Textbook Africa Eu Renewable Energy Research and Innovation Symposium 2018 Reris 2018 Moeketsi Mpholo Ebook All Chapter PDF
Textbook Africa Eu Renewable Energy Research and Innovation Symposium 2018 Reris 2018 Moeketsi Mpholo Ebook All Chapter PDF
Textbook Africa Eu Renewable Energy Research and Innovation Symposium 2018 Reris 2018 Moeketsi Mpholo Ebook All Chapter PDF
https://textbookfull.com/product/renewable-energy-sources-
engineering-technology-innovation-icores-2018-marek-wrobel/
https://textbookfull.com/product/advances-in-renewable-energy-
research-1st-edition-pawlowska/
https://textbookfull.com/product/research-in-attacks-intrusions-
and-defenses-21st-international-symposium-raid-2018-heraklion-
crete-greece-september-10-12-2018-proceedings-michael-bailey/
Data Analytics for Renewable Energy Integration
Technologies Systems and Society 6th ECML PKDD Workshop
DARE 2018 Dublin Ireland September 10 2018 Revised
Selected Papers Wei Lee Woon
https://textbookfull.com/product/data-analytics-for-renewable-
energy-integration-technologies-systems-and-society-6th-ecml-
pkdd-workshop-dare-2018-dublin-ireland-september-10-2018-revised-
selected-papers-wei-lee-woon/
https://textbookfull.com/product/computer-security-23rd-european-
symposium-on-research-in-computer-security-
esorics-2018-barcelona-spain-september-3-7-2018-proceedings-part-
i-javier-lopez/
https://textbookfull.com/product/low-carbon-energy-in-africa-and-
latin-america-renewable-technologies-natural-gas-and-nuclear-
energy-1st-edition-ricardo-guerrero-lemus/
https://textbookfull.com/product/static-analysis-25th-
international-symposium-sas-2018-freiburg-germany-
august-29-31-2018-proceedings-andreas-podelski/
Springer Proceedings in Energy
Africa-EU Renewable
Energy Research and
Innovation Symposium
2018 (RERIS 2018)
23–26 January 2018, National
University of Lesotho On occasion of
NULISTICE 2018
Springer Proceedings in Energy
The series Springer Proceedings in Energy covers a broad range of multidisci-
plinary subjects in those research fields closely related to present and future forms
of energy as a resource for human societies. Typically based on material presented
at conferences, workshops and similar scientific meetings, volumes published in
this series will constitute comprehensive state-of-the-art references on
energy-related science and technology studies. The subjects of these conferences
will fall typically within these broad categories:
– Energy Efficiency
– Fossil Fuels
– Nuclear Energy
– Policy, Economics, Management & Transport
– Renewable and Green Energy
– Systems, Storage and Harvesting
Materials for Energy eBooks Volumes in the Springer Proceedings in Energy will
be available online in the world’s most extensive eBook collection, as part of the
Springer Energy eBook Collection. Proposals for new volumes should include
the following:
– name, place and date of the scientific event
– a link to the committees (local organization, international advisors etc.)
– description of the scientific aims and scope of the meeting
– list of invited/plenary speakers
– an estimate of the proceedings book details (number of pages/articles, requested
number of bulk copies, submission deadline).
Please send your proposals to Dr. Maria Bellantone, Senior Publishing Editor,
Springer ([email protected]).
Tonny Kukeera
Editors
Africa-EU Renewable
Energy Research
and Innovation Symposium
2018 (RERIS 2018)
23–26 January 2018, National University
of Lesotho On occasion of NULISTICE 2018
123
Editors
Moeketsi Mpholo Tonny Kukeera
Energy Research Centre Energy Research Centre
National University of Lesotho National University of Lesotho
Roma, Lesotho Roma, Lesotho
Dirk Steuerwald
Swiss Academy for Development
Biel, Switzerland
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018. This book is an open access publication.
Open Access This book is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adap-
tation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to
the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if
changes were made.
The images or other third party material in this book are included in the book’s Creative Commons
license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the book’s
Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the
permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publi-
cation does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the
relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or
for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to
jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface
Background
With more than 600 million Africans living without access to electricity and over
730 million relying on dangerous, inefficient forms of cooking, fast but sustainable
development of African renewable energy markets is needed. Applied research and
innovative business roll-outs play a key role in boosting this development, helping
to secure energy supply in both rural and urban areas, increasing generation
capacities and energy system resilience. Aiming to promote research collaboration,
public and private sector participation in applied research and business spin-offs in
this field, the Africa-EU Renewable Energy Cooperation Programme (RECP) and
the National University of Lesotho (NUL) organised the second edition of the
Africa-EU Renewable Energy Research and Innovation Symposium (RERIS 2018).
