Solar Water Heater PDF

Solar water heater with thermosyphon circulation
Information & Knowledge Management

Solar water heater with Technical Information
! Energy / Environment (E)
thermosyphon circulation " Water / Sanitation (W)
" Agriculture (A)
" Foodprocessing (F)
Bernd Sitzmann, " Manufacturing (M)
kozentrum Langenbruck This module is available in:
Centre of Appropriate Technology and Social Ecology, ! English (e)
" French (f)
Langenbruck (CH) " German (g)
2003 " Spanish (s)
" Other:..............................
File: E021E_solarwaterheater.pdf
1 Introduction 2 Feasibility study on SWH

In comparison to conventional hot-water Planning the introduction of SWH in the
heating systems, Solar water heaters corresponding partner countries requires a
(SWH) can represent an alternative with thorough feasibility study for economical
moderate costs in countries with high and technical clarification.
energy costs and sufficient irradiation. The most important technical parameters
While having significance for the supply of are the meteorological conditions which
energy in these countries, the introduction are available as weather data [2].
of these new but simple techniques also
opens up possibilities for sustainable For the thermal use of solar energy such
socio-economic development. as in SWH, mainly direct radiation (being
part of global radiation) can be used for
The circulation of the heat carrying fluid in energy production (Fig.1). Therefore, the
the SWH described here is effected by the ratio between diffuse and direct radiation
difference of density between the warmer in the area in question has to be checked
liquid in the solar panel and the colder carefully. Diffuse radiation resulting from
liquid in the storage tank. Therefore, no dust, mist and cloudy conditions can -
electrical pumps or control equipment are despite high values of global radiation
needed. hamper the economical feasibility of SWH
in tropical and subtropical regions and has
Due to their simple nature, these SWH can to be taken into account.
be produced by local craftsmen. Because Another important consideration is the
of this, investment costs for the set-up of a occurrence of frost periods in the area. If
SWH can be reduced and a SWH can frosts do occur, the SWH has to be
become a cost-effective alternative to operated with a mixture of antifreeze to
conventional hot-water tanks. SWH are water at a ratio of 1:3. In this case the hot-
used mainly in hospitals and hotels in water storage tank must be put inside the
developing countries. However there are building which will raise costs. In regions
also market opportunities in urban which experience frosts, the use of a
surroundings with increasing standard of pump-driven collector circulation and
living. Projects on SWH carried out in placing the storage tank in the boiler room
Zimbabwe [1] and Puerto Rico [3]have may be preferred.
already shown successful implementation High wind speeds and low ambient air
and stable market conditions for SWH. At temperatures usually require the collectors
present the kozentrum Langenbruck to be covered with glass, especially if high
accompanies partners in Eritrea in setting demands with regard to hot-water
up the local production of SWH. availability and temperature exist. The use
of hardened glazing for solar collectors,
1
gate Information Service / gtz, PO Box 5180, 65726 Eschborn, Germany
Phone: +49 (0)6196 / 79-4214, Fax: +49 (0)6196 / 79-7352, Email: gate-id@gtz.de, Internet: http://www.gtz.de/gate/
global irradiation
[kWh/m2a]
640...900
900...1050
1050...1200
1200...1350
1350...1500
1500...1700
1700...1900
1900...2100
2100...2300
> 2300
Fig. 1: Global irradiation in kWh/m2a [7]
with high transmission and low emission of has to be calculated from the savings
radiation, is preferable for SWH but costs made possible through the use of solar
more than conventional glass. energy instead of conventional energy.
Conventional glass can only be used if no Table 1 shows a comparison of the
hailstorms which can destroy the glass are economic efficiency of SWH for the
known in the region. Alternatively, a countries Eritrea and Kosovo. The Gross
protective barrier made of metal grating solar energy gain is calculated by:
can be used to protect the glass by Quse= optical efficiency * floss * Gt
reducing the impact speed of hailstones,
but this also increases the investment Table 1: Economic efficiency of SWH in
costs of the SWH. Eritrea and Kosovo
The pH value of the water must be taken Eritrea Kosovo Unit
Energy cost per kWh 0.11 0.08 EUR./kWh
into account when constructing a SWH. (electric)
Ground water with a strong deviation from Daily global irradiation Gt 5.5 4.0 kWh/m
neutral pH 7 can influence the corrosion of Yearly global irradiation 2008 1470 kWh/m*year
various components heavily and lead to Coll.- efficiency (x=0.05) 0.6 0.6 %
the early destruction of the SWH. In these Collector area 2 4 m
regions the direct flow of drinking water Energy losses in pipe 0.15 0.15 %
system flos
through the collector (open system) should Gross solar energy gain Quse 1877 2749 kWh/year
be avoided. Savings in electric energy 200 220 EUR/year
2
Costs of a 2m SWH 630 EUR
Using meteorological data the gross solar Costs of a 4m2 SWH 1800 EUR
heat gain of the SWH can be calculated.
The economical efficiency of a SWH can
be estimated from the energy savings 3 Engineering
made possible in comparison to a The SWH described here charge the
conventional system. storage tank by means of a gravity-driven
Two factors are considered to analyze the circulation. This means that the circulation
economic efficiency and market potential of the energy transporting fluid is effected
of the SWH. First, the amount of energy by the difference in density between the
saved and corresponding financial savings hotter fluid in the collector and the colder
have to be calculated. Second, the fluid in the tank situated above the
repayment time for the investment costs collector.
2
The detailed calculation of the inclination

