SOLAR 2013: DEVELOPING A TESTING FACILITY FOR THE USE OF SOLAR THERMAL COLLECTORS IN RESIDENTIAL HEATING AND COOLING APPLICATIONS

摘要

Work conducted at the Renewable Energy Deployment and Display (REDD) Laboratory of the Desert Research Institute demonstrates the use of different types of solar thermal collectors for residential heating and cooling. The facility also generates electricity though solar and wind. The fully instrumented system provides a comparison between the systems in the application of driving an absorption chiller. Three solar thermal systems are used for comparison: a conventional glycol-based solar thermal collector (Array 1), a water-based envelope style collector (Array 2), and a site-constructed air system built by researchers at DRI. Array 1 and Array 2 supply energy to their own 120 gallon (454 L) water storage tank operating an absorption chiller for cooling or is plumbed to a heat exchanger in the furnace for heating. The air system is located in a separate building where it heats the facility directly or stores energy in two 120 gallon (454 L).