The event took place on occasion of the NUL International Science and Technology
Innovation Conference and Expo (NULISTICE) from 23–26 January 2018, atten-
ded by 242 participants from more than 30 countries.
v
vi Preface
Prof. Thameur Chaibi, National Research Institute for Rural Engineering, Water
and Forestry, Tunisia
Prof. Seladji Chakib, Université Aboubekr Belkaid de Tlemcen, Algeria
Dr. Zivaye Chiguvare, Namibia University of Science and Technology
Dr. Jon Cloke, Loughborough University, UK
Prof. Emanuela Colombo, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Prof. Abdellah Khellaf, Centre de Développement des Energies Renouvelables,
Algeria
Prof. Izael Pereira Da Silva, Strathmore University, Kenya
Prof. Daniel Egbe, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria
Prof. Thomas Hamacher, Technische Universität München, Germany
Dr. Jarkko Levänen, Aalto University School of Business, Finland
Prof. Angeles López Agüera, UNESCO-CLRLA/Universidade de Santiago de
Compostela, Spain
Prof. Martin Meyer-Renschhausen, Hochschule Darmstadt, Germany
Prof. Joseph Mutale, University of Manchester, UK
Prof. Wikus van Niekerk, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Prof. Armando C. Oliveira, University of Porto, Portugal
Prof. Marco Rupprich, MCI—The Entrepreneurial School®, Austria
Prof. Abdelilah Slaoui, University of Strasbourg, France
Prof. Anthony Staak, Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT),
South Africa
Dr. Dirk Steuerwald, Swiss Academy for Development, Switzerland
Dr. Sandor Szabo, European Commission Joint Research Centre, Italy
Dr. Leboli Zak Thamae, Energy Research Centre, National University of Lesotho
Dr. Daniel Yamegueu, International Institute for Water and Environmental
Engineering (2iE), Burkina Faso
Prof. Abdellatif Zerga, Pan African University Institute of Water and Energy
Sciences (including Climate Change) (PAUWES), Algeria
Organising Committee
Dr. Thimothy Thamae, National University of Lesotho/NULISTICE lead organiser
Mr. Niklas Hayek, Africa-EU Renewable Energy Cooperation Programme
(RECP)/RERIS lead organiser
Dr. Moeketsi Mpholo, National University of Lesotho
Prof. Himanshu Narayan, National University of Lesotho
Mrs. Maleshoane Ramoholi, National University of Lesotho
Dr. Pulane Nkhabutlane, National University of Lesotho
Dr. Mosotho George, National University of Lesotho
Mr. Rets’elisitsoe Thamae, National University of Lesotho
Dr. Puleng Ranthimo, National University of Lesotho
Mr. Kebitsamang Mothibe, National University of Lesotho
Dr. Sissay Mekbib, National University of Lesotho
Mr. Lefa Thamae, National University of Lesotho
Preface vii
Symposium Summary
Paper Review
A total of 150 abstracts were received from 33 countries (22 from Africa, 10 from
EU and 1 from America) towards 30 oral presentation slots. For each abstract, a
minimum of two reviews were given by the scientific committee members. The
final selection was such that women were given priority and half the papers were
from the African delegates while the other half were from the EU delegates.
viii Preface
The presentations’ full papers for publication were further subjected to a mini-
mum of two reviews upon which only the papers which the reviewers and editors
felt met the expected standard were accepted for this publication.
The organisers would like to thank all the conference participants, presenters,
scientific committee members and the following sponsors for making RERIS 2018
such a big success:
ix
Contents
xi
xii Contents
Tawanda Hove
Abstract The choice of solar collector type to employ and the number of chosen
collectors to subsequently deploy, are important planning decisions, which can
greatly influence the economic attractiveness of solar water heating systems. In this
paper, a thermo-economic model is developed for the computation of a suitable
metric that can aid in choosing the most cost-effective collector to use in a solar
water heating system and to determine the optimal sizing of the solar water heater
components once the choice collector has been picked. The energy-per-dollar
comparison metric, calculated as the annual heat energy output of the collector in an
average year, at the so-called “sweet-spot” size of the collector array, divided by the
annualized life-cycle cost, based on warranty life and collector initial cost, was
recommended as instructive for comparing cost-effectiveness of different solar
collectors. For the determination of the sweet-spot size of collector to use in a
particular solar water heating system, at which the energy-per-dollar is calculated,
the Net Present Value of Solar Savings was used as the objective function to
maximize. Ten (10) different models of liquid solar thermal collectors (5 flat plate
and 5 evacuated tube type), which are rated by the Solar Ratings & Certification
Corporation (SRCC), were ranked according to the energy-per-dollar criterion
through the thermo-economic model described in this study. At the sweet-spot
collector area for the solar water heating system, the corresponding volume of hot
water storage tank and the optimal solar fraction are also simultaneously deter-
mined. The required hot water storage volume decreases as the deployed collector
area increases while the solar fraction increases, with diminishing marginal
increase, until it saturates at a value of unity. For the present case study where the
required load temperature is 50 °C and the solar water heating system is located in
central Zimbabwe (latitude 19° S and longitude 30° E), the selected collector model
happened to be a flat-plate type, which achieved the highest energy-per-dollar score
T. Hove (&)
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe
e-mail: [email protected]
of 26.1 kWh/$. The optimal size of this collector model to deploy in the solar water
heating system at the case-study location is 18 m2 per m3 of daily hot water
demand; with a hot water storage volume of 900 l/m3; at an optimal solar fraction
of 91%. Although the method of this paper was applied only for a solar water
heating application of specified operating temperature, at a specified location, it can
be applied equally well for any other solar water heating application and at any
other location.
