1 s2.0 S0038092X08001552 Main
1 s2.0 S0038092X08001552 Main
1 s2.0 S0038092X08001552 Main
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Received 29 January 2007; received in revised form 5 November 2007; accepted 23 June 2008
Available online 18 July 2008
Abstract
In this paper, the environmental benefits or renewable energy systems are initially presented followed by a study of the thermal per-
formance, economics and environmental protection offered by thermosiphon solar water heating systems. The system investigated is of
the domestic size, suitable to satisfy most of the hot water needs of a family of four persons. The results presented in this paper show that
considerable percentage of the hot water needs of the family are covered with solar energy. This is expressed as the solar contribution and
its annual value is 79%. Additionally, the system investigated give positive and very promising financial characteristics with payback time
of 2.7 years and life cycle savings of 2240 € with electricity backup and payback time of 4.5 years and life cycle savings of 1056 € with
diesel backup. From the results it can also be shown that by using solar energy considerable amounts of greenhouse polluting gasses are
avoided. The saving, compared to a conventional system, is about 70% for electricity or diesel backup. With respect to life cycle assess-
ment of the systems, the energy spent for the manufacture and installation of the solar systems is recouped in about 13 months, whereas
the payback time with respect to emissions produced from the embodied energy required for the manufacture and installation of the
systems varies from a few months to 3.2 years according to the fuel and the particular pollutant considered. It can therefore be concluded
that thermosiphon solar water hearting systems offer significant protection to the environment and should be employed whenever pos-
sible in order to achieve a sustainable future.
Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Thermosiphon; Solar water heating; Thermal performance; Economic analysis; Embodied energy; Environmental life cycle analysis
0038-092X/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.solener.2008.06.005
40 S. Kalogirou / Solar Energy 83 (2009) 39–48
Nomenclature
In this paper, initially the environmental benefits of energy conservation technologies. Many countries consider
renewable energy systems are shortly discussed, followed today solar, wind and other renewable energy technologies
by the analysis of the thermal performance, economics as the key to a clean energy future. Renewable energy sys-
and environmental benefits resulting from the use of ther- tems can have a beneficial impact on the environmental,
mosiphon solar water heating systems. Additionally, the economic, and political issues of the world (Kalogirou,
amount of pollution saved because of the use of solar 2004b). The benefits arising from the installation and oper-
energy against the pollution caused for the manufacture ation of renewable energy systems can be distinguished into
of the systems is examined. three categories: energy saving, generation of new working
posts and the decrease of environmental pollution (Diak-
2. Environmental benefits of renewable energy technologies oulaki et al., 2001).
The most important benefit of renewable energy sys-
Renewable energy technologies produce marketable tems is the decrease of environmental pollution. This is
energy by converting natural phenomena into useful forms achieved by the reduction of air emissions due to the sub-
of energy. These technologies use the sun’s energy and its stitution of electricity and conventional fuels. The most
direct and indirect effects on the earth as the resources from important effects of air pollutants on the human and nat-
which energy is produced. These resources have massive ural environment are their impact on the public health,
energy potential, however, they are generally diffused and agriculture, buildings and historical monuments, as well
not fully accessible, most of them are intermittent, and as on forests and ecosystems (Diakoulaki et al., 2001).
have distinct regional variabilities. These characteristics It is relatively simple to measure the financial impact of
give rise to difficult, but solvable, technical and economical these effects when they affect tradable goods such as the
challenges. Today, significant progress is made by improv- agricultural crops; but this is much more complicated
ing the collection and conversion efficiencies, lowering the when it comes to non-tradable goods like human health
initial and maintenance costs and increasing the reliability and ecosystems.
and applicability of renewable energy systems (Kalogirou, This paper deals with thermosiphon solar water heat-
2004b). ing systems, which are very popular systems, used exten-
Two potential solutions to the current environmental sively in many countries with good sunshine potential
problems associated with the harmful pollutant emissions such as the Mediterranean countries. A domestic size sys-
from the burning of fossil fuels are renewable energy and tem is considered, which is analysed with respect to its
S. Kalogirou / Solar Energy 83 (2009) 39–48 41
energy performance, economics and environmental Connecting lines must be well insulated to prevent heat
impact. losses and sloped to prevent formation of air pockets which
would stop circulation. At night, or whenever the collector
3. Thermosiphon solar water heating systems is cooler than the water in the tank the direction of the
thermosiphon flow will reverse, thus cooling the stored
Thermosiphon, or natural circulation, solar water heat- water, unless the top of the collector is placed well below
ing systems (also called passive systems) are the simplest (about 30 cm) the bottom of the storage tank (Kalogirou,
and most widely used solar energy collection and utiliza- 2004a).
