Niño Christopher B.

Ramos EgyE221
Final Exam
03-21235 Prof. Rizalinda de
Leon
MS EE

Design of a Solar Hot Water System with Storage for a

Residential Load

I. Problem Statement
Design a solar hot water system with storage for a residential load whose
load profile is given in two ways; one is average daily hot water consumption for the
whole 12 months of the year and the other one is annual hourly hot water
consumption for the whole 24 hours of the day. The graphs for the two ways of
presenting the load profile are shown below for both the high home and low home
use. The location was set to be in the Quezon City, Philippines.
II. Design Methodology

The Design Methodology will consist of (1) getting the solar radiation and
temperature data for the Quezon City, Philippines location, (2) formulating the
model and necessary assumptions and (3) selecting the design method to be used.

II.A Solar Radiation and Temperature Data for Philippines

Solar Radiation Data for Quezon City, Philippines is shown below. H is

in MJ/m2 .

(Source: Duffie, J.A.,Beckmann, W.A., Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes, 2nd Ed.)

Temperature Data for Philippines is shown below.

(Source:http://login.studentsoftheworld.info/pageinfo_pays.php3?Pays=PHL&Opt=climate)
II.B Proposed Model and Assumptions

Shown below is the proposed model for the solar water heating system
with storage. For this model, a minimum useful temperature must be
specified by the user. The other necessary requirement of operating the
system at a constant coefficient of thermal performance is met since the
load is hot water. The storage tank is assumed to be pressurized so that
energy dumping does not occur. It is also assumed to be very well-insulated
so that tank losses are negligible. Heat exchanger is designed such that
losses are also negligible. A separate auxiliary system is in parallel with the
solar system and makes up any energy deficiency of the solar system. It will
be responsible for bringing the water temperature to the desired levels
whenever the solar system falls short of delivering the required water
temperature.

Here are the additional assumptions and initial estimates for the
storage tank.

1) Storage Capacity = 418 Liters

2) Tank Temperature set to be equal to Tmin which is in turn also set to
be the temperature of the hot water supply = 60°C

For the collector(β = 14.6°), here are the selected specifications and
initial estimates.
II.C Design Method Used

Looking at the ways the load profile was presented, there are several
methods that can be used to design the system. The designer chose the ϕ-f
chart method since there is a load profile given in daily averages and the
solar radiation and temperature data are given in monthly averages which
also favor the calculations for the parameters needed in the ϕ-f chart
method. Further, ϕ-f chart method caters the design which requires finite
storage and so it was determined to be a better method to use.

Here are the equations needed to carry out the ϕ-f chart method:

Where ϕ is replaced by ϕmax and Xc is replaced by Xc,min and,

Xc,min is given by:

Where FR(τα) = FR(τα)n * (τα)/ (τα)n and,

 Where ρg (ground reflectance) is assumed as 0.2 and,

To get rt,n from equation of rt , simply equate ω = 0 for noon time

hour angle.

To get rd,n from equation of rd , simply equate ω = 0 for noon

time hour angle.

To get Rb,n from equation of Rb , simply equate ω = 0 for noon

time hour angle.

Because we are calculating at noon time hour angle, KT is always

0.5.
Now, we only need R to complete the ratio Rn/ R in the equation for ϕmax.

Where

Φ = 14.6 and values of δ can be taken from the table below

After solving the value of ϕmax , we can now solve for the dimensionless
variables ϕmaxY and X’ and determine the f value which is the fraction of the
total monthly load that is contributed by the solar water heating system.

Where L is the total monthly load for the month

Where 100 is an empirical constant used in SI units and Δt is the time

of operation of the collector in one day

Where Rs is the ratio of the standard storage heat capacity per unit of
collector area of 350 kJ/m2C to the actual storage capacity.

The designer preferred to use Newton’s method in solving for f. And so to

simplify the equation, the actual storage capacity was initially assumed to be
418 liters so that

And therefore Rs = 1 and the equation will be

further simplified.

III. Results and Analysis

Microsoft Excel spreadsheet was used to tabulate the monthly data using the
ϕ-f chart method. A C-program was created to perform the numerical
analysis using Newton’s Method to solve for f.

Given the initial assumptions of Ac = 5m2 and storage capacity of 418 liters,
the data obtained for high home and low home use were as follows:
 Figure 3.1
It can be seen from the graph above that except for December, the solar
energy can provide the larger part of the load requirement. The other part
will now be contributed by the auxiliary heating system.

Figure 3.2

It can be seen from the graph above that most of the months have an excess
in energy supplied by solar energy. It depends on the designer’s point of
view but the designer can opt to make a design different from that of the
high home use to just allow a little excess or deficiency with respect to the
load requirement. The designer can do it by varying Ac (sizing down the
collector) or adjusting the tank storage capacity

Figure 3.3

From the f values, it can be seen that under the same assumptions and initial
estimates (and essentially the same design), the performances as reflected
on the graph significantly vary. It can be seen for the high home use that the
solar energy harvested by the system can provide the full contribution for
the month of April. However, its contribution drops to its minimum of 42.7%
during December. On the other hand, for the low home use, the f values
indicate that for the same design, in almost all the months except for
December, the solar energy harvested by the system exceeds if not meet
the load requirements for the particular month.

f-values for both the high home and low home usage have a relation to the
climate of the Philippines. High values of f from the month of March to May
indicate high solar insolation which happens during the summer months. f
values starting June decreased because of the start of rainy season and
further drops during the cold months up to December.

