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NAVFAC MO-405 Maintenance and Operation
of Active Solar Heating Systems 277pg 1990 Naval Facilities Military PDF.
This Maintenance and Operations (MO) Manual contains information on the
operation, inspection, troubleshooting, repair and maintenance of liquid solar
heating systems. That is, solar heating or cooling systems using liquid, rather
than air, to gather heat, pumps to move it and tanks of water to store it.
Basic/Introductory Info:
Heating Your Home with an Active Solar Energy
System Excellent introductory
article. Active solar systems consist of collectors
that collect solar radiation and electric fans or pumps to distribute heat
from the collectors. A liquid or air is used as the heat transfer fluid.
Most systems also incorporate storage systems to provide heat when the sun
is not shining...
Active solar
Active solar technologies usually consist of a solar collecting device that
is designed to capture the sun’s energy; it can be used to store or transfer
heat energy in water or air. Unlike passive solar technologies there is
usually a moving part of the system involved with active solar technologies
hence the word – active – usually a pump type device...
BSC Photovoltaic Primer June 2002, Building Science Corporation.
PV systems have come a long way in the last two decades. While they may not
work for all homes, residential installations are becoming a practical
reality under more and more conditions. Here are the nitty-gritty details of
photovoltaic systems. The details are meant to “de-mystify” both the
technology and its economics.
Glossary of Solar Heating Terms Pretty good list of terms.
Solar Hot Water
Not a bad article for its size
Introduction to Solar Water Heating Solar water heaters let you
use the sun’s “free” heat energy to produce hot water for daily use.
Contrary to some beliefs, most of these systems are NOT designed to meet the
entire hot water needs of most homes. Instead, solar water heaters are
designed to pre-heat water.
Solar Water Heating Systems: Which One is Right for You? A solar
water heating system is made up of several important elements: one or more
solar collectors, a pump, a heat exchanger, a storage tank (or multiple
tanks), and a back-up storage tank. There are two system types: active
(closed-loop and open-loop) and passive (batch heaters and
thermosiphon systems). Active systems use electricity (either from your
utility or photovoltaic cells) to power the pumps that move liquid through
the system. Passive systems do not; they rely on gravity.
Solar Hot Water: A Primer In this article I'm going to cover the
most common options for solar water heating, basic principles of operation,
and some historical perspective on what has worked and what has not. You can
also view this in
PDF format
Active Systems
The collector itself is usually constructed of an insulated aluminum box
into which an all copper absorber plate is positioned, and then a low-iron
tempered glass cover plate is added to create the greenhouse effect that
delivers the high (120-180 Deg.F.) temperatures required for modern
household usage.
Solar Hot Water, Heating and Cooling
Systems. Designs &
informative text.
Sourcebook- Solar Hot Water, Heating and
Cooling Systems
Heating Your Home with an Active Solar Energy
System Bob Villa says "Heating
your home with an active solar energy system can significantly reduce your
fuel bills in the winter. A solar heating system will also reduce the amount
of air pollution and greenhouse gases that result from your use of fossil
fuels such as oil, propane, and natural gas for heating or that may be used
to generate the electricity that you use..."
Components:
A Tracking Solar Concentrator for the home
experimenter It's been about
twenty years since the USA experienced the big energy crunch and the
resulting flurry of alternate energy schemes. Sadly, interest in solar, wind
and other sources quickly faded as Americans came to suspect that the crunch
was more created than real, and abundant petroleum was again available, but
at greatly increased prices. Teton Engineering Inc developed a 20,000 Btu
(6000 watt) solar concentrator designed specifically for the backyard
mechanic to build using simple construction and basic materials. The design
was marketed all around the world while interest was high, but eventually
that interest faded away. We continue to receive requests for the manual but
it has been withdrawn from the market long ago due to the ever increasing
litigious atmosphere in the USA. Searching the internet, we find very little
information to help the non professional or hobbyist solar energy
experimenter so have decided to contribute the successful design to the
public domain without an obligation to provide support or expect
compensation. This information is offered for historical interest.
Design/Planning:
G1971 Active Solar Collectors for Farm
Buildings, MU Extension
Mastering Light & Air - PDF 1.7MB &
Mastering Power Demands - PDF 575KB &
Mastering Solar Energy Systems - PDF 218KB
Solar Home Design Guide
Just the basics, but a good place to start.
