Building envelope integrated solar thermal systems for space and water heating
Lead Research Organisation:
Loughborough University
Department Name: Wolfson Sch of Mech, Elec & Manufac Eng
Abstract
Vacuum flat plate solar thermal systems offer advantages over both vacuum tube systems by collecting a greater fraction of the available solar resource and flat plate systems by allowing higher temperatures to be achieved with better efficiency. The vacuum envelope if at a pressure of less than 0.1Pa effectively suppresses gaseous conduction and convection allowing thin panels to be developed with increased suitability for building envelope integration.
Solar energy availability and thus solar thermal heat generation is often out of phase with heat demand for water or space heating, requiring effective thermal storage to allow demands to be met.
In this project designs for durable vacuum flat plate systems will be developed and prototype laboratory scale systems produced for performance evaluation. A detailed model of vacuum plate solar systems linked to different types of thermal storage will be developed. This model will allow different options and approaches for thermal storage, sensible, latent and thermochemical to be simulated to assess the level of solar savings fractions that can be achieved for a range of representative hot water and space heating loads. Prototype stores will be developed and characterised in the lab before outdoor testing of an integrated system comprising vacuum flat plate collector and thermal store.
Solar energy availability and thus solar thermal heat generation is often out of phase with heat demand for water or space heating, requiring effective thermal storage to allow demands to be met.
In this project designs for durable vacuum flat plate systems will be developed and prototype laboratory scale systems produced for performance evaluation. A detailed model of vacuum plate solar systems linked to different types of thermal storage will be developed. This model will allow different options and approaches for thermal storage, sensible, latent and thermochemical to be simulated to assess the level of solar savings fractions that can be achieved for a range of representative hot water and space heating loads. Prototype stores will be developed and characterised in the lab before outdoor testing of an integrated system comprising vacuum flat plate collector and thermal store.
Organisations
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP/N509516/1 | 01/10/2016 | 30/09/2021 | |||
| 2051780 | Studentship | EP/N509516/1 | 01/01/2018 | 30/09/2021 | Gaurav Nanajkar |
| Description | I am able to design a slim novel evacuated flat plate collector having a concentrator sandwiched between the glass and a metal tray. I built a prototype without any fluid ports just to verify if the design can sustain the vacuum pressure of 0.1Pa and the prototype was able to sustain it. I verified the deformation of glass calculated by using digital image correlation experimental method. The ISES conference paper is published in conference proceedings based on this topic titled as 'Finite element analysis of a novel building integrated soar thermal vacuum flat plate collector for water and space heating'. |
| Exploitation Route | The novel solar vacuum flat plate collector is designed in such a way that it can be used to integrate in building facades for household applications as well as in industrial process heat applications where the temperature requirement is between 150-200 degC. This prototype has a lot of improvement scope from design and manufacturing perspective. Especially the research on glass to stainless steel bonding process, efficient way of manufacturing a solar concentrator (CPC) are few research options to mention under future scope of improvement. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Communities and Social Services/Policy,Construction,Energy,Environment,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |