By:Aliza Ibrahim RRIMT,Lko.

Low-temperature Solar Heat is Ideal for Many Industrial Processes. American Solars heating designs meet Americas largest energy need heating energy, which is 60% to 80% of all the energy used in industrial applications.

The potential processes that can use the low-temperature heat are as varied as the industries we can serve. Our systems can provide heating to improve the efficiency of:

Boilers
Hot Water Systems Drying Processes Baking Processes Heat Pumps

Deionized water
Plastic pellets Chilled fruits and vegetables before

processing Paint booth fresh air supply for spray and bake operations Hot wash down water for sanitary cleaning Desiccants for regeneration and humidity control

Theory
Solar heating & cooling (SHC) technologies collect the thermal energy from the sun and use this heat to provide hot water, space heating, cooling, and pool heating for residential, commercial, and industrial applications. These technologies displace the need to use electricity or natural gas. In 2010, the U.S. saw 35,464 solar water heating systems and 29,540 solar pool heating systems installed, heating a total of more than 65,000 homes, businesses and pools. Solar water heating systems are affordable for families. The return on investment can be as little as 3-6 years. Commercial systems help companies reduce and manage their energy bills, managing long-term costs. Meanwhile, fossil fuel prices fluctuate considerably and are expected to rise significantly over the next decade. Water heating, space heating, and space cooling accounted for 72 percent of the energy used in an average household in the U.S. in 2010 - representing a huge market potential for solar heating and cooling technologies!

Solar water heating systems can be installed on most homes in the U.S., and are comprised of three main elements: the solar collector, insulated piping, and a hot water storage tank. Electronic controls can also be included, as well as a freeze protection system for colder climates. The solar collector gathers the heat from solar radiation and transfers the heat to potable water. This heated water flows out of the collector to a hot water tank, and is used as necessary. Auxiliary heating can remain connected to the hot water tank for back-up if necessary.

Solar water heating collectors produce heat energy, distinguishing them from photovoltaic (PV) modules which produce electricity. There are several types of collectors: flat plate, evacuated tube, Integral Collector Storage (ICS), thermosiphon, and concentrating.

Presently, solar energy conversion is widely used to generate heat and produce electricity. A comparative study on the world energy consumption released by International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that in 2050, solar array installations will supply around 45% of energy demand in the world. It was found that solar thermal is getting remarkable popularity in industrial applications. Solar thermal is an alternative to generate electricity, process chemicals or even space heating. It can be used in food, non-metallic, textile, building, chemical or even business related industries. On the other hand, solar electricity is wildly applied in telecommunication, agricultural, water desalination and building industry to operate lights, pumps, engines, fans, refrigerators and water heaters.
It is very important to apply solar energy for a wide variety of applications and provide energy solutions by modifying the energy proportion, improving energy stability, increasing energy sustainability, conversion reduction and hence enhance the system efficiency. The present work aimed to study the solar energy systems utilization in industrial applications and looked into the industrial applications which are more compatible to be integrated with solar energy systems.

Advantages of Solar Power

Solar energy is a clean and renewable energy source. Once a solar panel is installed, solar energy can be produced free of charge. Solar energy will last forever whereas it is estimated that the worlds oil reserves will last for 30 to 40 years. Solar energy causes no pollution. Solar cells make absolutely no noise at all. On the other hand, the giant machines utilized for pumping oil are extremely noisy and therefore very impractical. Very little maintenance is needed to keep solar cells running. There are no moving parts in a solar cell which makes it impossible to really damage them. In the long term, there can be a high return on investment due to the amount of free energy a solar panel can produce, it is estimated that the average household will see 50% of their energy coming in from solar panels.

Disadvantages of Solar Power

Solar panels can be expensive to

install resulting in a time-lag of many years for savings on energy bills to match initial investments. Electricity generation depends entirely on a countries exposure to sunlight; this could be limited by a countries climate. Solar power stations do not match the power output of similar sized conventional power stations; they can also be very expensive to build. Solar power is used to charge batteries so that solar powered devices can be used at night. The batteries can often be large and heavy, taking up space and needing to be replaced from time to time.