Results of the development of a solar accumulation-type water heater made of polymer and composite materials

Thermal Performance through Heat Retention in Integrated Collector-Storage Solar Water Heaters: A Review

“…The storage tank is a series of troughs and is integrated with the outer wall of the system (Figure 14), with the area between the two filled with thermal insulation, to reduce the number of parts in the unit. This prototype demonstrated its in-situ operability, however, the engineering solutions applied in its construction are suitable only for low volume production, and thermal vacuum moulding of the polycarbonate glazing gave no guaranteed result [107]. This brings into question the mass reproducibility of the unit as well as its structural integrity.…”

“…Mohamad [42] showed that reverse circulation at night-time is prevented, particularly when storage temperatures are high, thus producing storage efficiencies of 68.6% and 53.3% with and without the diode, respectively. This prototype demonstrated its in-situ operability, however, the engineering solutions applied in its construction are suitable only for low volume production, and thermal vacuum moulding of the polycarbonate glazing gave no guaranteed result [107]. This brings into question the mass reproducibility of the unit as well as its structural integrity.…”

“…The use of solar thermal energy systems has increased dramatically in last decade yet the metal based collectors, despite a high thermal performance, are still relatively expensive to buy and install [17]. More recently, research has been undertaken on the use of polymer and composite materials for the ICSSWH components [75,107,108]. These have the potential to simplify ICSSWH construction as well as decrease the cost of the unit as a whole [75].…”