tion devices (Fig. 1). They are intended to supply hot water The size of a thermosiphon solar system depends on the
for domestic use, and are based on natural circulation or prevailing weather conditions and the hot water require-
thermosiphon principle. They supply hot water at a tem- ments. The collector area is determined primarily by the
perature of about 60 °C and consist of a collector, storage daily hot water demand, which varies from place to place
tank, and connecting pipes. depending on local customs and lifestyles and is normally
A schematic diagram of the thermosiphon systems is about 30 l/person/day. A typical unit operating in a good
shown in Fig. 1a. These systems heat potable water or a environment (Mediterranean area) usually consists of two
heat transfer fluid and use natural convection to transport flat-plate solar collectors having an absorber area between
it from the collector to storage. Thermosiphoning occurs 2.5 and 4 m2, and a storage tank with capacity between 150
when the water in the collector expands becoming less and 180 l. An auxiliary electric immersion heater and/or a
dense as heat is added by solar energy and rises through heat exchanger, for central heating assisted hot water pro-
the collector header into the top of the storage tank. There duction, are used in winter during periods of low solar
it is replaced by the cooler water that has sunk to the bot- insolation. Such a system covers about 80% of the hot
tom of the tank from which it flows down the collector. water requirements of a four-person family. The flat-plate
Circulation continuous as long as the sun is shining. Since collector is generally fixed permanently in position, and
the driving force is only a small density difference between therefore the tilt of the collector is determined primarily
the hot and cold water, larger than normal pipe sizes must by consideration of the predominant season of hot water
be used to minimize pipe friction. In the storage tank, hot use. For year-round use, the collector tilt is kept equal to
water accumulates near the top when water is heated dur- the latitude of the location plus 5°. In the northern hemi-
ing the day by solar radiation. To take into account periods sphere, the collector faces direct south (azimuth
of low solar radiation levels, storage tanks are normally angle = 0°), although a shift of a few degrees towards east
sized to hold about two days’ supply of hot water. It should or west does not greatly influence its performance (Kalog-
be noted that the water flowing through the collectors is irou, 2004a). The daily overall system efficiency of a domes-
potable water that goes to the user and any quantity of tic solar hot water system is about 30–40%, and the
hot water used is replaced through the freshwater inlet temperature difference between the collector outlet and
(from the cold water storage tank or mains supply) which inlet is about 10 °C. The storage tank is placed horizontally
enters the storage tank near the bottom so as not to break or vertically. Though the shallow depth of the horizontal
the stratification. tanks degrades stratification, for horizontal tanks with
Mixing device
Storage Hot water
tank outlet
Auxiliary
Cold water
inlet
Collector
Table 1 The total useful energy for the whole year is obtained from
Specifications of the thermosiphon solar water system considered 365 X
X 24
Parameter Domestic hot water system Qu;a ¼ Qu ð5Þ
2 d¼1 h¼1
Collector area (m ) 2.7 (2 panels)
Collector slope (°) 40 and the auxiliary energy required, Qaux is
Storage capacity (l) 150
Auxiliary capacity (kW) 3 Qaux ¼ Qload ½Qu;a Qloss ð6Þ
Heat exchanger Internal
Heat exchanger area (m2) 3.6 where Qload is the energy required by the load and Qloss is
Hot water demand (l) 120 (4 persons) the energy lost from the storage tank and pipes.