Air volume for thermal of a SWH in a gravity-driven system is
expansion
quite complicated. However, it can be
simplified using limit values of collector
double temperature and volume flow for water as
wall
storage Direct radiation the heat carrying medium.
tank The circulation is being effected by the
different densities (Tab.2) in the supply v
and return r run and by the difference in
Way of
height h. The amount of difference in static
circulation collector pressures p determines how fast the
system will work.
Fig. 2: Gross section of a SWH. The moving water meets resistance
caused by friction with the pipe's walls,
The storage tank may be oriented bends, the tank, fittings etc.
horizontally of vertically. With regards to p= .(p.l)+ pn
the optimal temperature layering
(stratification) of the water in the tank, the The pipe resistance p' is the force (in Pa)
vertical arrangement has some per meter which will slow down the flow of
advantages, but the installation is often water in the pipe. In addition to the
more costly to set up. resistance caused by the pipe wall, the
resistance of each single resistance factor
3.1 Inclination of the SWH pn such as bends, junctions and special
When constructing and installing the SWH mountings has to be calculated. The
it has to be assured that circulation of the corresponding values for p' and for pn are
heat carrying fluid does occur. As a basic usually given in diagrams or tables [4], [5].
principle, SWH in general, but gravity
circulation systems especially should If the resistance is greater than the
avoid the formation of air pockets in the pressure resulting from temperature
collector circulation. Also, all pipe difference and height of the different water
diameters have to be dimensioned large bodies, the system will not work. The
enough to minimize losses though friction. speed of water movement will increase
The inclination of the connecting line until equilibrium between the pressure and
between collector and tank should be at the total resistance of the system is
least 8o. Equally important is a slight reached.
horizontal inclination (1-2o) of the collector
in direction of the upper exit point of the Tab. 2: Density of Water at different
collector, this in order to avoid the temperatures.
formation of air pocket in the corners of Temperature [C] Density [kg/dm]
the collector. 0 0.9998
A vertical inclination of 8o is based on 10 0.9996
experience but is also documented 20 0.9982
thoroughly in literature[6]. 30 0.9956
The optimal vertical inclination of the 40 0.9922
collector is also determined by the regions 50 0.988
latitude. Close to the equator, the suns 60 0.9832
rays hit the ground almost perpendicular 70 0.9777
all year round, making but little inclined 80 0.9718
collectors favorable. In contrast, the
90 0.9653
situation in central Europe asks for an
100 0.9583
optimal angle of installation of about 30o.
3
3.2 Equalizing pressures in the SWH 3.3 Installation and placement of

SWH
The collector has to be safeguarded
against thermal expansion of the heat cold water
storage
carrying fluid. Otherwise, there is danger tank
that the installation is destroyed
prematurely though compressive stresses. by-pass valve
The collector circulation has to be able to hot water

respond to short-time differences in storage tank
density by means of an expansion vessel. collector