Keywords Energy-per-dollar Thermo-economic model Collector choice
Optimal sizing Diminishing marginal returns SRCC-rated
Nomenclature
Dt Finite time-step period over which the solar process is simulated [s]
Ts Temperature of hot water storage tank contents at the beginning of the
period Dt ½ C
DTs Temperature gain/loss for storage tank during time-step period Dt ½ C
Tsþ Temperature of storage tank contents at the end of Dt ½ C
Ta Ambient temperature [°C]
Tmains Incoming cold water temperature [°C]
Tload Temperature required by the load [°C]
m_ s Mass rate of water abstraction [kg/s]
mload: Mass rate of water abstraction required by the load at temperature Tload
[kg/s]
M Mass of hot water storage tank [kg]
Vs Volume of hot water storage tank [m3]
Us Storage tank heat loss coefficient [W/m2/oC]
As Storage tank surface area [m2]
Qu Rate of useful heat generated by the solar energy collector
L_ s Rate of removal of solar-generated heat [Watts]
GT Global solar irradiance incident on the plane of the collector [W/m2]
AC Solar collector gross area [m2]
FR Collector heat removal factor [–]
ðsaÞn Transmittance-absorption product [–]
UL Collector heat loss coefficient [W/m2/°C]
Ksa Angle of incidence modifier [–]
SF Solar fraction; the fraction of required heat contributed by solar energy [–]
CC Collector cost per unit area [$/m2]
CS Storage tank cost per unit volume [$/m3]
i Annual interest rate [–]
j Annual inflation rate [–]
d Annual discount rate [–]
Qannual Energy generated by solar collector over an average year [kWh/m2/yr]
Cannual Annualized cost of collector based on warranty period [$/m2/yr]
1 A Thermo-Economic Model for Aiding Solar Collector … 3
1.1 Introduction
Worldwide, the heating of water to low and medium temperatures using solar
thermal energy has gained popularity for many residential, commercial and
industrial applications. This is because of the numerous favourable characteristics
of solar water heating, which result in a large displacement of conventional energy
sources in an economically and environmentally sustainable way. Solar thermal
water heaters are a prudent option where, among other considerations, the cost of
conventional energy for heating water is higher than $0.034/kWh; daily average
solar irradiation is higher than 4.5 kWh/m2 and where energy security is important
(e.g. where there is interruptible supply of conventional energy) [1]. In Zimbabwe,
the price of electricity is $0.11/kWh for domestic customers consuming 50–300
kWh/month and from $0.04/kWh (off-peak) to $0.13/kWh (peak period), for
time-of-use customers [2]. Solar radiation is abundant (an annual average of
5.6–7 kWh/day) and ubiquitously distributed over the country [3]. Electricity,
which is the conventional energy for heating water, is in short supply, with frequent
load-shedding [4] events and reliance on importation of the commodity. With this
scenario, it is not surprising that the Zimbabwe Government has recently launched
the National Solar Water Heater Program [5], where water heating by electric
geysers will be substituted by solar thermal water heating systems. This policy
initiative is perceived to have many favourable outcomes including the reduction in
national electricity consumption, improvement of consumer economics as well as a
significant contribution to mitigating environmental degradation. A challenge that
exists, however, is the high initial costs associated with owning a solar water
heating system, which calls for cost-efficient selection of solar water heating
components and their sizing, in order to maximise life-cycle economic benefits.
A solar water heating system essentially consists of a solar thermal collector and a
water storage tank although other balance-of-system components such circulation
pump, pipe-work and control system may also variably be included. Of the two main
components, the solar collector, which is at the heart of the solar water heating
system, has greater influence on system performance and costs up to twice or more
times the cost of the storage tank [6]. Correct selection of the type and size of the
collector to employ in a solar water heating system has great influence in the eco-
nomic viability of the solar water heating system, as this determines the trade-off
between system cost and solar fraction (conventional energy costs displaced). In
addition the temperature achieved by the solar water heating system, which is
determined by the type and size of the solar collector employed, have some influence
on the size of the storage tank required, as a large collector area (higher operating
temperature) should result in less required volume of storage tank [7]. Hence it is
important to carefully choose the type and optimal size of a solar collector to use for
a particular solar water heating application and climatic conditions.
Different attributes may be exclusively or jointly used to appraise the prudency
of the choice of the solar thermal collector to purchase for a given application.