S. Kalogirou / Solar Energy 83 (2009) 39–48 43
As can be seen from the above equations the energy direction and humidity ratio, for a seven-year period, from
obtained from the solar collector field depends on the col- 1986 to 1992 using the Filkenstein–Schafer statistical
lector area (A), collector slope (affects cosh), flow rate method (Kalogirou, 2003b). The measurements were
(affects FR) and the storage tank size (affects Ti). The col- recorded by the Cyprus Meteorological Service at the
lector inlet temperature depends also on the load pattern, Athalassa region, an area at the suburbs of the town of
make-up water temperature and the losses from the storage Nicosia. The TMY is considered as a representative year
tank and pipes. The storage tank losses depend on the tem- for the Cypriot environment.
perature of the stored water, i.e., it depends on the energy
collected and storage tank size. 4.1. Economic analysis
The main component that models the thermosiphon sys-
tem is TYPE 45. This component models a system consist- For this analysis, a life cycle analysis, in which the var-
ing from a flat-plate solar collector, a stratified storage tank ious costs are estimated annually, is considered. A life cycle
(either vertical or horizontal cylinder), and a check valve to analysis is performed in order to obtain the total cost (or
prevent reverse flow, which employs water as the working life cycle cost) and the life cycle savings (LCS) of the sys-
fluid. In fact TYPE 45a is used in which the head and flow tem. This kind of economic analysis can be performed
rate are calculated internally by the program. either within the TRNSYS environment or in a spreadsheet
Flow in the loop is assumed to be steady state. The sys- program (Kalogirou, 1996). The TRNSYS application is
tem is analysed by dividing the thermosiphon loop into a preferred here, as its output is given directly and avoids
number of segments normal to the flow direction and subsequent transfer of the thermal performance results to
applying Bernoulli’s equation for incompressible flow to a spreadsheet.
each segment. In general, the present worth (or discounted cost) of an
The flow rate is obtained by numerical solution of the investment or cost C at the end of year N, at a discount rate
resulting set of equations. The stratification in the tank is of d and interest rate of i is obtained by
modelled using TYPE 38 algebraic component, which is
embodied in TYPE 45. The number of segments (nodes) Cð1 þ iÞN 1
PWN ¼ ð7Þ
in this model is not fixed, but depends on many factors, ð1 þ dÞN
i.e., the simulation time step, the size of the collector, load
flow rates, heat losses and auxiliary input (Fanney and In this method, the various costs and savings are estimated
Klein, 1983). In this model the simulation starts with a cer- annually. From the addition of fuel savings incurred be-
tain number of segments. As the hot water leaves the top of cause of the use of the system and the tax savings, the mort-
the collector and enters the storage tank from a certain gage, maintenance and parasitic costs are subtracted and
point at the top, it mixes with water at this level if their thus the annual solar savings of the system are estimated
temperatures are within 0.5 °C. If its temperature is lower which are converted into present worth values of the sys-
than that at the top by more than 0.5 °C it flows down tem. These are added up to obtain the life cycle savings
and mixes with water of a segment where the temperature according to the equation
is within 0.5 °C of it. In the case when the temperature of XN
Solar Savings
water entering the storage tank is higher than that at the PWLCS ¼ N ð8Þ
top of the storage tank by more than 0.5 °C, a new segment N ¼1 ð1 þ dÞ
is created at the top, increasing the number of segments by
The fuel savings are obtained by subtracting the annual
one. When hot water is drawn to the load, the same case
cost of the conventional fuel used for the auxiliary energy
applies for cold water from the mains entering the tank
from the fuel needs of a fuel only system. The integrated
at the bottom, this water mixes with that at the bottom if
cost of the auxiliary energy use for the first year, i.e., solar
their temperatures are within 0.5 °C of each other, other-
backup, is given by the formula
wise a new segment is created.
Z t
The system presented in this paper is simulated with
C aux ¼ C FA Qaux dt ð9Þ
TRNSYS using typical meteorological year (TMY) data 0
for Nicosia, Cyprus. TMY is defined as a year, which sums
up all the climatic information characterizing a period as The integrated cost of the total load for the first year, i.e.,
long as the mean life of the system. The selection of typical cost of conventional fuel without solar, is
weather conditions for a given location is very crucial in Z t
computer simulations for performance predictions and C load ¼ C FL Qload dt ð10Þ
0
has led various investigators either to run long periods of
observational data or to select a particular year, which where CFA and CFL are the cost rates for auxiliary energy
appears to be typical from several years of data. The and conventional fuel, respectively. In case that the same
TMY for Nicosia, Cyprus, was generated from hourly fuel is used for both CFA = CFL.
measurements, of solar irradiance (global and diffuse on The investment cost of the solar system in this case is
horizontal surface), ambient temperature, wind speed and estimated from the following equation:
44 S. Kalogirou / Solar Energy 83 (2009) 39–48
Cs ¼ Cf þ CaA ð11Þ Referring to the curve of hot water load (Qload), there is
a decrease of hot water load demand during the summer
where Cf is the collector area independent and Ca the col-
months. This is attributed to the fact that during the sum-
lector area dependent costs. The values used here are
mer months the total incidence solar radiation is higher
Cf = 153 € and Ca = 128 €/m2.
