SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY
by
John Canivan, August 2003
Sunny Future Press
All
rights reserved. No part of this book or the accompanying CD-ROM shows may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical
without the express permission of the author.
On line forum support is available at www.JC-SolarHomes.com
Special thanks are extended to my patient wife, Catricia, who helps clarify concepts and tolerates my chaotic desk. Professor Dathatri, coordinator of the Solar Energy Department at the New York State University of Farmingdale, also deserves special thanks for his support and numerous suggestions.
This
solar thermal energy study guide is designed to be used in conjunction with the
STE multimedia interactive slide show. The best way to learn about solar thermal energy in
the shortest period of time is to view the show with this book at your side, and
work out the problems as they’re presented. When you feel like taking a break
or when you need time to do a calculation hit the pause button. When you’re
ready to move on hit the pause button again, and the program will resume.
To run the slide show effectively you’ll need to turn off your PC screen saver. Do this by going to CONTROL PANEL. Click on the DISPLAY icon. Under DISPLAY choose the screen saver tab. For your screen saver choose none. Now turn up the volume on your speakers and slide the CD-ROM into your CD driver.
You
should be able to master all the material contained in this book and all the
material on this slide show in a short time. The book and slide shows are copy
right protected. It is illegal to copy or distribute either the book or the
slide shows, but the information they contain is yours to keep forever and use to
transform the world and bring us one step closer to a Solar Age of peace,
tranquility and discovery. Hope you
can find the time to visit my website… John
Canivan at www.JC-SolarHomes.com
OVERVIEW
1. Heat Gain demonstrates how energy available from sunlight may be calculated and converted into a fuel oil equivalent. p4
2. Heat Loss demonstrates how heat loss from a dwelling may be calculated. These calculations help determine how much fuel oil or solar energy would be needed to maintain a dwelling at a set temperature throughout the heating season. p12
3. Heat Theory answers questions like: p16
a. What is heat?
b. What is temperature?
c. How is heat transferred?
d. How does a multi-tank heat storage system work?
4.
Solar Power explores
the past present and future uses of sunlight used to run pumps and generators.
p25
5.
Solar Home Heating explores
the history of solar heating as well as some home designs based on the
greenhouse concept. p30
6.
Solar Hot Water demonstrates:
p34
a. History of solar hot water.
b. Solar collectors
c. Solar hot water systems
7.
Energy Independent
Housing explores: p52
a. Hydronic heating
b. Massive heat storage vault details
c. Super insulation methods
d. Zoning
e. Integrated heating, electric and living systems
e. Overall design considerations
8. Solar Thermal Roof is a futuristic solar thermal design concept that utilizes the entire surface area of a roof for heat gain. P65
9. Solar Thermal Concepts clarifies the basic principles of solar thermal energy application. P89
10.
Answers to Questions
p92
HEAT
GAIN
Heat gain from the sun varies from place to place and depends upon weather conditions time of the day and season of the year. On an hourly basis we will assume that one KWH is available to every square meter of direct sunlight unhampered by weather conditions. For local average daily radiant energy availability we will refer to the National Solar Radiation Maps.
In this chapter we
will be calculating the annual solar radiant energy available for the
ONE HOUR OF DIRECT SUNLIGHT = 1 KWH
1 KWH = 3,400 BTU’s
1 gallon #2 fuel oil = 150,000 BTU’s
1 square meter = 10.6 sq ft
one 4X8 collector (aproximately) = 3 m2
Let’s begin with a few questions?
1. What is a BTU?
2. How many BTUs are in a gallon of fuel oil?
3. What is the energy equivalent of one square meter’s worth of sunlight over
the period of one hour in KWH?
4. What is the fuel oil equivalent of one hour of direct sunlight on one square
meter?
5. What effect does collector position have on collector efficiency?
The average daily
radiant energies derived from the National Solar Radiation Data maps have been
calculated for your convenience. See how close these approximate values are to
the values you derive for the
6. Use a National
Solar Radiation Map to calculate the average annual solar energy available
in KWH from one square meter of
A. a day = 4.5
KWH/day
B. a year?
C. Calculate
the fuel oil equivalent per year?
HINT use annual latitude
map
KWH/day
X
days in year
= KWH/yr
KWH/yr
X
BTU’s/KWH
= BTU/yr
BTU/yr
X
BTU/ BTU per gallon = GAL/yr
7. Use a National
Solar Radiation Map to calculate the average annual solar energy available
in KWH from one square meter of
A. a day? = 4.3
KWH/day
B. a year?
C. Calculate
the fuel oil equivalent per year?
HINT use annual latitude
+ 150
map
8. Use a National
Solar Radiation Map to calculate the average solar energy available during
December in KWH from one square meter of
A. a day? = 2.5
KWH/ day
B. a month?
C. Calculate
the fuel oil equivalent for the month of
December?
HINT use December
latitude map
9. Use a National
Solar Radiation Map to calculate the average solar energy available during
December in KWH from one square meter of Long Island real estate at latitude
tilt angle + 15 degrees over the period of:
A. a day? = 2.8
KWH/day
B. a month?
C. Calculate
the fuel oil equivalent for the month of
December?
HINT use December
latitude + 150 map
10. What is the advantage of tilting a collector at a steep
angle?
11. How is a greenhouse able to trap heat?
12. How much solar heat energy will be available for two 4X8
foot collectors in a year at latitude tilt angle?
Give answer in fuel oil equivalents. (HINT a 4X8 collector has a
surface area of 3 m2
13. How
much solar heat energy will be available for two 4X8 collectors at latitude tilt
angle during the month of December?
14. How
much heat energy will two 4X8 collectors harvest at latitude tilt angle + 15
degrees during the month of December?
15. Name two devices used to concentrate the radiant energy
of the sun?
The solar heat gain of a system is always less
than the available energy from the sun. Heat transfer efficiency will of course
depend on collector efficiency and the heat exchange process within the storage
vault.
Heat gain
from fossil fuel oil burners depends on the combustion process as well as the
heat extraction system. Typical fossil fuel heating systems lose much of their
heat during the combustion process of venting hot exhaust gasses. Heat gain
efficiencies are important factors that must be considered for both fossil fuel
and solar heating systems. To
simplify heat loss calculations we will assume an oil burner heat transfer
efficiency of 100% although this number is usually much closer to 50%.... and
so on ...
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