These attributes include initial cost; energy performance; warranty (which is some
4 T. Hove
guarantee for longevity) and others such as chance of overheating, ability to shed
snow and wind-load structural capability. However, a more instructive metric to use
when selecting between different types of collectors is the energy-per-dollar metric
[8], as it can be made to combine an important-few of collector attributes, which
determine the collector’s life-cycle cost-effectiveness, into one metric. In this study,
a thermo-economic model is developed to guide the selection of the brand of solar
collector(s) to be used in a solar water heating application, for a given required hot
water temperature under given climatic conditions. The model is also used to
determine the optimal size of collector area to deploy in the solar water heating
system, together with corresponding volume of hot water storage tank and solar
fraction at optimal collector size. A modified approach to defining and calculating
the energy-per-dollar metric, which compares annual energy output of the collector
under certain operating temperatures and annualized collector costs, taking into
account the assured operating longevity of the collector (warranty life), is used in
this study for ranking the cost-effectiveness of different collectors. The Net Present
Value of Solar Savings (NPVSS) is used as the objective function to maximize for
the selection of the optimal size of collector area to be deployed in the solar water
heating system.
A solar water heating system can be represented by the schematic on Fig. 1.1. At
the heart of a solar thermal system is the solar collector. It absorbs solar radiation,
converts it into heat, and transfers useful heat to a well-insulated hot water storage
tank. A pump is sometimes needed to circulate the heat around the system, but in
dTs
ðMCP Þs ¼ Qu L_ s Us As ½Ts Ta ð1:1Þ
dt
Equation (1.1) states that the rate of change in the internal energy of the storage
tank is equal to the energy interactions taking place over a time step.
The energy interactions are solar-collector-generated heat input Qu; the rate of
heat removal (L_ s ) and the storage tank heat losses ðUs As ½Ts Ta Þ: One can use
T þ Ts
simple Euler integration [9], (i.e., rewriting the temperature derivative as s Dt and
solving for the tank temperature at the end of a time increment). That is:
Dt
Tsþ ¼ Ts þ Qu L_ s Us As ½Ts Ta ð1:2Þ
ðMCP Þs
A time step Dt ¼ 1 h is conveniently used since one hour is the smallest time
resolution of solar radiation data commonly available.
In Eq. (1.1), solar input Qu is determined using Eq. (1.3). For a collector of area
AC with solar irradiance GT incident on its plane, the rate of useful thermal energy
gained is given by the well-known Hottel-Whillier-Bliss equation:
Qu ¼ Ac GT Ksa FR ðsaÞn FR UL ðTs Ta Þ ð1:3Þ
(a)
(b)
Fig. 1.2 a Typical efficiency curves with respect to gross area for flat plate and evacuated tube
collectors. b Typical variation of Ksa with 1/cosh−1 for flat plate and evacuated tube collectors. At
angle of incidence h = 0°, the incidence angle modifier Ksa ¼ 1 and at h = 90°, Ksa ¼ 0
1 A Thermo-Economic Model for Aiding Solar Collector … 7
which of the characteristics has greater influence on energy output and which
collector “wins” for specific operating and climatic conditions.
Continuing with expounding Eq. (1.1), the rate of heat extraction from the solar
part of the system Ls is considered next. The rate of heat removal from the
solar-side storage tank is given by:
In Eq. (1.4), m_ s (kg/s) is the mass rate of water withdrawal; CP is the specific
heat capacity of water; Ts is the temperature of water in the storage tank and Tmains
is temperature of the cold water coming from the mains supply. The mass rate of
water withdrawal m_ s depends on the amount of water withdrawal m_ load required by
the system user at load temperature Tload and the comparison between Ts and Tload.
If Ts > Tload , then the required water withdrawal m_ s \ m_ load (less water needs to be
withdrawn from the system and the volume is made up by cold water from outside
the system). On the other hand, if Ts \ Tload an amount of hot water m_ load needs to
be withdrawn and its temperature is boosted by the auxiliary heater. Therefore, one
can be write:
Tload Tmains
m_ s ¼ MIN ; 1 m_ load ð1:5Þ
Ts Tmains
The solar fraction is the ratio of the amount of input heat energy contributed by
the solar energy system to the total input energy required for the water heating
application for a specified period of time. Then instantaneous solar fraction SF can
be written:
m_ s ðTs Tmains Þ
SF ¼ ð1:6Þ
m_ load ðTload Tmains Þ
In this section, the energy-per-dollar of a solar collector and the Net Present Value
of Solar Savings are defined.
8 T. Hove
In an economy where the prevailing interest rate is i per annum and the rate of
inflation is j per annum, it can be shown that the discount rate d is related to i by the
expression:
1þi
d¼ 1 ð1:7Þ
1þj
The annualized cost of a solar collector array of area Ac (m2) and cost per unit
area Cc ($/m2), with annual operation and maintenance cost OM over w warranted
operating years, is then given by:
d
Cannual ¼ Ac Cc þ OM ð1:8Þ
1 ð1 þ d Þw
In Eq. (1.8) the initial cost of the collector Ac Cc is multiplied by the cost
d
recovery factor 1ð1 þ d Þw
and the product added to the annual operation and
maintenance cost, in order to obtain the total annualized cost.
