Monitoring and performance of the solar weatherization assistance program solar domestic hot water systems

摘要

As pant of the Florida's Solar Weatherization Assistance Program, 721 homes were fitted with solar domestic hot water systems to lower utility bills for low income homeowners. A sample of 35 homes was monitored before and after the solarinstallation to evaluate the thermal and economic savings potential of the program. The installed systems are retrofits, utilizing a 20% lower collector surface area to tank volume ratio than is typically installed. Thermal performance and electricaldemand for the group of systems is presented along with water usage profiles. The data indicate the viability of small SDHW systems as an energy saving tool for weatherization in warm climates.