A new method to determine the annual energy output of liquid-based solar collectors

Abstract

One of the most effective ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is the widespread use of solar panels. A new approach to estimating the annual energy output ESC of liquid-based solar thermal collectors is presented in this paper. The main parameters of the surrounding environment that affect the energy yield from solar water heating (SWH) systems are total solar radiation ES and outdoor air temperature θO. Here, two functions are developed that allow the specification of the ESC value based on these two previously determined factors. The article presents the subsequent stages that led to the development of this method. In the first step, the computer model of a solar domestic hot water (SDHW) system was built in the EnergyPlus environment. An object of the modeling procedure was the real solar installation located at Bialystok University of Technology. The database containing the annual energy output of the solar collectors, total solar radiation, and outdoor air temperature was developed based on the results of simulations made for 24 Polish cities. Then, the multiple regression method (implemented in Statistica v.13.1) was used to correlate these variables. Two contour graphs were also developed to determine the energy yield from solar collectors.