The annual thermal yield of the solar collector array Qannual is the instantaneous
rate Qu integrated over the whole year. The marginal heat productivity (thermal
yield per unit area) of the collector, when employed in the closed system of the
solar water heater, diminishes as the area of collectors deployed in a solar heating
system increases [12], as shown on Fig. 1.3. There is a corresponding diminishing
marginal increase in solar fraction and, as result, the solar fraction follows the
‘elbowed’ curve shown on Fig. 1.3. Although engineering intuition suggests that
there is a ‘sweet spot’ for sizing the solar collector array, i.e. around the ‘elbow’ of
the solar fraction curve, there is need to for a way to pin-point the exact coordinates
of this optimal point.
Fig. 1.3 Variation of specific collector heat yield, solar fraction, annualized cost, solar fraction
and energy-per-dollar with collector area deployed in a solar water heating system
1 A Thermo-Economic Model for Aiding Solar Collector … 9
Qannual
epd ¼ ð1:9Þ
Cannual
When selecting among collectors to use for a specified application (hot water
temperature and climatic conditions) the collector model that gives the highest
energy-per-dollar, as calculated from Eqs. (1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9), should be preferred.
The annualized-cost definition of the energy-per dollar allows for a comparison of
the cost-effectiveness of different solar collectors that takes into account for the
differences in guaranteed service life (warranty) of the collector. The
energy-per-dollar for each candidate collector should be calculated at its sweet spot
in the solar water heating system, for objective comparison, as again illustrated on
Fig. 1.3.
The precise selection of the sweet spot of solar fraction for a solar water heating
system is done by using the Net Present Value of Solar Savings (NPVSS) as the
objective function to maximize. The NPVSS for a solar water heating system
replacing electricity as the heating fuel is given by:
ðLannual PE Þ ð1 ½1 þ d n Þ
NPVSS ¼ ðAC CC þ VS CS þ CBOS Þ ð1:10Þ
gE d
In Eq. (1.9), the new terms are the price of electricity PE [$/kWh]; the
electric-to-heat efficiency gE ; the hot water tank storage volume Vs and the cost of
the storage tank per unit volume Cs. The cost of balance-of-system components
CBOS (which also includes installation labour costs) may be taken as a discretionary
percentage of the cost AC CC þ VS CS . The annual solar energy contributed Lannual is
expressed in kWh.
To obtain the sweet spot of solar fraction, the collector area is progressively
varied, which in turn alters the storage tank temperature Ts and the solar fraction
and Lannual . The required storage tank volume Vs also varies as dictated by Eq. (1.4),
decreasing as the collector area (and tank temperature) increases. Therefore the
NPVSS varies with increase in collector area, first increasing as collector area
increases, and then decreasing when the collector area is increased beyond its
optimal (sweet-spot) value.
10 T. Hove
A computer spreadsheet program was designed to handle the thermal and economic
calculations necessary for appraisal of solar collectors and optimal sizing of the
solar water heating system. The computations are done on hourly time-steps for the
average day of each month. Starting with only the monthly-average daily global
horizontal irradiation (GHI), obtained in this case from the Zimbabwe database
developed in [13], the hourly-average GHI for each month was obtained by the
model of Collares-Pereira and Rabl [14]. The monthly average diffuse radiation on
a horizontal surface was obtained from global radiation by using a diffuse-ratio
versus clearness index correlation function suitable for Zimbabwe [15]. The
hourly-average diffuse radiation values were determined in a similar fashion as the
hourly GHI. Collector-plane hourly irradiation was obtained by applying the iso-
tropic tilted-plane model of [16], with ground albedo fixed at 0.2.
Hourly ambient temperature was generated from monthly-average minimum and
maximum ambient temperature using the prediction-model of [17]. The temperature
of the cold water entering the solar water heating system Tmains was assumed to be
equal to the temperature of the soil in which the water mains is buried and predicted
through its correlation with air temperature [18].
The required monthly average meteorological data for the case study site
(Kwekwe, Zimbabwe) is shown in Table 1.1.
To obtain the surface area of the storage tank (over which heat losses occur) with
only knowledge of the tank volume, a cylindrical tank with height twice the
diameter is assumed. Then it can be shown that the tank surface area As is related to
the volume by:
As ¼ 5:812Vs2=3 ð1:11Þ
The diurnal variation of hot water consumption that was used is adapted from the
diurnal pattern measured by [19] for hotels in South Africa and is shown on
Fig. 1.4. The seasonal variation of daily hot water demand was again adopted from
South Africa data given by [20].
The computations for the hourly variation in heat contribution proceeded as shown
on Table 1.2. The determination of the storage tank temperature during the first hour of
the day is done iteratively, given that the concept of the average day implies that the
performance of the solar heating system is identical for all days in a given month.
Therefore, the tank temperature in hour 1 is equal to the tank temperature in hour 24 plus
the temperature gain/loss in hour 24 (i.e. Ts ðhour1Þ ¼ Ts ðhour24Þ þ DTs ðhour24Þ.
This also implies that the sum of the hourly temperature gains/losses over the average
P
day is equal to zero (i.e. 24 1 DTs ¼ 0), Hove and Mhazo [21], as indicated in
Table 1.1.
