ADVANCED SERVICES

SOLAR ENERGY UTILIZATION AND

COLLECTION
(Hot Water Heating Systems)
 SOLAR ENERGY ...
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by
humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar
radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such
as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the
available renewable energy on earth. Only a minuscule fraction of the available
solar energy is used.

Nellis Solar Power Plant in the United States, one of the largest photovoltaic power
plants in North America
 WATER HEATING...
• Solar hot water systems use sunlight to heat water.
• In low geographical latitudes (below 40 degrees) from 60 to 70% of the
domestic hot water use with temperatures up to 60 °C can be provided by
solar heating systems.
• Hot water heated by the sun is used in many ways. While perhaps best
known in a residential setting to provide hot domestic water, solar hot water
also has industrial applications, e.g. to generate electricity.
• The global solar thermal market is dominated by China, Europe, Japan
and India.
• As of 2007, the total installed capacity of solar hot
water systems is approximately 154 GW.
• China is the world leader in their deployment with
70 GW installed as of 2006 and a long term goal of
210 GW by 2020.
• Israel and Cyprus are the per capita leaders in the use
of solar hot water systems with over 90% of homes
using them.
New Solar Hot Water installation in 2007, worldwid
 SOLAR HOT WATER SYSTEM…
• Solar hot water systems are designed to transfer the sun's solar energy to
water
• There are a number of key factors that need to be considered when
choosing the most appropriate system configuration.
• These factors include, to a large extent, amount of solar insolation, climate,
construction, installation and materials costs, location and accessibility of the
system, amount of water needing heating, frequency of hot water use,
availability of electricity, availability of materials, and skill level in
construction.

SYSTEM TYPES AND CHARACTERISTICS...

• The following classifications of Systems are in three groups of two and one
group of one unique system. These four main groups are:
• Open loop vs. Closed Loop
• Active vs. Passive
• Heat Exchanger system vs. Non-Heat Exchanger system
• Batch system
OPEN LOOP…
• Open loop means that the water that requires heating flows directly through
the hot water solar collector itself. There is no intermediary fluid.
• Open Loop systems do not use heat exchangers.

Diagram of an Active Open Loop System

Diagram of a Passive Open Loop System
Advantages
• Open loop systems are the simplest to design and construct.
• They generally require the least amount of construction and have the
potential to last longer without serious maintenance due to their limited
amount of moving parts.

Disadvantages
• Open Loop systems are not ideal in areas where the temperatures can drop
below freezing. The pipes can freeze causing the liquid water to expand into
ice which will rupture the pipes.
• In areas where the temperatures drop below freezing, it is advised to use a
closed loop system with a heat exchanger or implement one or more of a
variety of techniques to prevent the freezing of the pipes.
• Preventative measures can come in the form of system drains, either
manual or thermostat controlled, or a pump that pushes conventionally
heated water through the system during cold weather.
CLOSED LOOP…
• Closed loop systems are more complex to make and implement than Open
loop systems as they can be used in a wider variety of climates.
• A closed loop system uses some kind of liquid that has a much lower
freezing point than water, yet readily absorbs
and releases heat.
• Antifreeze used in automotive
radiators is a good example. This
fluid passes through the solar
collector, becomes heated, and
moves into some type of heat
exchanger.
• Due to the nature of Closed loop
systems, Heat Exchangers are
needed to transfer the heat from
the collector to the water.
• Closed loop systems can also be used in radiant flooring or wall radiator
applications to heat an area rather than
water.

Advantages
• Unlike most Open Loop systems, Closed Loop
systems can be used in regions that
experience temperatures below freezing.
Due to the unique properties of water, pipes
can burst when water freezes.
This is prevented by using a fluid that has a
much lower freezing point than water.

