Increasing Solar Energy Usage for Dwelling Heating, Using Solar Collectors and Medium Sized Vacuum Insulated Storage Tank

Janar Kalder, Andres Annuk, Alo Allik and Eugen Kokin
Additional contact information
Janar Kalder: Institute of Technology, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 56, EE51006 Tartu, Estonia
Andres Annuk: Institute of Technology, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 56, EE51006 Tartu, Estonia
Alo Allik: Institute of Technology, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 56, EE51006 Tartu, Estonia
Eugen Kokin: Institute of Technology, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 56, EE51006 Tartu, Estonia

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 7, 1-9

Abstract: This article describes a method for increasing the solar heat energy share in the heating of a dwelling. Solar irradiation is high in summer, in early autumn, and in spring, but during that same time, the heat demand of dwellings is low. This article describes a solution for storing solar heat energy in summertime as well as the calculations of the heat energy balance of such a storage system. The solar heat energy is stored in a thermally insulated water tank and used in the heating period. The heat is also stored in the ground if necessary, using the ground loop of the heat pump if the water tank’s temperature rises above a certain threshold. The stored heat energy is used directly for heating if the heat carrier temperature inside the tank is sufficient. If the temperature is too low for direct heating, then the heat pump can be used to extract the stored energy. The calculations are based on the solar irradiation measurements and heating demand data of a sample dwelling. The seasonal storing of solar heat energy can increase the solar heat energy usage and decrease the heat pump working time. The long-term storage tank capacity of 15 m 3 can increase the direct heating from solar by 41%. The direct heating system efficiency is 51%.

Keywords: long-term storage tank; solar heat energy; solar collector (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/7/1832/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/7/1832/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:11:y:2018:i:7:p:1832-:d:157677

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().