In addition, a safety valve must protect the
SWH from stepping over the maximum
permissible pressure of the installation.
The short-time differences in densities hot
water
cold nonreturn
valve
water
may be compensated for by expansion
vessels which are available on the market
for this purpose, or, more simply, by a
volume of air which is present in the
collector circulation and which is capable
of compensating for any thermal Fig. 3: Installation of a SWH in existing
expansion. This air volume can be water supply.
calculated from the volume of the heat When possible, the SWH should be
carrying fluid in the collector circulation, installed directly above the hot-water
the initially charged pressure and the consumer. By doing so, long piping
maximum permissible installation lengths and the corresponding energy
pressure: losses can be avoided.
Before installing the SWH, the roof
construction has to be checked for
stability. If necessary, a sub-structure has
Vexp= Ve . (pe+1) / (pe-pa) to be set up to reinforce the roof
Ve= VSWH . fexp construction. Any shading from buildings
or trees close by (which will lower the
Vexp Air volume [m3] energy yield of the SWH) has also to be
Ve Expansion of volume [m3] accounted for.
pe maximum pressure [Pa] If a SWH is connected to an elevated
pa pressure at 20C [Pa] water storage tank (Fig. 3) it has to be
VSWH Total volume in the collector and checked whether the storage tank can
jacket of the tank [m3] supply enough pressure to fill the SWH.
fexp Thermal expansion factor of water Especially if the SWH is installed on the
(0.036 for T of 90C). roof the height difference between SWH
and elevated storage tank has to be
In SWH in which the water flows directly reviewed.
through the collector there is no need for
any expansion facilities since thermal A nonreturn/check valve should be
stresses can be led away directly through mounted on the cold water supply pipe
the sanitary pipes. Still, a safety valve coming from the elevated storage tank.
should also be installed in these This will avoid draining of the hot-water
installations since sudden pressure tank in case the elevated storage tank
changes in the sanitary pipes can lead to runs empty. Otherwise, if the hot-water
the destruction of the SWH. tank is emptied, air will enter the pipe
system which will require the whole
installation to be purged of air.
4
The pipe carrying the hot-water away from back. If warm climatic conditions prevail,
the hot water tank should be insulated, at the glassing and insulation may be
least outside the building, even if a warm
climate prevails. Otherwise, substantial
energy losses can occur through the
connecting pipes.
3.4 Corrosion
Installation of SWH on metal roof
Electrochemical corrosion of parts of the
SWH through contact with other metals
such as copper and zinc has to be avoided
when installing the SWH on a metal roof. If
metals with unequal electrochemical
potential are screwed together, a spacer of
e.g. rubber has to be used to avoid direct
contact of the two metals.
Copper pipes for installation
The same is true for the installation of
water pipes: if copper pipes are used
together with galvanized steel pipes the
two metals have to be separated Fig. 4: soldering of the absober on the
electrochemically by a brass adapter. soldering table.
Downstream from a copper pipe, no
galvanized steel pipe should be installed unnecessary. As shown in Fig. 5, no
since copper ions will reach the zinc with bends which will allow siphoning should be
the water and corrode it. present in the absorber of a gravity
circulation system.
In order to avoid corrosion of a SWH, a
closed circulation system is advised. Securely connecting the absorber pipes
Especially if copper is used as heat with the collecting pipes at each side of
absorbing material there is danger of the absorber is achieved using a special
electrochemical corrosion in an open enlargement tool and hard soldering. The
system. absorber pipes are soldered to the
Corrosion can also occur in the cracks and absorber sheet metal using a custom-
crevices of an improperly constructed hot- made soldering table (Fig. 4) which allows
water tank. To avoid these cracks, the to press the pipes down on the sheet
body surface of the tank has to be metal for subsequent soldering.
constructed of rounded parts, bluntly When doing so, care has to be taken to
welded together to form the tank. heat up the absorber in a regular fashion.
Otherwise, thermal stress will make the
sheet metal bend and corrugate.
4 Techniques of construction For insulating the collector, a material has
to be used which does not release any of
4.1 The collector
its constituents when heated up. These
The solar collector consists of a copper vapours can precipitate on the inner side
absorber which transports the energy of of the glazing and greatly reduce the
the solar radiation from an absorbing efficiency of the collector. The suitability of
lacquer to the water. The absorber is an insulating material can be tested quite
insulated against energy losses by glass simply by heating a sample of the material
on the front and an insulation layer in the in a cooking pot and watching if any
5
12mm 3 2 4
62.5
t = 0.5 mm
1
125
22 mm
1000
1000
2000
2030
2052
2
Fig. 5: Design of a 2m absorber.
4.2 The hot-water tank
precipitation occurs on a piece of glass Hot-water tanks are usually constructed of
which covers the pot. The choice of the steel with enamelled or synthetic inner
proper glazing was already discussed in surface coating. At times plastic tanks are
chapter 2. also used, but these have to suffice the
The collector can be assembled using a same high demands on temperature
simple construction of metal sheet. For resistance as steel tanks [1]. Steel tanks
reinforcement of the frame, wood can also are often protected additionally against
be used. corrosion using a sacrificial anode.
flow from the collector safety valve
hot water
cold water
heat exchanger jacket
flow to the collector