Table 1.1 Monthly average meteorological data for Kwekwe, latitude 19° S and longitude 30° E
Month January February March April May June July August September October November December
Avg. Temperature (°C) 21.9 21.7 20.9 19.8 16.8 14.2 14.2 16.5 20 22.8 22.3 22
Min. Temperature (°C) 16.3 16 14.5 12.6 8.6 6 5.6 7.6 11.2 14.8 16 16.4
Max. Temperature (°C) 26.4 26 25.3 24.6 22.5 20.3 20.3 22.9 26.7 29.1 27.4 26.4
Global horizontal irradiation 6.65 6.48 6.35 5.83 5.27 4.90 5.07 6.02 6.83 7.18 6.84 6.35
[kWh/m2/day]
Diffuse horizontal irradiation 2.4 2.3 2.0 1.5 1.2 1.1 1.0 1.2 1.5 2.0 2.4 2.6
[kWh/m2/day]
1 A Thermo-Economic Model for Aiding Solar Collector …
11
12 T. Hove
0.14
0.12
0.1
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Time of day [hour]
Fig. 1.4 Normalized diurnal variation of hot water demand (at temperature 50 °C) for a hotel in
Southern Africa. Adapted from Rankin and Rousseau [19]
Ten (10) different brands of non-concentrating collectors, including both flat plate
and evacuated tube collectors, all of which have been rated under the OG-100
collector certification program of the Solar Ratings & Certification Corporation
(SRCC), were ranked by the energy-per-dollar metric of Eq. (1.9). In order to make
a fair comparison, the energy-per-dollar metric for all the collector arrays was
calculated when the collectors are sized such that heat 1000 L of hot water to a
temperature 50 °C at an annual solar fraction that results in maximizing the net
present value of solar savings. The reference area used for specifying collector
efficiency parameters FRsa and FRUL and other area-related parameters in
Table 1.3, is the gross collector area.
The actual names of the collector manufacturers and brands are withheld, but the
individual manufacturers will surely recognize their product from its performance
characteristics given on Table 1.3. The collector with rank 1 with an
energy-per-dollar score of 26.1 kWh/$ should rationally be selected ahead of its
competitors for the water heating system, at the specified temperature (50 °C), for
climatic conditions similar to those prevailing in central Zimbabwe. Other selection
metrics, which are normally used by different individuals in deciding which col-
lector to buy, are also shown on Fig. 1.3. These metrics include the collector cost/
unit area; the collector efficiency parameters (FRsa, FRUL and the incidence angle
modifier function); the warranty period offered by the supplier and the collector
footprint area per unit volume of hot water demand. However, it is argued here that
the energy per dollar is the most objective metric for selecting among collectors.
Using individual collector attributes as selection criteria may result in a
non-objective decision about the most cost-effective collector to employ. For
example the collector with the lowest cost per gross area ($157/m2) ranked 10th
according to the energy-per-dollar criterion because of its other less favourable
attributes such as low optical efficiency and short warrant period. On the other, a
collector which is more than twice as expensive ($345/m2) ranked a respectable 4th,
Table 1.2 Tabulation of procedure for calculating solar water heater system performance
Hour GT [W/m2] Ta [°C] Ts [°C] Ksa [–] Qu [Wh] UAs(Ts − Ta) [Wh] mload [kg] Load [Wh] ms [kg] DTs [°C] Ls [Wh] Solar fraction [–]
0–1 0 20.0 52.4 0.000 0 473 10 401 9 −0.8 401 1.000
1–2 0 17.5 51.6 0.000 0 499 5 200 5 −0.6 200 1.000
2–3 0 14.6 51.0 0.000 0 531 4 160 4 −0.6 160 1.000
3–4 0 11.9 50.4 0.000 0 562 4 160 4 −0.6 160 1.000
4–5 0 9.8 49.8 0.000 0 583 18 721 18 −1.1 716 0.993
5–6 0 8.7 48.7 0.000 0 583 41 1642 41 −1.9 1578 0.961
6–7 66 8.8 46.8 0.522 0 555 130 5208 130 −4.5 4722 0.907
7–8 257 10.0 42.2 0.859 657 471 104 4166 104 −2.6 3226 0.774
8–9 473 12.2 39.6 0.921 3857 401 78 3125 78 1.1 2181 0.698
9–10 682 14.9 40.7 0.920 6522 377 70 2804 70 3.5 2047 0.730
10–11 847 17.8 44.3 0.950 8834 387 67 2684 67 5.4 2235 0.833
11–12 938 20.2 49.6 0.993 10,318 429 70 2804 70 6.1 2772 0.989
12–13 938 21.9 55.7 0.993 10,004 494 60 2404 51 5.8 2404 1.000
13–14 847 22.5 61.5 0.950 7951 570 40 1602 30 4.5 1602 1.000
14–15 682 21.9 66.0 0.920 5231 644 22 881 15 2.8 881 1.000
15–16 473 20.2 68.9 0.921 2364 710 18 721 12 0.5 721 1.000
16–17 257 17.8 69.3 0.859 0 753 18 721 12 −1.6 721 1.000
1 A Thermo-Economic Model for Aiding Solar Collector …
Table 1.3 Ranking of ten (10) different brands of collectors with respect to energy-per-dollar for a solar water heating application with required hot water
