60 E 90 17.9 A
quantity and varies according to several parameters in particular
Blida (B) 36.47 N 2.80 E 260 15.2 B the climatic data. According to Eq. (6) it is calculated using monthly
Setif (C) 36.17 N 5.32 E 1007 20.6 C measured ambient temperature Tak and monthly radiation Hk
Bechar (D) 31.50 N 2.25 E 809 21.2 D which are reported in Table 2 [34]. We consider water heating
needs (with a desired temperature Td ¼ 45ºC) for an average family
with typical housing characteristics of each region in conformity
Table 2 with the ECO-BAT project (see Table 3). The characteristic param-
Monthly values of Tak(ºC) and Hk(3600 J/m2) for the different climatic zones.
eters FRUL and FR(ta) of the solar collectors used in this study are
Oran (A) Blida (B) Setif (C) Bechar (D) respectively equal to 5 W/m2. ºC and 0.8.
Tak Hk Tak Hk Tak Hk Tak Hk Figs. 2 and 3 represent respectively the 3-dimensional plot and
the density plot showing the variation of Fk both as a function of the
Jan 11.5 4234 4.9 4366 9.8 4769 9.6 6734
Feb 11.6 5486 7.2 5181 11.7 5636 12.3 6971
month in the year and the collector surface S. For each location, we
Mar 13.2 6008 10.5 5766 15.6 5976 16.2 7382 choose a range of S from 0 to an upper limit which gives the
Apr 15.0 5889 13.0 5741 19.0 5978 20.1 7180 maximum values of Fk not exceeding 1. The optimum collector
May 18.3 6270 16.5 5950 23.9 6098 24.6 7275 surface Sop that we aim to compute will be situated inside this
Jun 22.2 6471 23.3 6913 28.8 6377 30.0 7092
range. For a better illustration of the behavior of Fk, we show also in
Jul 25.1 6477 27.3 7001 31.8 6792 33.5 6552
Aug 26.1 6488 26.3 7098 31.7 6959 32.9 6857 Figs. 4 and 5 curves representing cuts of Fig. 2 respectively for
Sep 23.6 5891 21.9 6100 27.1 6111 28.1 6400 constant surfaces S and for each month in the year. In general, we
Oct 20.1 5513 15.3 5691 22.2 5605 21.7 6383 first note from these figures that the larger is the collecting area S,
Nov 15.4 4664 9.8 4218 15.3 4713 15.1 6350 the greater is the solar fraction Fk as expected from Eq. (6). During
Dec 12.4 4092 5.9 3863 10.7 4102 10.7 5776
the year, Fk increases until reaching a maximum in August and then
decreases to minimum in DecembereJanuary for all the studied
zones. This behavior is due to the influence of the meteorological
Table 3
Typical housing characteristics for each climatic zone.
quantities characterizing each zone which directly affect the per-
formance of the solar system. We notice also that high values of the
Np Na M (l/person/day) V(l) solar fraction Fk can be reached in all the locations. Indeed, for the
Oran (A) 5 12 50 3000 maximum value of S used in the calculation, Fk varies in general
Blida (B) 6 10 50 3000 between a lower limit of 0.45 in winter and an upper limit almost 1
Setif (C) 7 6 50 2100
in summer. This means that depending on the season, from 45% to
Bechar (D) 6 1 50 300

Fig. 2. 3-Dimensional plot of the monthly solar fraction Fk as a function of the month in the year and the collector area S for all the climatic zones.
358 S. Sami et al. / Energy 149 (2018) 354e363

Fig. 3. Density plot of the monthly solar fraction Fk as a function of the month in the year and the collector area S for all the climatic zones.

Fig. 4. Variation of the monthly solar fraction Fk as a function of the month in the year for different fixed values of the collector area S and for all the climatic zones.
 S. Sami et al. / Energy 149 (2018) 354e363 359

Fig. 5. Variation of the monthly solar fraction Fk as a function of the collector area S for the different months in the year and for all the climatic zones.