which results to higher temperatures in the cold water stor-
The maintenance cost (Cm), must also be considered.
age tank. Consequently, the hot water demand from the
This is estimated to be 1% of the initial investment and is
hot water storage tank during these months is reduced.
assumed to increase at a rate of 1% per year of the system
The variation of the annual solar contribution is also
operation. The total annual cost is given by
shown in Fig. 3. The solar fraction, f, is defined as the ratio
C ¼ Cs þ Cm ð12Þ of the useful solar energy supplied to the system to the
energy needed to heat the water if no solar energy is used.
4.2. Results of the thermal and economic analysis In other words, f is a measure of the fractional energy sav-
ings relative to that used for a conventional system. It can
Fig. 3 illustrates the monthly energy flows, which be calculated from the following relationship:
include the total radiation incident on the collector (Qins), Qload Qaux
the useful energy supplied from the collectors (Qu), the f ¼ ð13Þ
Qload
hot water energy requirements (Qload), the auxiliary energy
demand (Qaux) and the heat losses from the storage tank
Fig. 3 implies that the solar fraction is lower in the winter
(Qenv). As it can be seen from the graph of total radiation
months and higher, reaching 100%, in the summer months.
incident on collector (Qins), the maximum value occurs in
The annual solar fraction is determined to be 79%. It
the month of August (1.88 GJ). The useful energy supplied
should be noted that in domestic hot water systems, by
from the collectors (Qu) is maximized in the month of April
adjusting slightly the consumption profile, contributions
(0.62 GJ). It can be also seen from Fig. 3 that there is a
of 100% could be obtained in the months May–October,
reduction in the incident solar radiation and consequently
which is what actually happens in practice. The program
the useful energy collected during the month of May. This
however considers a standard consumption throughout
is a characteristic of the climatic conditions of Nicosia and
all months that is why values slightly below 100% are
is due to the development of clouds as a result of excessive
given.
heating of the ground and thus excessive convection, espe-
The economic scenario used in this project is that all the
cially in the afternoon hours. The annual value of the use-
cost of the solar system is paid from the beginning (i.e., no
ful energy supplied by solar energy (Qu) is equal to
credit payments are assumed). The thermal performance
6480 MJ.
degradation of the system is assumed to be 1% per year,
From the curve of the energy lost from storage tank
the period of economic analysis is taken as 20 years (aver-
(Qenv) it can be seen that during summer months the energy
age life of locally produced systems), whereas all the other
lost from storage to surroundings is maximized. This is due
percentage figures (inflation rates and market discount
to the fact that at these months the temperature in the stor-
rate) are mean values of the previous decade (Statistical
age tank is higher and consequently more energy is lost.
abstracts, 2001). Electricity at a price of 0.153 €/kW h
2.00 1.00
1.80 0.90
1.60 0.80
ff
1.40 0.70
Qins
Qins
Energy Flows (GJ)
Solar Fraction
1.20 Qu
Qu 0.60
1.00 Qload
Qload 0.50
Qaux
Qaux
0.80 0.40
Qenv
Qenv
0.60 0.30
0.40 0.20
0.20 0.10
0.00 0.00
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC YR
Months
Table 2 Table 3
Results of economic analysis Environmental impact of the thermosiphon solar water heater with
electricity backup
Output parameter Electricity Diesel
backup backup Emissions Units Conventional Solar Savings
system (%)
Initial cost of the system (€) 498 498
Resale or salvage value (€) 98 98 Carbon dioxide tons/ 1.546 0.449 70.1
Rate of return of solar investment (%) 39.9 23.4 (CO2) year
Years until undiscounted fuel 2.7 4.5 Carbon monoxide g/year 374.6 109.7 70.7
