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Disadvantages:
Low efficiency (5-15%)
Very high initial costs
lack of adequate storage materials (batteries)
High cost to the consumer??
Introduction
we look at some of the methods employed to
gather Solar thermal or heat energy.
Solar photovoltaic energy, the direct conversion
of the sun's rays to electricity, is dealt with in the
next Chapter.
Solar thermal collection methods are many and
varied, so we can only give the briefest
introduction and supply points to further reading
for those interested in studying the subject in
greater depth.
Methods employed to gather solar thermal or
heat energy
What sorts of system can be used to collect solar
thermal energy?
Active Solar Heating
Low-temperature(under 100 C): Typically use glass. used
for domestic hot water or swimming pool heating
High Temperature: Typically use mirrors
Active Solar Heating: Space Heating, Domestics water
heating
Solar Thermal Engines: produce temperatures high
enough to drive steam turbines to produce electric
power.
Systems of using direct solar energy
Passive Solar Heating:
'narrow' sense: absorption of solar energy directly
into a building to reduce the energy required for
heating.
use air to circulate the collected energy, usually
without pumps or fans.
The 'collector' is often an integral part of the building
'broad' sense: whole process of integrated low-energy
building design, effectively to reduce the heat demand
to the point where small passive solar gains make a
significant contribution in winter.
Daylighting
This means making the best use of natural
daylight, though both careful building design
and the use of controls to switch off artificial
lighting when there is sufficient natural light
available
The rooftop solar water heater
Most are simple flat plate collectors
Collector
Collector panels, typically of 3-5 square
meters in area, tilted to face the sun.
Components of flat plate collectors
Cover. One or more sheets of glass or other radiation-transmitting
material.
Heat removal fluid passageways. Tubes, fins, or passages that
conduct or direct the heat transfer fluid from the inlet to the outlet.
Absorber plate. Flat, corrugated, or grooved plates, to which the
tubes, fins, or passages are attached. A typical attachment method
is the embedded fixing shown in the detail of Figure 3.2. The plate
is usually coated with a high-absorptance, low-emittance layer.
Headers or manifolds. Pipes and ducts to admit and discharge the
fluid.
Insulation. Used to minimize the heat loss from the back and sides
of the collector.
Container. The casing surrounds the aforementioned components
and protects them from dust, moisture, and any other material.
Various types of flat-plate solar collector
Thermosyphon system
Storage Tank
A storage tank, typically of around 200 litres
capacity, which often doubles as the normal
domestic hot water cylinder.
This usually contains an electric immersion heater
for winter use.
The tank is insulated all round typically with 50
mm of glass fibre or polyurethane foam.
The hot water from the panel circulates through a
heat exchanger at the bottom of the tank.
Water Circulation
Natural circulation: thermosyphon
It relies on the natural convection of hot water rising from the
collector panel to carry heat up to the storage tank, which must be
installed above the collector.
There is no need for a heat exchanger as the heated water circulates
directly through the panel
500 700 900 1100 1300 1500 1700 1900 2100 2300 2500
Source: Prepared from data file obtained from the NASA Surface Meteorology and Solar Energy website, power.larc.nasa.gov
Supplemental Figure: Solar irradiance on a surface tilted toward the
equator at an angle equal to the latitude angle, kWh/m2/yr
500 700 900 1100 1300 1500 1700 1900 2100 2300 2500
Source: Prepared from data file obtained from the NASA Surface Meteorology and Solar Energy website, power.larc.nasa.gov
Supplemental Figure: Ratio of annual irradiance on a surface tilted at the
latitude angle to the annual irradiance on a horizontal surface
Source: Prepared from data files obtained from the NASA Surface Meteorology and Solar Energy website, power.larc.nasa.gov
2.7 Passive solar heating
History
All glazed buildings are already to some extent passively solar heated -effectively they are live-in
solar collectors.
Romans, who put glass to good use in their favorite communal meeting place, the bath house.
Window openings 2 m wide and 3 m high have been found at Pompeii.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the ability to make really large sheets of glass vanished for over
a millennium.
End of the seventeenth century that the plate glass process reappeared in France, allowing sheets 2
m square to be made.