temperature of 50 °C, 90% solar fraction and located in central Zimbabwe (latitude 19° S, longitude 30° E)
Rank Collector Cost/ FRsa FRUL K0 K1 K2 Warranty Annual Annualized Energy/ Required Solar
type area [W/ [years] energy cost [$/m2] $ [kWh/ collector area fraction
[$/m2] m2/oC] [kWh/m2] $m2] [m2/m3]
1 FPC 220 0.739 3.92 1.001 −0.166 −0.125 10 1128 43.15 26.1 17.0 0.91
2 FPC 303 0.774 3.08 1 0.000 0 10 1399 59.40 23.5 14.0 0.93
3 FPC 242 0.737 4.65 1.002 −0.201 −0.0006 10 1105 47.46 23.3 16.0 0.87
4 FPC 345 0.758 4.14 1.001 −0.287 0.003 10 1198 67.66 17.7 13.5 0.82
5 ETC 175 0.409 1.68 0.999 1.383 −0.992 5 895 51.90 17.2 22.0 0.93
6 FPC 347 0.76 6.22 1.001 −0.035 −0.175 10 1068 68.05 15.7 16.0 0.85
7 ETC 433 0.458 1.58 1 1.313 −1.043 15 1065 71.80 14.8 15.5 0.73
8 ETC 361 0.416 1.08 1.011 0.808 −0.33 10 1025 70.80 14.5 13.0 0.84
9 ETC 211 0.406 1.75 1 1.145 −0.606 5 898 62.58 14.4 22.5 0.94
10 ETC 157 0.383 2.04 1.002 −0.043 0.011 5 658 46.57 14.1 26.0 0.86
K0, K1 and K2 are coefficients of the SRCC-data derived angle of incidence modifier function: Ksa ¼ K0 þ K1 ð1=cosh 1Þ þ K2 ð1=cosh 1Þ2
FPC flat plate collector, ETC evacuated tube collector
T. Hove
1 A Thermo-Economic Model for Aiding Solar Collector … 15
because of its other more favourable attributes such as higher optical efficiency and
longer guaranteed longevity (warrant period).
Table 1.3 shows that flat plate collectors (FPC) generally rank higher than
evacuated tube collectors (ETC) for solar water heating applications for the climatic
conditions considered, according to the energy-per-dollar criterion. For a compa-
rable solar energy output (comparable solar fraction), e.g. collector 2 and collector
5, the required collector footprint area for an FPC is considerably smaller than that
for an ETC because of the higher gross area efficiency of the FPC in the considered
temperature-gain range. The required footprint area may be used as a secondary
selection criterion where collector-placement space is an issue.
Once the most cost-effective collector to buy for a specific application and
climatic conditions has been selected, the next questions to be answered are; which
the most economic area is to deploy for the solar water heating system; what size of
storage tank should fit this collector area and what is the optimal solar fraction.
These questions can be answered by employing a thermo-economic model, like the
one used in this paper, and making the net present value (NPV) of solar savings the
objective function.
Figure 1.5 shows the variation solar fraction, NPV and storage-ratio (volume of
storage tank to daily hot water demand at load temperature), applied for a solar
water heating system at the selected location and employing the top ranked col-
lector on Table 1.3. The value of the collector area for which the net present value
is maximum is the optimal collector area to be specified for the solar water heating
system. The values of the normalized storage tank volume and the solar fraction
read from the chart corresponding to the optimal collector area, at this “sweet spot”,
are the optimal specifications for these variables. For instance, at the selected
location in central Zimbabwe (latitude 19° South and longitude 30° East), when
using the top-ranked flat plate collector on Table 1.3 to heat water to 50 °C, the
optimal collector area is 18 m2 per every m3 of daily hot water consumed.
8000 1
NPV of solar savings/DHWD [$/m3]
0.9
6000
0.8
0.7
4000
0.6
2000 0.5
0.4
0
0.3
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
0.2
-2000
0.1
-4000 0
collector area/HWD [m2/m3]
Fig. 1.5 Determination of optimal values of collector area; required storage volume and solar
fraction for a solar water heating system
16 T. Hove
The required storage volume is 900 L (0.9 1000 L) per m3 of daily hot water
demanded. The required hot water storage volume decreases as the deployed col-
lector area increases, while the solar fraction increases, with diminishing marginal
returns, until it saturates at a value of unity. At optimal design point, the solar
fraction is 0.91 and the amount of solar savings in present value terms is $5881 for
every m3 of daily hot water consumed. Due to diminishing marginal thermal energy
returns, attempting to increase the solar fraction by only 8%, from the optimal 91 to
99%, will require increasing the collector area from 18 to 40 m2, resulting in the net
present value diminishing from $5881 to $1019. On the other hand, reducing the
size of the collector area below 4 m2, will result in a loss-making solar water
heating system—the net present value will be less than zero.
