Wind Assisted Circulation Vs Forced Circulation Domestic Solar Hot Water Systems with Co2Filled Collector

Abstract

The main focus of this study is to escalate the performance of the solar collector panel with minimal modification in a domestic solar hot water system. The conventional solar collector panel is filled with CO2 gas and the experiments were conducted for both forced circulation system (FCS) and wind assisted circulation system (WACS). The results were compared to the same systems when they are operated without filling CO2 in the solar collector panel. The hourly average efficiency seemed to be responding with respect to incident solar radiation and it corresponds to increased circulation rate of water across the collector. It was evident that the daily average system efficiency was enhanced by 3.27% and 3.6% for FCS and WACS mode of operation with CO2 filled collector panel. Comparative study between FCS and WACS modes of operation with and without CO2 reveal that WACS with CO2 gas filled in the collector plane under normal atmospheric pressure (WACS-CO2) appears be a better alternative to replace the FCS and WACS since WACS-CO2 does not require electricity for its operation and can be installed in remote areas with limited or no supply of electricity.