savings = investment (CO)
Undiscounted cumulative net cash flow (€) 4616 2417 Nitrogen oxides g/year 56.3 16.3 71.1
Present worth of total costs with solar (€) 1209 929 (NOx)
Present worth of total costs without solar 3450 1985 Nitrous oxide (N2O) g/year 6.3 2.1 66.7
(€) Methane (CH4) g/year 9.3 2.7 71.0
Annualized total cost with solar (€/GJ) 18.7 14.5 Hydrocarbons g/year 37.7 11.0 70.8
Annualized total cost without solar (€/GJ) 54.4 31.5 Sulphur dioxide g/year 562.7 164.5 70.8
Present worth of cumulative cash flow (€) 2240 1056 (SO2)
Fuel price considered in the analysis 0.153 €/kW h 0.76 €/l Dust g/year 188.1 54.8 70.9
Savings in GHG % – – 70.3
and diesel at a price of 0.76 €/l are assumed to be used for
auxiliary. Table 2 gives a summary of economic figures as Table 4
calculated by TRNSYS. Environmental impact of the thermosiphon solar water heater with diesel
The results of the economic analysis shown in Table 2 backup
were obtained by using the above (current) fuel and elec- Emissions Units Conventional Solar Savings
tricity rates, a 20-year period a market discount rate of system (%)
6% and interest rate of 8%. No subsidies were considered. Carbon dioxide tons/ 0.889 0.293 67.1
As can be seen the solar system gives much lower specific (CO2) year
Carbon monoxide g/year 1688 581.3 65.6
energy cost than the conventional system for both types (CO)
of auxiliary energy considered. The payback time is very Nitrogen oxides g/year 1636 544.8 66.7
low and is equal to two years and eight months for electric- (NOx)
ity backup and four years and six months for diesel Nitrous oxide (N2O) g/year 6.1 1.2 80.0
backup. The life cycle savings represent the money that Methane (CH4) g/year 13.6 3.3 75.7
Hydrocarbons g/year 52.7 12.9 75.5
the owner will save by installing the solar system instead Sulphur dioxide g/year 651.4 169.9 73.9
of buying electricity/fuel to satisfy his hot water needs (SO2)
and is equal to 2240 € for electricity backup and 1056 € Dust g/year 180.0 73.5 59.2
for diesel backup. The difference in payback time and life Savings in GHG % – – 70.5
cycle savings is due to the fact that in the case of diesel a
fuel of lower price is replaced by the solar system. important greenhouse gasses are considered. For the case
of electricity backup (Table 3), Polysun considers a mixture
5. Environmental benefits of thermosiphon solar water of European power stations (coal-based, nuclear, hydro-
heating systems electric, etc.) in order to estimate the emissions of the con-
ventional system (Polysun, 2000).
To investigate the environmental benefit of utilizing As can be seen in both cases by using solar energy
solar energy instead of conventional sources of energy, instead of conventional fuel very large amount of pollu-
the different emissions resulting from the solar system oper- tants are avoided. The amount of emissions depends on
ation are estimated and compared to those of a conven- the type of fuel used as auxiliary. The percentage saving
tional electricity/fuel system. These are obtained by obtained in the cases where electricity or diesel backup is
correlations derived by using program Polysun (2000) used is about 70%. It should be noted however that the
given in (Kalogirou, 2004b). The emissions reported are quantities of emissions in the various substances emitted
those which are responsible for the most important envi- are completely different and the proximity of the total per-
ronmental problems as outlined in the previous sections. centage numbers obtained is due to the generation effi-
The environmental interventions are expressed in physical ciency of each system. Electrical energy is produced at a
units of the emitted substances per year. maximum efficiency of about 35% whereas in the case of
The quantities of the emissions depend on the solar col- diesel backup a boiler efficiency of 85% is considered.
