Calculation of long term solar collector heating system performance

Conference · Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1977 · Sol. Energy; (United States)

OSTI ID:7102432

Swanson, S R; Boehm, R F

A calculation of system performance is necessary for an economic analysis of solar space heating systems, but is made difficult by the complexity of the system and weather parameters. The system studies in the literature have in general employed detailed computer analyses which, although informative, require detailed weather records and tend to be costly in computer time. To overcome these difficulties, a simplified technique to predict yearly system performance was developed. This simplified method is based on a computation of the system performance for a single ''average'' day of each month, modifying this result with a correction factor, and summing the results over each month of the heating season. The result is that system performance can be calculated easily, by hand or with trivial computer cost. A comparison with detailed numerical analyses in the literature for systems in the cities of Phoenix, Charleston, Madison and Boston shows excellent agreement. Results are also presented for systems in Salt Lake City.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City
• OSTI ID: 7102432
• Journal Information: Sol. Energy; (United States), Vol. 19:2; Conference: ISES international solar energy congress and exposition, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 28 Jul 1975
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
SOLAR COLLECTORS
PERFORMANCE
SOLAR HEATING SYSTEMS
CALCULATION METHODS
DAILY VARIATIONS
INSOLATION
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
SIZE
SOLAR SPACE HEATING
WEATHER
HEATING
HEATING SYSTEMS
SOLAR HEATING
SPACE HEATING
VARIATIONS
140901* - Solar Thermal Utilization- Space Heating & Cooling
141000 - Solar Collectors & Concentrators