IV. Conclusions and Recommendations

There are many more factors that come into play when designing a
solar hot water system with storage. One major factor is economics of the
design. One designer may consider the result of Fig. 3.1 as not enough
because some f-values do not meet the 80% mark. But the designer can also
take into account the cost of additional collectors or mounting fixtures that
will be incurred. He can also take into account for the side of the investor,
the rate of return on investment such that he might be putting up a design
that is too costly so that it is not possible to recover the investment in a
shorter period of time. On the other hand if the performance is more
prioritized than cost, then Fig. 3.2 can be seen as a good design as the
designer may look at in a way that is the savings that is obtained from
depending less on electricity from the auxiliary supply will in the long run
cause a break even in the cost of putting up the additional materials for
greater solar energy collection. The other consideration is also space such
that because of space constraints, sizing up of the collectors and storage
tanks may not be possible.
 APPENDIX
C – Program for f Computation by Newton’s Method
#include <math.h>
#include <stdio.h>

int main(void){

double fx,fpx,x,x_new;
int i;
double phiy[13],xprime[13],phiyl[13],xprimel[13];

phiy[1] = 1.03;
phiy[2] = 0.75;
phiy[3] = 1.08;
phiy[4] = 1.25;
phiy[5] = 1.17;
phiy[6] = 1.17;
phiy[7] = 0.7;
phiy[8] = 1.02;
phiy[9] = 0.84;
phiy[10] = 0.73;
phiy[11] = 0.7;
phiy[12] = 0.45;

phiyl[1] = 1.86;
phiyl[2] = 3.84;
phiyl[3] = 3.87;
phiyl[4] = 3.66;
phiyl[5] = 5.68;
phiyl[6] = 4.66;
phiyl[7] = 2.71;
phiyl[8] = 1.87;
phiyl[9] = 1.36;
phiyl[10] = 1.9;
phiyl[11] = 1.75;
phiyl[12] = 0.87;

xprime[1] = 2.83;
xprime[2] = 2.44;
xprime[3] = 2.38;
xprime[4] = 2.7;
xprime[5] = 2.81;
xprime[6] = 2.40;
xprime[7] = 2.53;
xprime[8] = 3.01;
xprime[9] = 3.08;
xprime[10] = 2.73;
xprime[11] = 2.75;
xprime[12] = 2.87;
xprimel[1] = 5.12;
xprimel[2] = 12.42;
xprimel[3] = 8.54;
xprimel[4] = 7.88;
xprimel[5] = 13.66;
xprimel[6] = 9.53;
xprimel[7] = 9.76;
xprimel[8] = 5.54;
xprimel[9] = 5.00;
xprimel[10] = 7.06;
xprimel[11] = 6.83;
xprimel[12] = 5.54;

// for high home use computation

printf("f values for high home use\n");
for (i=1;i<=12;i++){
x = 0.9;

fx = phiy[i] - 0.015*(pow(2.71828,(3.85*x))-1)*(1-pow(2.71828,(-0.15*xprime[i])))-x;
fpx = -0.015*(1-pow(2.71828,(-0.15*xprime[i])))*(pow(2.71828,(3.85*x))-1)*3.85-1;

x_new = x - fx/fpx;

while (fabs(x_new-x)>=0.0001){
x = x_new;
fx = phiy[i] - 0.015*(pow(2.71828,(3.85*x))-1)*(1-pow(2.71828,(-0.15*xprime[i])))-x;

fpx = -0.015*(1-pow(2.71828,(-0.15*xprime[i])))*(pow(2.71828,(3.85*x))-1)*3.85-1;

x_new = x - fx/fpx;
}
printf("month[%i] f:%2.6lf\n",i,x_new);
}

printf("f values for low home use\n");

for (i=1;i<=12;i++){
x = 0.9;

fx = phiyl[i] - 0.015*(pow(2.71828,(3.85*x))-1)*(1-pow(2.71828,(-0.15*xprimel[i])))-x;
fpx = -0.015*(1-pow(2.71828,(-0.15*xprimel[i])))*(pow(2.71828,(3.85*x))-1)*3.85-1;

x_new = x - fx/fpx;

while (fabs(x_new-x)>=0.0001){
x = x_new;
fx = phiyl[i] - 0.015*(pow(2.71828,(3.85*x))-1)*(1-pow(2.71828,(-0.15*xprimel[i])))-x;

fpx = -0.015*(1-pow(2.71828,(-0.15*xprimel[i])))*(pow(2.71828,(3.85*x))-1)*3.85-1;

x_new = x - fx/fpx;
}
printf("month[%i] f:%2.6lf\n",i,x_new);
}

return 0;
}