Fig. 6: Drawing of a hot water tank
6
In reality, the area of the collector field is

Usually, magnesium is used as the usually a matter of the available financial
sacrificial anode which will corrode before means. Especially in temperate regions
steel. Corrosion can also be avoided by a with little solar irradiation, a fraction of
properly constructed tank which is free of 60% of total energy demand for hot-water
cracks and crevices (see chapter 3.4 and heating to be covered by solar energy is
Fig .6). seen as optimum. To provide for 100% of
All pipe connections to the tank have to be the energy needed with solar energy is
led down after leaving the tank since only reasonable in southern countries with
otherwise, internal circulation in the high solar radiation and favorable climate.
connecting pieces will cause a constant
loss of energy. The tank has to be In southern countries, the size of the tank
protected against energy losses can be dimensioned as to contain the
(especially at night) with locally available amount of hot-water needed for one day.
insulation material. In northern countries, the tank size should
allow the bridging of three days of
unfavorable weather, which means a tank
5 Dimensioning of the SWH
of about 500 to 700 liters for a single
The dimensions of the installation to be family detached house.
built is mainly dependent on the daily
demand for hot-water and the radiation on
6 References and further
the collector area. The optimal position of
the installation often has to be adjusted information
due to roof construction and shading, yet
usually a solution can be found. [1] W. Weiss, A. Schwarzlmller: Solar
At an optimal southern alignment and the energy co-operation Austria
proper inclination, the solar gross heat Zimbabwe A contribution to
gain can be calculated as follows: sustainable development. Syposium
on renewable energy in developing
Qsol = AColl . HGh .
countries, Basel, Switzerland 2002
Qsol: Solar gross heat gain of the SWH [2] Meteonorm, Version 4.0, Meteotest,
[kWh/a] Bern 2000
AColl : Area of the collector [m2] [3] O. Headley, Barbados Employs the
HGh : Global radiation on the inclined sun to heat water, Inforse Sustainable
area [kWh/m2a] Energy News, No. 30, Aug. 2000
: Optical efficiency of the solar [4] H. Recknagel, E. Sprenger, W.
collector Hnmann; Taschenbuch fr Heizung
The amount of energy which is required und Klimatechnik; Oldenburg Verlag,
can be calculated from the hot-water 1987, Mnchen
consumption for a year, the difference in [5] H. Appold, A. Schulze-Oechtering,
temperature between cold and hot-water Fachkenntnisse Zentralheizungs und
and the heat capacity of water: Lftungsbauer, Verlag Handwerk und
Technik, Hamburg 1992.
QHW = m . cp . T
[6] H.Ladener, Solaranlagen-Planung,
QHW: Energy needed for water heating Bau + Selbstabu von Solarsystemen
[kWh/a] zur Warmwasserbereitung und
m: Consumption of hot-water per year Raumheizung, kobuch Verlag,
[kg/a] Staufen bei Freiburg, 1996.
cp: Heat capacity of water [kWh/K kg]
T: Temperature difference for water
heating [K]
7
6.1 Institutions and Organisations
Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Technische

Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, German
Appropriate Technology Exchange-GATE
Information Service
P.O. Box 5180, 65726 Eschborn, Germany
Phone: +49 (0)6196 / 79-4214
Fax: +49 (0)6196 / 79-7352
Email: gate-id@gtz.de,
Internet: http://www.gtz.de/gate
kozentrum Langenbruck
Centre of Appropriate Technology and
Social Ecology
Schwengistrasse 12, 4438 Langenbruck
Switzerland
Phone: +41 (0) 62 387 31 11
Fax: +41 (0)62 390 16 40
Email: admin@oekozentrum.ch
Internet: www.oekozentrum.ch
Arbeitsgemeinschaft ERNEUERBARE
ENERGIE
Institut fr Nachaltige Technologien
Postfach 142, A-8200 Gleisdorf, Austria
Phone: +43 (0) 3112 58 86
Fax: +43 (0) 3112 58 86 18
Email: office@aee.at,
Internet: www.aee.at
8

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Solar water heater with thermosyphon circulation

Information & Knowledge Management

1 Introduction 2 Feasibility study on SWH

The detailed calculation of the inclination

3.2 Equalizing pressures in the SWH 3.3 Installation and placement of

The collector circulation has to be able to hot water

density by means of an expansion vessel. collector

flow from the collector safety valve

heat exchanger jacket

flow to the collector

In reality, the area of the collector field is

6.1 Institutions and Organisations

Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Technische

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