Siting of Active Solar Collectors and Photovoltaic Modules
To install a solar energy system properly, it is
important to understand the siting and tilt requirements for solar
collectors. This is true for all types of solar collectors, whether they are
flat plate collectors for heating water, or photovoltaic modules for
generating electricity. The flat plate collectors or photovoltaic modules
must be oriented and tilted to obtain maximum solar radiation and to avoid
unwanted shading. Evaluating these factors at the outset is essential to
determine if your proposed site is suitable for collecting solar energy and
to ensure that your system operates efficiently.
Calculate Your Hot Water Needs and Costs
Enter a few fields of data and out
pops your costs & needs.
Site, Solar & House Planning Extensive, intuitive online manual
- though a bit simplistic.
SOLAR MAP
OF THE U.S. and Two sets of solar radiation resource maps are available on
the RReDC. Both are derived form the
National Solar Radiation Data Base (NSRDB).
They are:
The Atlas for The Solar Radiation Data Manual
For Flat-Plate and Concentrating Collectors
The Atlas for The Solar Radiation Data Manual
For Buildings
Building/Installing Systems:
SOLAR HEATING MY WORKSHOP Detailed blog of my progress building a
solar heating system for my workshop in 2001 - and continuing changes and
improvements. Updates occur as I improve and re-design my system.
Radiant Floor Heating If you're one of the many do-it-yourselfers
who appreciate step by step installation guidelines, this page is for you!
Of course, our technicians are always available to help you design a system
specific to your particular situation. But these installation techniques
will give you a glimpse into the possibilities. Get all the site info in a
PDF manual:
Radiant Floor Company Manual and for
Heat Sources
Thermosyphon Solar Heater [PDF] This article describes the simple
and inexpensive passive solar collector that I use to heat my shop/barn. The
total cost for the 150 sqft collector is about $350, and all the materials
are available at your local hardware/lumber store. The design can be adapted
to suit a wide variety of spaces, including a living space. At our current
propane prices ($2.00 per gallon), this project has a one year payback.
How to Build a Solar Hot Water System by John Canivan. An easy to
follow, step-by-step 80-page book with clarified theory and dozens of
illustrations. It was written for anyone concerned about saving money, and
our little blue-green planet. Online, free teaser is enough to get most
folks going.
Garage/Workshop Sunspace [PDF] This is an inexpensive and simple
project to convert a garage/workshop that has a south facing rollup garage
door into a solar heated and lighted sunspace. This is accomplished by
adding a new set of glazed doors just to the south of your existing rollup
door. In the day time the rollup door is opened and the workshop space is
heated and lighted by the sun. At night the rollup door is closed and
greatly reduces night time heat loss. It will turn your workshop from a cold
dark cave into a warm, well lighted room that is much more pleasant to work
in. It will also lower your heating bill.
Solar window heater Do you have some south facing windows? (North
facing if you are in the Southern Hemisphere), If so you might want to
consider some free solar heat. Don't expect this to eliminate all heating
costs but it will reduce your expenses. The more windows you can place one
of these solar heaters in the more you will see a reduction in your heating
costs. See also:
Maine Solar Primer "Sun Grabber" and
Mother's "Heat Grabber" and another take:
A thermosyphon wall collector. see also:
Thermosyphoning Air Panel (TAP) and
A simple, wall mounted thermosyphon solar air collector and (big
Project)
Solar Ventilation Wall With Heat Storage [PDF] and
Passive Solar Shop Heating &
Plans for same.
Integrating Light Transmitting Sheets for Skylights in Roofing and Siding
-- Installation Guide. Details on how to integrate plastic glazing panels in
roofs or walls to provide lighting and solar gain.
A $1 per square foot Trombe Wall
This is a really simple way to turn an ordinary uninsulated masonry wall
into a passive solar Trombe wall. Costs about a buck a square foot, and no
holes to punch in the wall.
Schematic Diagram of a Solar Hot Water
Heating System
About Solar Panels Describes just about
every type of active panel available.
Solar Installation Completion Check List
Kind of like a packing list for do-it-yourselfers.
Installing Solar Panels on a Flat Roof a
step by step installation of a solar panel mounting system that is
incorporated into the construction a new roof. This process allows for no
penetrations to be made in the new roof, and a structural attachment of the
racking system.
Installing Solar Panels on a Sloped Roof a step by step installation
of solar panel mounting procedures used for a ten panel pool heating system,
that is incorporated into the construction a new roof. The panels are
installed on top of a garage roof, with 5 panels on either side, with a west
to east orientation.