100% of the water heating needs can be covered by solar energy.
This indicates that the SWH systems have a good performance
during all the seasons. In particular, the solar fraction Fk is higher in
southern regions where it fluctuates in a narrow range between 0.7
and 1 in Bechar (Zone D). This is explained by the important solar
radiation and the hot temperatures characterizing this region along
the year.
3.2. The optimum surface
For the calculation of the optimum collector surface Sop in
Eq. (8), Pt, P1 and P2 are taken according to the national market
trends respectively as 40000 DA/m3 (1 DA z 0.0092 USD), 5000 DA/
m2 and 2000 DA. The proportionality constant b is chosen equal to
0.08 m. To be in conformity with national consumer credit, the
annual interest rate r is taken as 11% and the number of payment
years n is taken as 6 years. The quantities Pcr ¼ 20000 DA/m2 and
Pfr ¼ 4.17 DA/kWh are the actual reference values respectively of Pc
and Pf.
At this stage, it is worth to recall that values of Sop as described
by Eq. (8) exist only if the dependence of the annual operating cost
of the SWH system PT as a function of the collector area S given by
Eq. (1) has a minimum. This strongly depends on the two variable
parameters Pc and Pf for which we want to study the influence on
the SWH system performance. The existence of minimum reveals
that the solar energy is competitive with conventional energy. Fig. 6
illustrates cases of the existence of this minimum for the site of
Oran (A). It can be clearly seen that for curves which show a min-
imum, PT decreases with increasing collector surface S, approaches
a minimum value and then increases for higher values of S. This
behavior shows that the increase of the collector area reduces the
costs due to auxiliary energy use but as soon as the optimum sur-
face is exceeded, this reduction is smaller than the collector surface
related costs inducing an increase in the annual cost of the system

Fig. 6. Annual operating cost of the solar system PT as a function of the collector surface S. Note the presence of minimums which indicate the values of the optimum collector
surface.
360
PT. Indeed, the left panel of Fig. 6 represents the variation of PT as
function S for a fixed value of the normalized collector cost
Pc/Pcr ¼ 0.8 and for different values of the normalized electricity
cost Pf/Pfr. It is noted that the minimum of PT exists only for values of
Pf/Pfr equal to 38, 42, 46 and 50 corresponding respectively to
optimal surfaces Sop equal approximately to 1.5, 3.5, 5 and 7 m2. In
the right panel of Fig. 6 is shown the variation of PT as function of S
for a fixed value of the normalized electricity cost Pf/Pfr ¼ 38 and for
different values of the normalized collector cost Pc/Pcr. It can be
clearly seen that the minimum of PT exists only for values of Pc/Pcr
equal to 0.5, 0.6, 0.7 and 0.8 corresponding respectively to optimal
surfaces Sop equal approximately to 7, 5, 3 and 1.5 m2.
Figs. 7 and 8 represent respectively the 3-dimensional plot and
the density plot showing the behavior of the optimum collector
surface Sop both as a function of the normalized collector cost Pc and
electricity cost Pf for the different locations studied. We also show
in Figs. 9 and 10 curves representing cuts of Fig. 7 respectively for
constant normalized Pc and Pf. In Fig. 9 it is clearly noticeable that
for the chosen values of Pc/Pcr there is a threshold value of Pf/Pfr
under which Sop doesn't exists. This means that PT doesn't have a
minimum and therefore solar energy can never compete with
conventional energy below this value. For Pc/Pcr ¼ 0.5, this
threshold value is situated around Pf/Pfr z27 for Oran (A), Blida (B),
and Setif (C) and around Pf/Pfr z21 for Bechar (D). Hence, in order to
SWH systems to be economically feasible, the current electricity
cost Pf must be multiplied at least by this threshold value. It is noted
also that the threshold value increases as Pc/Pcr approaches to unity
(i.e. as Pc approaches to its current value Pcr). After the threshold
value, Sop increases with increasing Pf/Pfr and is more important for
smaller values of Pc/Pcr. Overall we can deduce from both Fig. 9 and
10 that the optimum collector surface Sop increases both with
increasing Pf/Pfr and decreasing Pc/Pcr. This clearly indicates that an
Fig. 7. 3-Dimensional plot of the optimum collector surface Sop as a function of the collector cost Pc and the electricity cost Pf for the different climatic zones. Pc and Pf are normalized
to their corresponding actual reference values Pcr and Pfr.
S. Sami et al. / Energy 149 (2018) 354e363
increase in conventional energy cost associated to a decrease in the
collector cost results in a higher competitiveness of solar energy
against conventional energy with the ability to invest in larger
collector areas. For example, in zone A (Oran) if one assume a
subsidy policy of 50% on the collector cost, i.e. Pc/Pcr ¼ 0.5, the
different values of electricity cost Pf/Pfr ¼ 38, 42, 46 and 50 give
optimum collecting surfaces approximately of about 7, 9, 10.5 and
12.5 m2 with a corresponding solar contribution and hence a saving
from the use of conventional energy respectively of about 28%, 35%,
41% and 46% which in turn represents respectively a fraction of 29%,
37%, 44% and 51% from the annual operating cost of the system. In
addition, the results showed that this behavior which concerns
zone A can be safely generalized to zone B (Blida) and zone C (Setif)
since in average they have almost the same annual solar potential.
For zone D (Bechar), similar calculation revealed that for a fixed
collector cost Pc/Pcr ¼ 0.5, the different values of electricity cost
Pf/Pfr ¼ 38, 42, 46 and 50 give optimum surfaces approximately of
about 0.8, 0.95, 1.1 and 1.2 m2 with a corresponding solar contri-
bution of about 43%, 48%, 53% and 57% representing a proportion of
about 47%, 55%, 62% and 69% of the total annual operating cost of
the installation.
Finally, it is worth to mention that in the optimization method
used in this study is constrained by fixed values of the annual
interest rate r and the number of years of payments n which are
imposed by a rigid Algerian consumer credit scheme. Furthermore,
the major part of the material needed for the realization of SWH
systems installation are not produced locally. Hence, their costs are
not fixed and fluctuate according to the international exchange
rate. This may result into additional costs and consequently an
increase in the solar system installation cost. Also, it is true that the
optimization results obtained in this study facilitate our decision
making concerning the solar installation design and theoretically
 S. Sami et al. / Energy 149 (2018) 354e363 361

