Technical support for a solar water heating marketing study is reported. This work includes a selection of candidate systems and experimental evaluation of typical units. The purpose of this program is to assess the viability of the selected systems for the Las Vegas, Nevada, application and to determine certain performance characteristics, including system life cycle cost insights. Two different types of solar water heaters are being evaluated: one type is an integrated/collector storage (ICS) unit, and the other is an indirect heater. In addition to the evaluation of energy performance, other aspects are of interest, including the freeze potential of the ICS unit and the antifreeze durability of the indirect unit in the vagaries of the Las Vegas weather. In the energy performance tests, simulated hot water use patterns are imposed on the heaters. In the paper, the general requirements and approach for the experimental program are outlined.
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