CONSUMER SOLAR

THERMAL POWER
18 Dezembro 2012

Manuel Nascimento 52294

Introduo Investigao

Overview
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Collectors flat panel and CPC

Solar thermal water heating setups

Solar irradiation availability

Commercially available solutions

Energy calculations

Case Study energetic and economic results

Conclusions

Collectors
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Capture" the sun and absorb its energy, heating the HTFs (heat transfer fluids)
HTFs can be water or glicol-water mixtures (help prevent freezing)

Water is cheaper and easier to use

Glicol-water mixtures are more expensive, but more efficient and help prevent
freezing

HTFs transfer heat to potable water via heat exchanger elements

Two types of collectors: flat plate and CPC (compound parabolic collector)

Flat plate collector

Compound parabolic collector

Flat Plate Collectors - overview

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Simplest design: insulated box with absorber tubes and glass surface on top

Glass (can be ordinary or special glass) lets solar "rays" through

HTF flows along crisscross-shaped absorber tubes, absorbing heat from the sun

Box provides "hot house" effect and protection from the outside

Flat Plate Collectors - detail

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Losses of energy must be considered

Reflection of incident rays

Glass absorption

Transmission to the inside tau (what we're interested in)

Recent designs provide optical efficiencies of around 80%, sometimes more

CPCs - overview
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For radiation within a certain angle, rays are concentrated on the absorber

More expensive compared to flat panel collectors, but potentially greater efficiency

Collectors - comparision
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Tradeoff in performance: choose for high T or small T regimes (T= TC Tamb)

Obvious conclusion: CPC better for higher heating temperatures (greater T)

Solar Thermal Setups

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Termosyphon (natural)
Circulation

Forced Circulation

Termosyphon Circulation
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Sun heats up HTF liquid inside absorber tubes

Hotter fluid decreases in density and travels up towards water tank

Inside the water tank, HTF heats up potable water via heat exchanger

Cooled down HTF returns to the lower part of the collector, continuing the cycle

Possibility of having an electrical resistance inside the tank in order to compensate for insufficient
solar power

Otherwise, traditional boilers (gas, electrical) can be used further along the piping for that effect

Termosyphon - considerations
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Simplest and cheapest setup, but has limited heating power

Tank on the outside is subject to energy losses (colder outside)

Impossible to control HTF flux and heat exchange: if solar power is not enough, HTF
will still be in contact with the water and can even cool it (worst case scenario)

Best used in situations where theres a low demand of hot water (< 200 litres) and/or
solar radiation is abundant

Forced Circulation
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Automatic control: HTF is pumped only if HTF temperature is larger than tank temperature

HTF flux control increases efficiency, controlling T on the collector and/or heat exchanger

Tank inside the building further reduces energy losses (not so cold inside)

If additional heating power is needed, water can be heated with an auxiliary system of
conventional technologies (gas or electrical boiler, electrical resistance, etc.)

Forced Circulation - extensions

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More complex but more powerful and versatile solution

Increased space for tank, if available, provides scalability (tanks usually from 200L to 1000L)

Bigger systems provide additional hot water for house heating and cooling (via walls, floor, radiators, AC)

Forced Circulation - photos

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Water tank and piping

Piping, control and expansion vessel

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World Solar Irradiation

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Portugal is relatively good...

Solar Irradiation in Europe

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...especially within
Europe

The energy is there for

the taking

Commercially available panels by Rigsun

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Sani line

Water heating

Poli line
Water and ambient
heating

Costs and characteristics

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Sani line

Rated solar fraction: from 60% to 80%

Costs and characteristics

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Poli line

Rated solar fraction: from 80% to 90% for water heating and from 30% to 50% for ambient heating

Calculating supplied power

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Lots of things to consider

Easier solution? Software!

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Has all the equations necessary for lots of setups in solar thermal and photovoltaic

Has all the necessary radiation data for Portugal

Presents Energy and Economics analysis of project setup

1 to 4 Licenses: 130 + VAT + mail expenses (per license)

There are other, more powerful software, like Polysun

Polysun has data from all over the world

Many more house customizing options

More expensive: 1 License = 779

General Considerations
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Optimal placing of panels: facing directly South; inclination equal to location latitude

Small offsets from these (<10) don't present significant loss in efficiency

Sizing a solar system correctly: try to get > 90% solar fraction in the Summer

Case Study parameters

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Sani 300-2 setup by Rigsun (2 solar panels, 300L tank)

4 person family

Total turn-key cost: 4200 (VAT included)

Custom water consumption plan

Case Study consumption

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Studies show ~95L /p.day of hot

water

Example: shower 6L/min x 15 mins

= 90L ! (remaining 5 L/p.day)

Considered 2 showers in the

morning (not good for solar
panels...) and 2 late in the afternoon

Remaining water for cooking / dish

washing, etc.

Energy Results
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3974 kWh per year (average) supplied by solar system

5300 kWh per year of natural gas saved! (thats 1.3 ton of equivalent CO2)

Solar Fraction 81.8% - slightly better than advertised

Economics Results 5y bank loan

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Saving 572.4 /year in

natural gas bill
(47.7/month) over 20 years

Real profit of 4711

(earnings + residual value)

First 5 years: expenses of

about 50 /month (bank bill
about 93/month)

Years 6-20: savings of

42.7/month

Economics Results own capital

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If done with own capital (no

bank loan, no interest
rates), profit increase to
6136
Thats 146% of the system
initial cost
meaning profitability of
7% per year for 20 years
Recover invested capital in
12 years (following 8 years:
profit)

Additional savings in space heating

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Average energy spent on ambient heating in a US household: 12 MWh/year

Solar energy provided if solar fraction for space heating is about 50%: 2.429 MWh/year

It's a crude overestimation, during half the year probably ambient heaters aren't used

Even so, if electrical resistances are being used to heat the house: 1214.5 kWh x 0.21
/kWh = 255 of savings on electrical bill

Don't forget, however, a system for water AND space heating has higher initial cost

Household energy consumption in the EU-27

Conclusions
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Solar thermal setups for water heating are effective, efficient and profitable...

... especially in places with high solar irradiation (South of Europe is more than
enough)

In larger households or even entire buildings, additional savings can be achieved by

using ambient heating as well

Furthermore, savings in natural gas also contribute to reduce C0 2 emissions, lowering

ecological footprint and energy imports

Software solutions are complete tools for designing solar thermal power projects for
water (and space) heating and predicting results

Oh! How good this is! The touch of gold on ones skin is invigorating!

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Thank you for your attention

Time for questions

Bibliography
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Manuel Collares-Pereira e Maria Joo Carvalho, Dimensionamento de Sistemas Solares

Sistemas de aquecimento de gua com armazenamento acoplado, Laboratrio Nacional de
Engenharia e Tecnologia Industrial, Departamento de Energias Renovveis, 1983

Lus Roriz, Joo Rosendo et al., "Energia Solar em Edifcios Edies Orion, 2010

SolTerm software user manual

http://www.fc.up.pt/pessoas/psimeao/#recursos
http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/active-solar-heating
http://www.rigsun.pt/
http://www.creditopaineissolares.com/credito-pessoal-paineis-solares-bpi/
http://www.painelsolartermico.com/incentivos-2010/
http://www.erse.pt/pt/electricidade/tarifaseprecos/tarifas2012/Documents/PrecosTVCF%20PTCont_2
012.pdf
http://www.erse.pt/pt/gasnatural/tarifaseprecos/201207a201306/Documents/Tarifas%20GN%2020122013_Final.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_energy_consumption