Disadvantages
• Closed Loop systems require the use of aPicture of a Passive Closed Loop System
heat exchanger. This adds inefficiencies to
the system that must be taken into consideration during the design and
system sizing stage.
• Extra materials for the heat exchanger can also raise the cost of a system.
ACTIVE SYSTEMS…
• Active systems are those that require external energy to function.
• Active solar hot water systems employ a pump to circulate water or HTF
between the collector and the storage tank.
• These water heating systems come as two types:
• Direct active systems pump water directly to the collector and back to the
storage tank & Indirect active systems which are usually made of metals
pump heat transfer fluid (HTF), the heat of which is transferred to the water
in the storage tank. Because the pump should only operate when the fluid in
the collector is hotter than the water in the storage tank, a controller is
required to turn the pump on and off. The use of an electronically controlled
pump has several advantages:
• The storage tank can be situated lower than the collectors due to the use of
an electronically controlled pump. A pumped system allows the storage tank
to be located out of sight.
• Because of the fact that active systems allow freedom in the location of the
storage tank, the tank can be located where heat loss from the tank is
reduced, e.g. inside the roof of a house. This increases the efficiency of the
solar water heating system.
Schematic of an Active Solar
Heating System
• New active solar water heating systems can make use of an existing warm
water storage tanks ("geysers"), thus avoiding duplication of equipment.
• For direct active systems in cold weather, where freeze tolerant collectors or
drain down approaches are not used, the pump controller can pump hot
water from the water storage tank through the collector in order to prevent
the water in the collector from freezing, thus avoiding damage to the metal
parts of the system.

Advantages
• Due to the nature of hydrology and thermodynamics, pumping of water
through the collectors replaces the need to store the heated water above the
collectors which can be challenging and restrictive to design.
• Active systems can tolerate higher water temperatures than would be the
case in an equivalent passive system.
Disadvantages
• The use of a pump requires both the purchasing of a pump, as well as the
need for a power source, most likely electricity, to power the pump.
• Consequently active systems are often more efficient than passive systems
but are more complex, more expensive, more difficult to install and rely on
Active systems with intelligent controllers
Modern active solar water systems have electronic controllers that permit a
wide range of functionality such as
• full programmability
• interaction with a backup electric or gas-driven water heater
• measurement of the energy produced
• sophisticated safety functions
• thermostatic and time-clock control of auxiliary heat, hot
water circulation loops
• display of error messages or alarms A typical programmable
• remote display panels and remote or local data logging. differential controller

Active systems with drainback

• A drain-back system is an indirect active system where heat transfer fluid
circulates through the collector, being driven by a pump.
• If the pump is switched off, all the heat transfer fluid drains into the drainback
reservoir and none remains in the collector.
• Consequently the collector cannot be damaged by freezing or overheating.
This makes this type of system well-suited to colder climates.
Active systems with a bubble pump
• An active solar water heating system can be equipped with a bubble pump,
also known as geyser pump, instead of an electric pump.
• A bubble pump circulates the heat transfer fluid (HTF) between collector and
storage tank using solar power and without any external energy source and
is suitable for flat panel as well as vacuum tube systems.
• In a bubble pump system, the closed HTF circuit is under reduced pressure,
which causes the liquid to boil at low temperature as it is heated by the sun.
The steam bubbles form a geyser pump, causing an upward flow.
• The system is designed such that the
bubbles are separated from the hot fluid
and condensed at the highest point in the
circuit, after which the fluid flows
downward towards the heat exchanger
caused by the difference in fluid levels.
• The HTF typically arrives at the heat
exchanger at 70 °C and returns to the
circulating pump at 50 °C. In frost The bubble separator of a bubble-pump syste
 prone climates the HTF
is water with propylene
glycol anti-freeze added,
usually in the ratio of
60 to 40.
• Pumping typically
starts at about 50°C
and increases as the
sun rises until
equilibrium is reached
depending on the
efficiency of the heat
exchanger, the temper-
ature of the water
being heated and the
strength of the sun.
Indirect Active Systems:
(C) Indirect system with heat exchanger in tank;
(D) Drainback system with drainback reservoir.
PASSIVE SYSTEMS…
•Also known as Thermosiphon System, Passive type solar systems are those
which do not use an outside power source.
•A Passive Solar water heater must take into account the physics surrounding
hydrology and thermodynamics. This type of system uses a thermosiphon.

Direct systems – Passive CHS System with tank above the collector
• A thermosiphon uses the energy of the sun to move water or other collector
fluid in a vertical direction. This occurs when a liquid has varying
temperature, and thus density differences. Because the hottest water will
always move upward in, thus displacing the colder water downward, the hot
water storage tank or Heat
• Exchanger must be above the solar collector.

