solar heating with cooling (senior capstone project)

Solar Heating with Cooling

Elliott Layus

Ben Ly

Lily Duncan

Problem: Testing the residential heating and

cooling system our team designed.

anti-scald valve

radiator

winter

winter

summer

summer

summer

cooling tower

storage tank propelene

glycol tank

collector

DHW

radiator

Testing: Setup and Procedure

Solar Panel Test Setup

• Test Performed using the primary tank storage (50 gallon tank)

Heat Exchanger Test

• Test Performed using the Storage Tank

Cooling Test Setup Test Performed using the Secondary storage tank (250

gallon tank)

Testing Equipment

• Thermocouples

• Data Logger

Piping

Thermal Wells

Other Testing

Flow-Tests

• Domestic Hot Water Hose

• Solar Panels

• Cooling Tower

Test Results

Results: Solar Response

Domestic Hot Water

Heat Rate:

Cost of Natural Gas: $.995/Therm

Cost Savings of Test: .04869

Gallons Used in Test: 22.5

Domestic Hot Water

• Savings per gallon .00322

• Weekly Estimated Usage

– Showers =472.5

– Laundry =160

– Dishes =20

– Sink =75

727.5

Weekly Savings $2.34/Week $121.70/yr

Delivers: 100 MJ/day

Costs: 14.08 MJ/day

COP: 7.10

Solar Space Heating

Total Gains from Useful Heat

October November December January Febuary March April

(Mega Joules)/day 134 130 41 43 106 103 118

Actual(Mega

Joules)/day 150 133 100 100 133 150 180

Savings ($/day) 1.80 1.60 1.20 1.20 1.60 1.80 2.30

Average

1.70

Total$306/year

Cooling Tower

• A tank response test was performed for 1 hour

• The tank was cooled by 2.5 K (275 gal.)

• 11.12 Mj of energy was rejected

• A standard efficiency A/C unit would provide

2.85 MJ

• Actual savings depends on conditions of surrounding and usage pattern

Cooling cycle: Storage Tank Response

284

286

288

290

292

294

296

298

300

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5

Tem

pe

ratu

re (

C)

time (hours)

Cooling cycle for week of July 27, evening

Tank temperature

wetbulb temp

Cost BreakdownSavings per Year:

$4287 year payback

Cooling Tower Fabrication

Resin $135.00

Glass $60.00

Sheet Metal $30.00

Vents $10.00

Pipe Fittings $20.00

Paint $44.00

Pads $24.00

Screws and Fasteners $30.00

Roofing Material $14.00

Fan $22.00

Power Inverter $50.00

Redwood $25.00

Fiberglass Tools $20.00

Fiberglass Prep Materials $35.00

$519.00

Solar Panels and Mounting

Solar Panel Package- 2pumps

8 3x7 Solar Panels $900.00

Mounting Hardware $348.00

$1,248.00

System Configuration

2 Tanks $150.00

Pipes and Fittings $720.00

Fans $44.00

Heat Exchangers $116.00

Pumps $162.00

$1,192.00

Total $2,959.00