Solar Water Heater?

Filed under: Self Reliance |

solar water heater
Image by AIDG

Question by hhhwwf13: Solar Water Heater?
In a solar water heater, radiant energy from the Sun is transferred to water that circulates through tubes in a rooftop collector. The solar radiation enters the collector through a transparent cover and warms the water in the tubes; this water is pumped into a holding tank. Assume that the efficiency of the overall system is 20% (that is, 80% of the incident solar energy is lost from the system). What collector area is necessary to raise the temperature of 200 L of water in the tank from 20°C to 40°C in 1.0 h when the intensity of incident sunlight is 700 W/m2?

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One Response to Solar Water Heater?

  1. 20% of 700W/m^2 = 140W/m^2

    You need:

    Q = 200,000grams (4.184J/g.C)(20C) =16,736,000 Joules

    So:

    (16,736,000Joules)(1W-sec/1J) / (140W/m^2)(3600seconds)

    = 33.2 m^2

    (Ω)Jack
    February 16, 2014 at 12:21 pm
    Reply

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