The input data used to come up with the results of Fig. 1.5 is listed on Table 1.4.
The diurnal temperature performance of the 1000-L solar water heating system is
shown on Fig. 1.6, together with the simulated incident solar irradiance and
ambient temperature. For this particular optimally sized solar water heating system,
the temperature of water in the storage tank reaches a maximum of 69 °C (19 °C
above the load temperature) and a minimum of 40 °C (10 °C below the load
temperature). With the assumed hot water withdrawal pattern (Fig. 1.4), the
back-up heater will be required between 6 am and 12 pm, when the temperature of
the water supplied by the solar system is less than load temperature 50 °C. The
storage tank temperature dips to a low at about 9 am due to large hot water
80.0 1000
70.0 900
700
tank contents temperature
50.0 600
Ambient temperature
40.0 solar irradiance 500
30.0 400
300
20.0
200
10.0 100
0.0 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Time [hours]
Fig. 1.6 Simulated diurnal variation of storage tank temperature for the optimally sized solar
water heating system for the month of May at a location in Zimbabwe (latitude 19° South,
longitude 30° East)
withdrawal at 7 and 8 am, then because of powerful solar radiation, it rises fairly
fast from 9 am until 2 pm, despite some substantial hot water withdrawal. Between
2 pm and 5 pm, the rate of temperature rise slows down as the solar radiation tapers
down, even though there is little hot water withdrawal during this period. After
5 pm, the combination of no radiation income, substantial water withdrawal and
storage tank heat losses contribute to the tank temperature falling significantly. It is
important to check that the maximum temperature in the storage tank does not
exceed a critical design threshold (e.g. boiling point) over all weather conditions.
For this system, the maximum storage tank temperature in October (hottest and
highest radiation month) was determined to be below 80 °C, which is considered
low enough to avoid boiling and associated system component failures.
1.6 Conclusion
The dear old lady was ninety, and it was always Christmas in the
sweet winter of her face. With the pink in her cheeks and the white of
her hair, she came straight from the eighteenth century in which she
was born. They were not more at odds with nature than are the hips
and the traveller’s joy in a withered hedge; and if at one time they
paid to art, why it was a charitable gift to a poor dependent—nothing
more, I’ll swear.
People are fond of testing links with the past. This sound old
chatelaine had played trick-track, and dined at four o’clock. She had
eaten battalia pie with “Lear” sauce, and had drunk orgeat in Bond
Street. She had seen Blücher, the tough old “Vorwärts,” brought to
bay in Hyde Park by a flying column of Amazons, and surrendering
himself to an onslaught of kisses. She had seen Mr. Consul
Brummell arrested by bailiffs in the streets of Caen, on a debt of so
many hundreds of francs for so many bottles of vernis de Guiton,
which was nothing less than an adorable boot-polish. She had heard
the demon horns of newspaper boys shrill out the Little Corporal’s
escape from Elba. She had sipped Roman punch, maybe;—I trust
she had never taken snuff. She had—but why multiply instances?
Born in 1790, she had taken just her little share in, and drawn her full
interest of, the history, social and political, of all those years,
fourscore and ten, which filled the interval between then and now.
Once upon a time she had entered a hackney-coach; and, lo!
before her journey was done, it was a railway coach, moving ever
swifter and swifter, and its passengers succeeding one another with
an ever more furious energy of hurry-scurry. Among the rest I got in,
and straight fell into talk, and in love, with this traveller who had
come from so far and from scenes so foreign to my knowledge. She
was as sweet and instructive as an old diary brought from a bureau,
smelling of rose-leaves and cedar-wood. She was merry, too, and
wont to laugh at my wholly illusory attachment to an age which was
already as dead as the moon when I was born. But she humoured
me; though she complained that her feminine reminiscences were
sweetmeats to a man.
“You should talk with William keeper,” she said. “He holds on to the
past by a very practical link indeed.”
It was snowy weather up at the Hall—the very moral of another
winter (so I was told) when His Majesty’s frigate “Caledonia” came
into Portsmouth to be paid off, and Commander Playfair sent
express to his young wife up in the Hampshire hills that she might
expect him early on the following morning. He did not come in the
morning, nor in the afternoon, nor, indeed, until late in the evening,
when—as Fortune was generous—he arrived just at the turn of the
supper, when the snow outside the kitchen windows below was
thawing itself, in delirious emulation of the melting processes going
on within, into a rusty gravy.
“You see,” said Madam, “it was not the etiquette, when a ship was
paid off, for any officer to quit the port until the pennant was struck,
which the cook, as the last officer, had to see done. And the cook
had gone ashore and got tipsy; and there the poor souls must bide
till he could be found. Poor Henry—and poor little me! But it came
right. Tout vient à qui sait attendre. We had woodcocks for supper. It
was just such a winter as this—the snow, the sky, the very day. Will
you take your gun, and get me a woodcock, sir? and we will keep the
anniversary, and you shall toast, in a bottle of the Madeira, the old
French rhyme.”
I had this rhyme in my ears as I went off for my woodcock—