Even so, cities of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were overcrowded and the houses ill-lit.
Late nineteenth century that pioneering urban planners set out to design better conditions.
They became obsessed with the medical benefits of sunlight after it was discovered that ultraviolet
light killed bacteria.
Sunshine and fresh air became the watchwords of 'new towns' in the UK like Port Sunlight near
Liverpool, built to accommodate the workers of a soap factory.
ultraviolet light does not penetrate windows
exposure to bright light in winter is essential to maintain human hormone balances
Without it, people are likely to develop midwinter depression.
The construction of the Wallasey School
building in Cheshire in 1961, inspired by earlier
US and French buildings
Direct gain buildings as solar
collectors
The Wallasey School building is a classic direct gain design.
It has the essential features required for passive solar heating:
1. a large area of south-facing glazing to capture the sunlight;
2. thermally heavyweight construction (dense concrete or
brickwork). This stores the thermal energy through the day and
into the night;
3. thick insulation on the outside of the structure to retain the heat.
500 700 900 1100 1300 1500 1700 1900 2100 2300 2500
Source: Prepared from data files obtained from the NASA Surface Meteorology and Solar Energy website, power.larc.nasa.gov
Supplemental Figure: Ratio of annual direct normal irradiance to
annual total irradiance on a horizontal surface
Source: Prepared from data files obtained from the NASA Surface Meteorology and Solar Energy website, power.larc.nasa.gov
Types of Solar Thermal Systems:
Parabolic trough
Parabolic dish (Stirling engine)
Central tower
Parabolic trough schematic
Source: Greenpeace (2005, Wind Force 12: A Blueprint to Achieve 12% of the Worlds
Electricity from Wind Power by 2020, Global Wind Energy Council, www.gwec.org)
Central receiver schematic
Source: Greenpeace (2005, Wind Force 12: A Blueprint to Achieve 12% of the Worlds
Electricity from Wind Power by 2020, Global Wind Energy Council, www.gwec.org)
Parabolic dish schematic
Source: Greenpeace (2005, Wind Force 12: A Blueprint to Achieve 12% of the Worlds
Electricity from Wind Power by 2020, Global Wind Energy Council, www.gwec.org)
Parabolic Trough Thermal Electricity,
Kramer Junction, California
Parabolic Trough Thermal Electricity,
Kramer Junction, California
Close-up of parabolic trough
The latest parabolic trough
systems either
Directly heat the water that will be used in the steam
turbine, or
Directly heat water that in turn is circulated through
a hot tank of molten salt, with the molten salt storing
heat and in turn heating the steam that is used in a
steam turbine, as illustrated in the following diagram
AndaSol-1 Schematic
With thermal storage,
Source: Greenpeace (2005, Wind Force 12: A Blueprint to Achieve 12% of the Worlds
Electricity from Wind Power by 2020, Global Wind Energy Council, www.gwec.org)
Parabolic dish/Stirling engine
for generation of electricity
Source: US CSP (2002) Status of Major Project Opportunities, presentation at the 2002 Berlin Solar Paces CSP Conference
Stirling Receiver
Figure 2.42 Central tower solar thermal
powerplant in California
Comparison of current performance and current and projected cost of different solar
thermal technologies for generating electricity
Technology
Attribute Parabolic Parabolic Central
Trough Dish Tower
Powerplant characteristics
Peak efficiency 21% 29% 23%
Net annual efficiency 13% 15% 13%
Capacity factor without storage 24% 25% 24%
Capacity factor with 6-hours 42-48% Up to 60%
storage
Current investment cost (/kW) 3500-6000 10000-12000 3500-4500
Future investment cost ($/kW) 2000-3000 2000-3000 2000-3000
Current electricity cost (/kWh) 0.13-0.23 0.27-0.32 0.17-0.22
Future electricity cost ($/kWh) 0.05-0.08 0.05-0.08 0.05-0.08
Storage system characteristics
Medium Synthetic oil Battery Molten salt
Cost ($/kW heat) 200 30 500-800
Lifetime (years) 30 5-10 30
Round trip efficiency 95 76 99