lector size and the required auxiliary energy and are com-
pared to a non-solar system which is using conventional 6. Pollution created from thermosiphon solar water heating
electricity/fuel. The environmental analysis of the system systems
which includes the different pollutants as calculated by
the program is tabulated in Tables 3 and 4 for electricity The negative environmental impact of any solar energy
and diesel backup, respectively. In the tables the eight most system includes land displacement, and possible air and
46 S. Kalogirou / Solar Energy 83 (2009) 39–48
Paint, sealant,
coatings
Insulation
Casing Packing
Galvanized
sheet Transportation
Installation
Maintenance
Demolition
Disposal/recycling
Table 6 Table 7
Embodied energy content for the construction and installation of the Pollution created for the construction and installation of the thermosi-
complete thermosiphon solar water heating system phon solar water heating system and payback for the two types of backup
Description Mass Embodied energy Embodied energy fuels considered
(kg) index (MJ/kg) content (MJ) Emission Pollution created from solar Savings and
system embodied energy payback of solar
2 No. solar – – 5326
panels system
4 m, 22 mm 3.8 70.6 268.3 Electricity Diesel
copper pipe
Carbon 1.9 tons 1.097 0.596
4 m, pipe 1 120 120
dioxide (1.7) (3.2)
insulation
(CO2)
Steel frame 30 34.8 1044
Carbon 460.1 g 264.9 1106.7
Total 6758.3 monoxide (1.7) (0.4)
Installation 187.7 (CO)
Nitrogen 69.2 g 40 (1.7) 1091.2
Grant total 6946 oxides (0.06)
(NOx)
Nitrous oxide 6.3 g 4.2 (1.5) 4.9
nents of the solar system are considered in this analysis as (N2O) (1.3)
the other components are standard and are also present in Methane 11.4 g 6.6 (1.7) 10.3
(CH4) (1.1)
conventional systems. Here, the objective is to compare the
Hydrocarbons 46.3 g 26.7 (1.7) 39.8
pollution created for the manufacture and installation of (1.2)
the solar system against its benefits due to the lower emis- Sulphur 691.2 g 398.2 481.5
sions realized during the operation of the system. As can be dioxide (1.7) (1.4)
seen the total embodied energy for the complete system is (SO2)
Dust 231.1 g 133.3 106.5
6946 MJ.
(1.7) (2.2)
For the life cycle assessment of the system considered
Note: (1) Number in parenthesis represent payback time in years. (2) The
the useful energy supplied by solar energy per year, shown
units of savings are in g/year except carbon dioxide which is tons/year.
in Fig. 3 (6480 MJ) is compared with the total embodied
energy of the system shown in Table 6. As can be seen
the total energy used in the manufacture and installation
Table 8
of the system is recouped in about 13 months which is con- Annual environmental pollution reduction because of the use of thermo-
sidered as very satisfactory. siphon systems in Cyprus
The emissions created from total embodied energy are Emission Savings
presented in Table 7. Additionally, these emissions are
Carbon dioxide (CO2) 160,835 tons
compared with the emissions produced from the auxiliary Carbon monoxide (CO) 130.3 tons
energy, according to the type of fuel used in the various Nitrogen oxides (NOx) 107.5 tons
cases investigated, in order to estimate the payback period Nitrous oxide (N2O) 864.5 kg
for each pollutant. In all cases the emissions are estimated Methane (CH4) 1605.5 kg
by considering that all embodied energy was produced Hydrocarbons 6317.5 kg
Sulphur dioxide (SO2) 83.6 tons
from electricity. This is not quite correct but electricity is Dust 22.8 tons
chosen, as is the most polluting fuel, therefore it gives the
Notes: 1. Total number of units considered = 190,000. 2. Savings esti-
worst possible results. As can be seen from Table 7, the mated by considering that 50% of the systems are using electricity and 50%
payback periods for the cases investigated vary from a diesel as backup.
few months to 3.2 years according to the fuel and the par-
ticular pollutant considered.
The size of thermosiphon solar water heater considered tal pollution reduction occurs each year just for water
is the usual type encountered in Cyprus. Cyprus began heating.
manufacturing solar water heaters in the early sixties. Moreover, the cost of damage avoided by some of the
Today more than 93% of all houses have solar water heat- pollutants is investigated with respect to damages to crops,
ing systems installed and operating. The total number of materials, mortality (refers to premature deaths) and mor-
systems is equal to 190,000 units. In fact the number of bidity (refers to illness). The results of this analysis are
units in operation today corresponds to one heater for shown in Tables 9 and 10. As can be seen 36 € are avoided
every 3.7 people in the island, which is a world record (Kal- per year when the system is using electricity as auxiliary
ogirou, 2003a). If we consider that all systems are of the and 22.4 € when diesel is used for each thermosiphon solar
same size as the one investigated here and that 50% of water heating system. Therefore for a more correct analysis
the systems are using electricity as backup and 50% diesel of solar systems the damage cost avoided, shown in Table
then the amount of pollutants avoided per year are as 10, should be added to the annual fuel savings which will
shown in Table 8. As can be seen considerable environmen- reduce the payback time even more, thus there is a further
48 S. Kalogirou / Solar Energy 83 (2009) 39–48