• Direct ('open loop') passive systems use water from the main household
water supply to circulate between the collector and the storage tank. When
the water in the collector becomes warm, convection causes it to rise and
flow towards the water storage tank. They are often not suitable for cold
climates since, at night, the water in the collector can freeze and damage the
panels.
• Indirect ('closed loop') passive systems use a non-toxic antifreeze heat
transfer fluid (HTF) in the collector. When this fluid is heated, convection
causes it to flow to the tank where a passive heat exchanger transfers the
heat of the HTF to the water in the tank.
Passive (thermisiphon) solar water heaters on a rooftop in Jerusalem
• The attraction of passive solar water heating systems lies in their simplicity.
There are no mechanical or electrical parts that can break or that require
regular supervision or maintenance. Consequently the maintenance of a
passive system is simple and cheap. The efficiency of a passive system is
often somewhat lower than that of an active system and overheating is
largely avoided by the inherent design of a passive system.

Advantages
• The attraction of passive solar water heating systems lies in their simplicity.
• There are no mechanical or electrical parts that can break or that require
regular supervision or maintenance.
• No external energy is needed in order to move liquid through the system.
• Consequently the maintenance of a passive system is simple and cheap.
• The efficiency of a passive system is often somewhat lower than that of an
active system and overheating is largely avoided by the inherent design of a
passive system.

Disadvantages
• If a hot water tank or heat exchanger is used, it must be positioned above
the solar collector in order for the thermosiphon to flow. This can cause
problems as most solar systems are on roofs of houses.
 HEAT EXCHANGER
SYSTEMS…
• Heat Exchangers are used in regions that experience temperatures less
than freezing.
• Heat Exchangers themselves are built into a closed loop system and transfer
the heat gathered in the collector to the house's hot water supply. There are
a number of designs for heat exchangers.
• A common design is to supplement a conventional hot water heater by
transferring the heat from the solar collector fluid into the hot water tank.
Copper tubing is a good material for readily transferring heat energy of a
liquid.
• Another common style of heat exchanger uses a barrel with two lines of
copper paralleling each other.
• One tube comes from the solar collector, enters the barrel at the top, spirals
around the edge of the barrel, comes out of the barrel at the bottom, and
completes the closed loop by returning to the solar collector. The other tube
that parallels the first is the household hot water supply. It enters the barrel
at the bottom, parallel to the collector tubing to the top of the barrel, and
exits the barrel at the top, with hot water.
• The heat is transferred from the hot fluid from the collector, through the
copper tubing, and into the household water. The barrel can be insulated on
the outside to increase efficiency of transfer.
• There are a number of different fluids that can be used in the closed loop
system. The following are the more widely used and readily available liquids:
glycol/water mixtures, hydrocarbon oils, refrigerants/automotive antifreeze,
and silicones.

Advantages
• Heat exchangers are used for a couple main reasons: to protect the system
against freezing, and as one option to supplement another source of water
heating.

Disadvantages
• Heat Exchangers add complexity to a hot water system. There are more
aspects of a system that must be designed and planned for when using a
Heat Exchanger. There is also a greater chance of things breaking or not
functioning properly due to the added components.
• Caution must also be taken to insure that the collector fluid is either non
toxic, or that there is very little chance of the collector fluid contaminating the
 NON-HEAT EXCHANGER
SYSTEMS…
• These are systems where the potable water to be heated flows
directly through the solar collector. This type of system is an Open
Loop system.

• Advantages and disadvantages is similar to the Open Loop

System.
BATCH
SYSTEMS…
• Also known as Breadbox, or Integral Collector-Storage (ICS) Systems, these
include one or more black tanks or tubes in an insulated, glazed box.
• The Integrated Collector Storage (ICS ) is a special type of passive system
where the tank acts as both storage and solar collector.
• Batch heaters are basically thin rectilinear tanks with glass in front of it
generally in or on house wall or roof. They are seldom pressurised and usually
depend on gravity flow to deliver their water.
• They are simple, efficient and less costly than plate and tube collectors but are
only suitable in moderate climates with good sunshine.
• As the sun warms the water it expands and becomes less dense,
encouraging the hot water to flow to the top of the collector. From there it is
drawn out into the house as needed or into an auxiliary tank for storage.
• These work best in areas where freezing temperatures are rare.
• Despite their climate restrictions they work relatively well.
• In colder climates they can be used seasonally and drained before harsh
winter months.

