Abstract
The use of solar water heating systems (SWHS) based on evacuated tube collectors (ETC) has experienced rapid growth in the residential sector. In contrast, the implementation of these systems in the industrial sector is very limited, due in part to the demand of a higher temperature in water. Taking into account that the final energy of the industrial sector is similar to the residential sector, to increase the generation of renewable energy and energy saving in cities, efforts in this sector should be redoubled. Therefore, the present work characterises the behaviour of a SWHS-ETC with active circulation to produce hot water at 90 °C, determining its performance, energy saving and profitability in different scenarios in Europe. The annual energy savings generated by the SWHS Range between 741 and 435 kWh m−2 (reduction of emissions between 215 and 88 kg CO2 m−2). The results of the analysis of profitability, studying the variation of the conventional energy price, the cost of the investment, the useful life and the energy supplied, in thousands of scenarios, are a valuable tool for correct decision making, as they can be of great utility to increase the implementation of these systems in the industrial sector.
Highlights
The use of solar systems based on evacuated-tube collectors (ETC) to supply hot water has experienced rapid growth in recent years, highlighting its use in the residential sector
The useful energy extracted from the collector increases following a potential model, as the solar irradiation increases and the thermal jump decreases with respect to the required temperature (90 ◦ C)
The results show that the energy price of the conventional supply system is the most determining factor for the investment in the solar water heating systems (SWHS) to be profitable
Summary
The use of solar systems based on evacuated-tube collectors (ETC) to supply hot water has experienced rapid growth in recent years, highlighting its use in the residential sector. This expansion has been especially significant in China, Europe and Japan as a result of the increase in the supply of evacuated-tube collectors [1], with the consequent drop in prices. The vacuum reduces the losses by convection and conduction, presents better performance when the conditions become unfavourable during the cold, cloudy and windy days [4]. According to Sokhansefat et al [5], the performance of an ETC system is
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