Fig. 8. Density plot of the optimum collector surface Sop as a function of the collector cost Pc and the electricity cost Pf for the different climatic zones. Pc and Pf are normalized to
their corresponding actual reference values Pcr and Pfr.

Fig. 9. Variation of the optimum collector surface Sop as a function of the electricity cost Pf for different fixed values the collector cost Pc and for all the climatic zones. Pf and Pc are
normalized to their corresponding actual reference values Pfr and Pcr.
362
Fig. 10. Variation of the optimum collector surface Sop as a function of the collector cost Pc for different fixed values the electricity cost Pf and for all the climatic zones. Pf and Pc are
normalized to their corresponding actual reference values Pfr and Pcr.
ensures an optimum solar system. However, theoretical calcula-
tions need to be verified and confirmed experimentally through a
preliminary control and monitoring phase before choosing a final
installation design.
4. Conclusion
The feasibility of integrating SWH systems into HEP housing in
Algeria was investigated both from an energetic and an economic
point of view. Firstly, the energetic calculation revealed very
promising high values of the monthly solar fraction Fk in almost all
the studied regions which depending on location and energy needs,
permit to cover from 45% to 100% of the hot water needs using solar
energy. However, the economic study showed that the optimum
collector surface Sop which minimizes the cost of the solar instal-
lation is strongly influenced by both the collector and the con-
ventional energy costs respectively Pc and Pf. Indeed, Sop increases
with increasing Pf and inversely decreases with increasing Pc.
Particularly, it was also shown the presence of a threshold value of
Pf below which solar energy can never compete with conventional
energy. The smaller is the value of Pc the smaller is the threshold
value of Pf needed for the feasibility of the SWH system. Overall, the
results clearly indicate that an increase in Pf associated to a decrease
in Pc results in a higher competitiveness of solar energy against
conventional energy with the ability to invest in larger optimum
collector areas Sop. In Algerian context, this situation could be
achieved by the implementation of a new funding policy consisting
in the suppression of the subsidy policy of conventional energy
implemented since many decades and replacing it instead by a new
subsidy policy on the solar collector cost. For the parameter range
used in our study, the results revealed that such a funding policy
could help saving an amount of conventional energy use up to 46%
in northern regions and 57% in southern regions with a corre-
sponding saving in the annual operating cost of the solar system of
S. Sami et al. / Energy 149 (2018) 354e363
about 51% and 69% respectively. This will undoubtedly make
investment in solar energy economically successful in Algeria.
Acknowledgement
We express our gratitude to the CDER and the University Saad-
Dahleb, for providing all kind of help and support to prepare this
work.
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