Schematics of a Batch Solar

Water Heating System
 FUNCTIONING…
• In order to heat water using
solar energy, a collector, often
fastened to a roof or a wall facing
the sun, heats working fluid that
is either pumped (active system)
or driven by natural convention
(passive system) through it.
• The collector could be made of
a simple glass topped insulated
box with a flat solar absorber
made of sheet metal attached
to copper pipes and painted black,
or a set of metal tubes Schematic of a
surrounded by an evacuated Solar Heating
(near vacuum) glass cylinder. System
• Heat is stored in a hot water storage tank.
• The volume of this tank needs to be larger with solar heating systems in
order to allow for bad weather, and because the optimum final temperature
for the solar collector is lower than a typical immersion or combustion heater.
• The heat transfer fluid (HTF) for the absorber may be the hot water from the
tank, but more commonly is a separate loop of fluid containing anti-
freeze and a corrosion inhibitor which delivers heat to the tank through
a heat exchanger.
• Another lower-maintenance concept is the 'drain-back': no anti-freeze is
required; instead all the piping is sloped to cause water to drain back to the
tank. The tank is not pressurized and is open to atmospheric pressure. As
soon as the pump shuts off, flow reverses and the pipes are empty before
freezing could occur.
SOLAR THERMAL COLLECTOR…
• A solar thermal collector is a solar collector designed to
collect heat by absorbing sunlight.
• The term is applied to solar hot water panels, but may also be used to denote
more complex installations such as solar parabolic, solar trough and solar
towers or simpler installations such as solar air heat.
• A collector is a device for converting the energy in solar radiation into a more
usable or storable form.
Types of solar collectors
• Solar collectors fall into two general categories: non-concentrating and
concentrating.
• In the non-concentrating type, the collector area (i.e. the area that intercepts
the solar radiation) is the same as the absorber area (i.e., the area
absorbing the radiation). In these types the whole solar panel absorbs the
light.
• Flat plate and evacuated tube solar collectors are used to collect heat for
space heating or domestic hot water.
• Solar thermal collectors capture and retain heat from the sun and transfer
this heat to a liquid. Two important physical principles govern the technology
of solar thermal collectors:
• Any hot object ultimately returns to thermal equilibrium with its environment,
due to heat loss from the hot object. The processes that result in this heat
loss are conduction, convection and radiation.
• Heat is lost more rapidly if the temperature difference between a hot object
and its environment is larger. Heat loss is predominantly governed by the
thermal gradient between the temperature of the collector surface and the
ambient temperature. Conduction, convection as well as radiation occur
more rapidly over large thermal gradients.
ICS or BATCH COLLECTORS...
• They overcome the above problem by putting the water tank in a box
that limits the loss of heat from the tank back into the environment.
• This is achieved by encasing the water tank in a glass-topped box
that allows heat from the sun to reach the water tank.
• The other walls of the box are thermally insulated, reducing
convection as well as radiation to the environment. In addition, the
box can also have a reflective surface on the inside. This reflects
heat lost from the tank back towards the tank.
Diagram to set
up a Batch Collector
System

An integrated collector storage (ICS) system

• In a simple way one could consider an ICS solar water heater as a water
tank that has been enclosed in a type of 'oven' that retains heat from the sun
as well as heat of the water in the tank.
• There are many variations on this basic design, with some ICS collectors
comprising several smaller water containers and even including evacuated
glass tube technology.

FLAT PLATE COLLECTORS...

Flat plate collectors, developed by Hottel and Whillier in the 1950s, are the
most common type. They consist of
(1) a dark flat-plate absorber of solar energy,
(2) a transparent cover that allows solar energy to pass through but reduces
heat losses,
(3) a heat-transport fluid (air, antifreeze or water) to remove heat from the
absorber, and
(4) a heat insulating backing.
• The absorber consists of a thin absorber sheet, of thermally stable polymers,
aluminium, steel or copper, to which a matte black or selective coating is
applied, often backed by a grid or coil of fluid tubing placed in an insulated
casing with a glass or polycarbonate cover.
• In water heat panels, fluid is usually circulated through tubing to transfer
heat from the absorber to an insulated water tank. This may be achieved
directly or through a heat exchanger. Most air heat fabricates and some
water heat manufacturers have a completely flooded absorber consisting of
two sheets of metal which the fluid passes between.
• Because the heat exchange area is greater they may be marginally more
efficient than traditional absorbers.