Excerpts from the book "The Complete Handbook
of Solar Air Heating Systems", by Steve Kornher with Andy Zaugg are provided
below. This is the best book I know of on designing and building solar air
collector heating systems. It includes very good design and construction
detail:
Introduction -- Site Built Collectors in the San Luis Valley (263 KB pdf)
Chapter 1 -- Keeping Warm: The Principles of Solar Heating (355 KB pdf)
Chapter 2 -- A Survey of Air-Heating-Options (1.2 MB pdf)
Chapter 3 -- The Economics of Solar Heating (Coming)
Chapter 4 -- Designing the Collector (3.0 MB pdf)
Chapter 5 -- Construction Materials (1.7 MB pdf)
Chapter 6 -- Thermostats, Blowers (1.3 MB pdf)
Chapter 7 -- Building Passive Air Heaters: The Window Box and Thermosiphoning Air Panel (2.6 MB pdf)
Chapter 8 -- Building Active Air Collectors (5.0 MB pdf)Some newer information from Andy Zaugg to supplement Chapter 8Chapter 9 -- Designing and Installing Duct Systems (3.2 MB pdf)
Collector Cross Section From Above (40K pdf)
Collector Cross Section From East (80K pdf)
Collector Metal Parts (44K pdf)
Chapter 10 -- Solar Water Heating (1.2 MB pdf)
Chapter 11 -- Thermal Storage for Large Systems (2.1 MB pdf)
Chapter 12 -- Some Shining Examples (1.5 MB pdf)
Appendices -- Appendix1 through 6 (2.7MB pdf)
Index -- Full, searchable Index (72K pdf)
DIY Combination Solar Water and Home Heating System Renew
Magazine Article. Interesting article on a very large and completely home
built solar collector and storage system.
60 sqft Active Wall Collector
This is a nice design for a wall mounted, 60 sqft, fan forced solar air
collector.
Building an inexpensive solar heating panel
Article from Mobile Home Repairs on building a wall mounted solar air
collector with PV driven fan circulation. Very complete How-To instructions.
Mother’s Mobile Home Mini-Manual Mother Earth News Article, Issue
95 Sept/Oct 1985 Fairly detailed plans for a solar space heater intended for
mobile homes (but probably adaptable to many situations). Good construction
diagrams.
The IPEX "technical library" contains some excellent documents
for the design and installation of radiant floors. IPEX is a supplier of
radiant floor components.
Wall Mounted Air Collector Bill Kreamer Sol-Air Company: An easy
to build, wall mounted solar air collector with forced air circulation.
Large Active Air Collector Quite a bit of detail on a solar space
heating system that uses a large active solar air collector, as well as
evacuated tube collectors. The system has saved $8500 since since 1994, and
provides about 60% of the house energy bill.
Water Collector Plans
A not too detailed set of plans for a flat plate solar collector from Mother
Earth news
Systems in Use:
Suwannee River Administration Building
Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Clinch County, Georgia PDF - 1.9MB
Active Solar Heating Systems Performance and Reliability
After the energy crises of the 1970s and the
subsequent increases in the cost of petroleum-based fuels, interest in
active solar energy systems surged. Thousands of systems were installed from
the late 1970s through middle 1980s. Federal and local governments,
utilities, and private homeowners participated in the installation of these
systems. During this period, hundreds of solar systems were monitored,
producing a great deal of documented performance data. The majority of the
data collected was on the performance of solar domestic hot water systems.
The following is a summary of the effectiveness of the more common types of
solar domestic hot water systems from data collected from performance
monitoring activities of the 1980s.
Solar Heating at -20F? We have been having a cold snap for the last
couple days here is SW Montana. I thought it would be interesting to record
temperatures in the solar heated shop/garage to see how well it can do with
very cold, but sunny weather.
Van Geet Off-Grid Home: An Integrated Approach
to Energy Savings [PDF]
The Van Geet home near Denver, Colorado,
exemplifies the effectiveness of coupling energy conservation measures with
renewable energy utilization in a modern residence.
Link Sites:
The El Paso Solar Energy Association (Lots of
solar-related how-tos) The
purpose of this site is to provide practical information on solar energy and
energy efficiency. Whether you're designing or building a new home or need
more information on solar water heating or heating a swimming pool we hope
you find this information helpful.
Active Solar Energy Program
Active solar energy technologies
convert sunlight into other forms of energy by using an energy transfer
fluid such as water or air. In Canada, these technologies are primarily used
for air and water heating. Other applications include air conditioning,
detoxification of contaminated water, and thermal-electric power generation.
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