Operational experience with drain-down solar systems
Drain-down solar collector systems offer substantial economic advantage over antifreeze/heat-exchange systems. Drain-down systems are simpler, have lower piping and plumbing costs, and operate at higher collector and system efficiencies. Properly designed and installed drain-down systems intrinsically should require less maintenance. These advantages have not yet been demonstrated in actual operating experience. A substantial number of the Solar Heating and Cooling Demonstration projects under Ames Laboratory cognizance are of drain-down design. Most projects are located in freezing climates; some suffered damage from freezing last winter. Operating experiences for these projects are presented, together with some design criteria for drain-down systems that these operating experiences reveal.
- Research Organization:
- Ames Lab., IA (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-82
- OSTI ID:
- 6492913
- Report Number(s):
- IS-M-166; CONF-781102-3
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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