THANK YOU FOR USING GOARTICLES.COM
The Articles Search Engine
Take A Moment To Visit Our Other Top Web Sites:
http://www.dropjack.com http://www.seo-news.com
http://www.sitepronews.com http://www.exactseek.com
http://www.blog-search.com http://www.smartwebgadgets.com
Use and distribution of this article is subject to our Publisher
Guidelines at http://www.goarticles.com/publisher.html
================================================================
Title: Using solar panels for optimum efficiency
Author: Sam Braidley
Article:
A solar Panel system used in Ireland generally comprise of all
or most of the following components. Optimization of these is
important to obtain best benefits desired.<br /> ·
<strong>Solar Collector </strong>- As the name implies its
function is to absorb the beams of energy that impinge on it for
beneficial use later. The most popular place for the collector
is the roof top of a building. The best orientation of the panel
for optimum year round solar thermal energy absorption is facing
south. When it comes to the tilt the best positioning will be
30 0 - 45 0, but when this is not possible, any tilt angle
between 15 0 to 50 0 (to the horizontal) would be satisfactory.
The commonly used types of collectors are (a) Flat Plate design
and (b) Evacuated tube design. The later is better for energy
efficiency but is more expensive. If you are interested in
getting a rebate for your installation evacuated tube type
provides the higher grant.</p> <ul> <li><strong>The
Cylinder</strong> - The collector cylinder sizing is important
as too small a tank would over heat the water. Too large a tank
would take a longer time to heat up water and may also not be
heated to the required temperature. (It will be bad economy as
well). The minimum permitted storage temperature of hot water is
60 0 presently to prevent Legionella growth. The heat of water
off the cylinder therefore should be a few degrees at least
higher (to allow for heat loss in transit).</li> <li>
The recommended aperture sizes for the cylinders are:</li>
<li> Maximum cylinder temperature 60 0 C
- Aperture equivalent area = 70 m2 </li> <li>
Maximum cylinder temperature 80 0-90 0 C - Aperture
equivalent area = 50 m2 </li> <li> In climates
similar to that in Ireland the type of cylinders called Dual
Coil design should be preferred. The bottom coil is connected
to the Collector while the top level coil is
connected to a auxiliary circuit meant for a supplementary hot
water source.</li> <li><strong>The Heat
Storage</strong> - This is really an insulated tank which stores
the thermal energy rich water flowing out of the Collector. This
method of storing solar energy is so simple and basic, creating
little or no problems for the end user during its life time.
Being an insulated tank the preferred location is indoors.</li>
<li><strong>Pump</strong>- The circulation pump may be standard
domestic power supply operated or from a <a
href="http://www.greentech.ie/heating-systems/solar-systems/solar
-panels/">solar PV panel</a> array generated power operated. In
Ireland the preferred is the former. The pump is responsible for
transferring the Thermal Energy of the sun collected by the
collector to the storage unit.</li> <li><strong>Safety and
Regulatory devices</strong> - The Hot water system deals in very
hot water (which sometimes reaches boiling point) and also
hydraulic circuits pressurized to at least some low pressure.
The appropriate safety devices such as suitable piping material,
thermostats, gauges, relief valves, shut-off, regulatory and
mixing valves etc should be incorporated in the system.</li>
<li><strong>Auxiliary Heat Source</strong> - In Ireland in
winter the solar thermal power is not that reliable for your
total requirement, though it is available throughout the year.
At best only about 60% of the total heat requirement would be
met during this period or in bad weather. An auxiliary source of
thermal energy such as a Pellet Stove/boiler, gas, oil or wood
fueled heat source, electric heaters, etc therefore need to be
incorporated in a system as a back-up.</li>
<li><strong>Lagging</strong> - What ever the type of hot water
system you go for one important aspect not to ignore is a good
lagging/ insulation. Well lagged piping, cylinder and components
would save many Euros for you which in turn would help your
efforts for a preserved environment. The popular insulation
material suitable are:</li> </ul>
a) Fiberglass/Rock/Mineral wool,
preformed pipe/cylinder covers<br /> b) Cellular Foam sheet,
preformed pipe/cylinder covers<br /> c) EPS foam (fire
retardant) preformed pipe covers and slabs<br /> It is important
to decide on correct thickness, density, U factor, moisture
barrier and cladding for a good worthwhile installation. Here it
is best to get the assistance of a good contractor/supplier in
order to select the best for your application.</p>
About the author:
Sam Braidley is a freelance author who writes about various
subjects.To know
more about sam please visit <a
href="http://www.greentech.ie">http://www.greentech.ie</a>
================================================================
FORGET EXPENSIVE PPC ADVERTISING
Give your Website Top 10 Exposure across 100's of Search
Engines and Web Directories delivering 150 Million+ Searches/Mo.
$3 - $4/Month - Quick Inclusion - World Wide Placement!
Your Keywords - No Bidding - No Click Fraud - Stats Tracking
< http://www.exactseek.com/featured_listings.html >
================================================================
No comments:
Post a Comment