Modelling and simulation of a solar water heating system with thermal storage

Abstract

This paper presents a solar thermal energy storage system used for domestic water heating purposes in a detached house setting. Solar heating systems with seasonal energy storage have attracted growing attention in recent decades. However, because the availability of solar energy is discontinuous, heat storage is an indispensable element in a building's solar energy-based thermal system. The objective of modelling is to determine the temperature of a tank and the heat loss of a system. System design is dependent on certain equations and data, such as temperature, time, and flow rate estimated in a lab. A BEopt and Matlab / Simulink model is used to determine the storage water temperature of the tank and house temperature. Additionally, the house has two heat sources: the hot water of the storage tank, and the solar used for heating. The maximum temperature of the storage tank was found to be 82.4°C and the temperature inside the house ranged from 18 to 25.11°C. Overall, the heating of the house needed 12,268 kWh/yr, while the total energy use was 19,537 kWh/yr.