- Author
- Fanney, A. H. | Liu, S. T.
- Title
- Performance of Six Solar Domestic Hot Water Systems in the Mid-Atlantic Region.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC Department of Energy, Washington, DC
- Book or Conf
- Solar Heating and Cooling Systems Operational Results, 2nd Annual Conference. Proceedings. November 27-30, 1979, Colorado Springs, CO, 25-31 p., 1979
- Keywords
- residential buildings; performance tests; performance evaluation
- Identifiers
- solar water heaters; solar water heating
- Abstract
- In order to provide data required for the validation of computer programs for solar domestic hot water systems, the staff of the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) fabricated and instrumented six typical residential-size systems at its Gaithersburg, Maryland site. Three of the six systems utilize a single hot water tank and the other three utilize two tanks. Three different methods of freeze protection are being utilized among the systems: water-ethylene glycol mixture in the collector loop with an intermediate heat exchanger, drain-down using solenoid valves to dump the water from the collectors, and air-heating collectors in conjunction with an air-water heat exchanger. One system relies on the thermosyphon principle while the other five require electric power for fans or pumps. The systems have been operating since June, 1978. This paper describes the testing done and gives the experimental results for the first year of operation.