Flat plate thermal system for water

heating deployed on a flat roof.
 EVACUATED TUBE
COLLECTORS…
• Most vacuum tube collectors use heat pipes for their core instead of passing
liquid directly through them.
• Evacuated heat pipe tubes
(EHPT's) are composed of multiple
evacuated glass tubes each
containing an absorber plate fused
to a heat pipe.
• The heat from the hot end of the
heat pipes is transferred to the
transfer fluid of a domestic hot
water or hydronic space heating
system in a heat exchanger called
a "manifold". The manifold is Evacuated Tube
wrapped in insulation and covered diagram
by a sheet metal or plastic case to
protect it from the elements.
• The vacuum that surrounds the outside of the tube greatly reduces
convection and conduction heat loss to the outside, therefore achieving
greater efficiency than flat-plate collectors, especially in colder conditions.
This advantage is largely lost in warmer climates, except in those cases
where very hot water is desirable, for example commercial process water.
• Some evacuated tubes (glass-metal) are made with one layer of glass that
fuses to the heat pipe at the upper end and encloses the heat pipe and
absorber in the vacuum. Others (glass-glass) are made with a double layer
of glass fused together at one or both ends with a vacuum between the
layers with the absorber and heat pipe contained at normal atmospheric
pressure.

Evacuated tube collector

Evacuated Tube collector on a tin house

 1. 2.

1. Unglazed solar collectors

2. Glazed panels being used in Passive
System
3. Unglazed, transpired air collector 3.
 CONSIDERATIONS FOR SPECIFYING AND
INSTALLING A SOLAR HOT WATER
HEATING (SWH) SYSTEM...
• Except in rare instances it will be inefficient to install a SWH system
with no electrical or gas or other fuel backup.
• Many SWH systems have an integrated electrical heater in the
integrated tank. Conversely, many active solar systems incorporate
a conventional "geyser". But even in a tropical environment there
are rainy and cloudy days when the insulation is low and the
temperature of the water in the tank increases very little on account
of solar heating.
• The temperature stability of a system is dependent on the ratio of
the volume of warm water used per day as a fraction of the size of
the water reservoir/tank that stores the hot water. If a large
proportion of hot water in the reservoir is used each day, a large
fraction of the water in the reservoir needs to be heated.
• This brings about large fluctuations in water temperature every day,
with risks of overheating or under heating.
• Usually a large SWH system is more efficient economically than a small
system. This is because the price of a system is not linearly proportional to
the size of the collector, so a square meter of collector is cheaper in a larger
system.

• The installation of a SWH system needs to be complemented with efficient

insulation of all the water pipes connecting the collector and the water
storage tank, as well as the storage tank (or "geyser") and the most
important warm water outlets.

• The installation of efficient lagging significantly reduces the heat loss from
the hot water system.

• The installation of lagging on at least two meters of pipe on the cold water
inlet of the storage tank reduces heat loss, as does the installation of a
"geyser blanket" around the storage tank (if inside a roof). In cold climates
the installation of lagging and insulation is often performed even in the
absence of a SWH system.

• On the zero or low carbon choice arena, the most efficient PV pumps are
designed start to operate very slowly in very low light levels, so if connected
uncontrolled, they may cause a small amount of unwanted circulation early
• To eliminate the risk of hot water in the storage tank from being cooled that
way this is very important. Solar controller may be required.

• The modularity of an evacuated tube collector array allows the adjustment of

the collector size by removing some tubes or their heat pipes.

• Budgeting for a larger than required array of tubes therefore allows for the
customisation of collector size to the needs of a particular application,
especially in warmer climates.

• Particularly in locations further towards the poles than 45 degrees from the
equator, roof mounted sun facing collectors tend to outperform wall mounted
collectors in terms of total energy output.

• Arrays of sunny wall mounted steep collectors can sometimes produce more
useful energy because there can be a small increase in winter gain at the
expense of a large unused summer surplus.
THANK YOU…