Thermal Convexity Analysis of a Solar Water Heating System

Preface vii

Chapter 1. Global Energy Context 1
1.1. Global energy consumption 1
1.2. Solar energy development 5

Chapter 2. Thermal Solar Systems 11
2.1. High-temperature solar thermal 14
2.1.1. Parabolic concentrators 15
2.1.2. Tower plants 31
2.1.3. Cylindrical-parabolic collectors 36
2.2. Low-temperature solar thermal 69
2.2.1. Solar pool heating 73
2.2.2. Solar space heating 75
2.2.3. Domestic hot water 77
2.3. Solar panels 82
2.3.1. Types of solar panels 82
2.3.2. Solar collector efficiency 86

Chapter 3. Thermal Convexity Principle 117
3.1. Single-phase fluid mixing 117
3.2. Fluid heat exchange through an isotherm surface 120
3.3. Heat exchange along a pipe crossing an isotherm compartment 121
3.4. Solar receiver 123
3.5. Heat exchange along a tubular heat exchanger 124

Chapter 4. Solar Water Heating Analysis 139
4.1. Thermal modeling of solar water heating 139
4.1.1. Collector model 139
4.1.2. Heat exchanger 143
4.1.3. Storage tank 146
4.1.4. Solar water heating global model 148
4.2. Solar position and radiation 149
4.2.1. Sun position 150
4.2.2. Solar radiation 155
4.3. Simulation and discussion 158
4.3.1. Daily response to variation in solar radiation 159
4.3.2. Effect of the calorific fluid flow rate 161
4.4. Experimental results with a fixed solar collector 170
4.4.1. Without consumption of domestic hot water 170
4.4.2. With consumption of domestic hot water 177
4.5. Experimental results with the solar tracker 181

Conclusion 193
Appendix. Principles of Heat Transfer 201
References 241
Index 247