Thermal Performance Testing and Mathematically Modeling of Integral Collector Storage Solar Hot Water Systems

摘要

An investigation was carried out to evaluate a possible alternative test method for integral collector storage solar hot water systems. The new test method is an alternative to the established consensus standard method which requires that integral collector storage systems be tested using a solar irradiance simulator. The concept behind the alternative method is to characterize the thermal performance of the solar collection elements in the integral system using standard test methods for conventional solar collectors. After measuring the efficiency and incident angle response, the integral collector storage hot water system would be tested using an electrical heat source to simulate the absorbed solar energy. The research included both experimental and analytical investigations on the collector elements and on the complete system. All-day tests were performed on two commercial integral collector storage solar domestic hot water systems. Tests were performed under a variety of ambient conditions and irradiance levels. An analytical model was developed to predict the thermal performance of one of the systems. Predicted performance was compared with experimental results.