The Performance of an Experimental Solar Heating System.
Abstract
This report describes the performance of a residential-scale, completely instrumented solar heating system located at the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL), Champaign, IL. The investigation was made between January 1977 and April 1978. In addition, a daily profile of the performance of the system and its components is presented for a representative sunny winter day. An analysis of the solar system operation indicated that the collector array is by far the most inefficient component in the system for converting incident solar energy into useful heat. The solar system consists of 20 sq m (220 sq ft) of flat-plate, selective surface, singly glazed solar collerctors and a 7.6 cu m (2000 gal) equivalent hot water storage tank. The storage system supplies hot water for heating a 50 sq m (540 sq ft) building used by CERL as office space. There is no domestic hot water in the building. Auxiliary energy is supplied by an electric, flow-through hot water heater. The results of this research are presented in terms of mean daily averages for each month during the heating season and include instantaneous solar radiation (horizontal and in the plane of the collector), useful heat acquired by the collector, useful heat delivered to the thermal storage tank, useful heat delivered to the heating load, thermal storage heat losses, and electrical energy supplied to the pumps. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1979
- Accession Number
- ADA066699
Entities
People
- D. J. Leverenz
- D. L. Johnson
- D. M. Joncich
Organizations
- Construction Engineering Research Laboratory