Comparative capacities of residential solar thermal systems versus F-chart model predictions and economic potential in an equatorial-latitude country

Esteban Zalamea-León; Mateo Astudillo-Flores; Antonio Barragán-Escandón; Manuel Raúl Peláez-Samaniego

doi:10.1016/j.egyr.2023.09.072

Comparative capacities of residential solar thermal systems versus F-chart model predictions and economic potential in an equatorial-latitude country

Esteban Zalamea-León, Mateo Astudillo-Flores, Antonio Barragán-Escandón, Manuel Raúl Peláez-Samaniego

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

One popular simulation tool for predicting solar thermal (ST) performance is the F-chart model, which has not been validated for the conditions in equatorial-climate countries. In this work, the performance of two ST systems (evacuated tube collectors (ETCs) and flat plate collectors (FPCs), widely used for supplying domestic hot water (DHW) was assessed and compared with F-chart simulation results. The energy demands were simulated by scheduling hot water discharges and measuring the backup energy requirements to fulfil DHW needs. Then, the difference between the calculated solar fraction using the F-chart model and the measured solar fraction was obtained. Both the measurements and simulations showed that the ETC systems performed better than the FPC systems in a city located on the Ecuadorian highlands with distinct climate conditions. The results showed that ETC systems are, on average, up to 18.5% more efficient than FPC systems. A comparative economic analysis was carried out considering that domestic water heating systems are backed up with liquified petroleum gas (LPG) or electricity, both with and without state subsidies. However, due to the higher cost of ETC technology compared to FPC technology, and despite ETC's higher efficiency than FPC's, only US$0.34 per month can be saved on average because of the impact of energy subsidies. Thus, the FPC technology seems more profitable, under the mentioned conditions, because of its lower capital costs. With backup systems powered by unsubsidized energy, the two technologies are nearly comparable. The ETC technology appears suitable only under the unsubsidized electricity scenario. The novelty of this research is that real ST systems installed under similar conditions are integrated, the operation of ST technologies for DWH is simulated, and the different inclinations and orientations of solar collectors are considered. The results are compared with simulations from the F-chart model, and each system is economically assessed.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2567-2581
Number of pages	15
Journal	Energy Reports
Volume	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2023.09.072
State	Published - Nov 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This document expresses results obtained with and research performed with the support of the Vicerrectorado de Investigación de la Universidad de Cuenca and Virtualtech Research Group, as well as the Grupo de Investigación en Energía of the Universidad Politécnica Salesiana. This work is a result of the “Modelado y mediciones de condiciones ambientales interiores e integración de energía solar, para alcanzar el Estándar Net-Zero en Edificaciones FAUC” Research Project.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors

Keywords

Evacuated tube collectors
Flat plate collectors
Residential hot water
Solar thermal
Solar thermal performance

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10.1016/j.egyr.2023.09.072

Cite this

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title = "Comparative capacities of residential solar thermal systems versus F-chart model predictions and economic potential in an equatorial-latitude country",

abstract = "One popular simulation tool for predicting solar thermal (ST) performance is the F-chart model, which has not been validated for the conditions in equatorial-climate countries. In this work, the performance of two ST systems (evacuated tube collectors (ETCs) and flat plate collectors (FPCs), widely used for supplying domestic hot water (DHW) was assessed and compared with F-chart simulation results. The energy demands were simulated by scheduling hot water discharges and measuring the backup energy requirements to fulfil DHW needs. Then, the difference between the calculated solar fraction using the F-chart model and the measured solar fraction was obtained. Both the measurements and simulations showed that the ETC systems performed better than the FPC systems in a city located on the Ecuadorian highlands with distinct climate conditions. The results showed that ETC systems are, on average, up to 18.5% more efficient than FPC systems. A comparative economic analysis was carried out considering that domestic water heating systems are backed up with liquified petroleum gas (LPG) or electricity, both with and without state subsidies. However, due to the higher cost of ETC technology compared to FPC technology, and despite ETC's higher efficiency than FPC's, only US$0.34 per month can be saved on average because of the impact of energy subsidies. Thus, the FPC technology seems more profitable, under the mentioned conditions, because of its lower capital costs. With backup systems powered by unsubsidized energy, the two technologies are nearly comparable. The ETC technology appears suitable only under the unsubsidized electricity scenario. The novelty of this research is that real ST systems installed under similar conditions are integrated, the operation of ST technologies for DWH is simulated, and the different inclinations and orientations of solar collectors are considered. The results are compared with simulations from the F-chart model, and each system is economically assessed.",

keywords = "Evacuated tube collectors, Flat plate collectors, Residential hot water, Solar thermal, Solar thermal performance",

author = "Esteban Zalamea-Le{\'o}n and Mateo Astudillo-Flores and Antonio Barrag{\'a}n-Escand{\'o}n and Pel{\'a}ez-Samaniego, {Manuel Ra{\'u}l}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors",

year = "2023",

month = nov,

doi = "10.1016/j.egyr.2023.09.072",

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AU - Zalamea-León, Esteban

AU - Astudillo-Flores, Mateo

AU - Barragán-Escandón, Antonio

AU - Peláez-Samaniego, Manuel Raúl

PY - 2023/11

Y1 - 2023/11

N2 - One popular simulation tool for predicting solar thermal (ST) performance is the F-chart model, which has not been validated for the conditions in equatorial-climate countries. In this work, the performance of two ST systems (evacuated tube collectors (ETCs) and flat plate collectors (FPCs), widely used for supplying domestic hot water (DHW) was assessed and compared with F-chart simulation results. The energy demands were simulated by scheduling hot water discharges and measuring the backup energy requirements to fulfil DHW needs. Then, the difference between the calculated solar fraction using the F-chart model and the measured solar fraction was obtained. Both the measurements and simulations showed that the ETC systems performed better than the FPC systems in a city located on the Ecuadorian highlands with distinct climate conditions. The results showed that ETC systems are, on average, up to 18.5% more efficient than FPC systems. A comparative economic analysis was carried out considering that domestic water heating systems are backed up with liquified petroleum gas (LPG) or electricity, both with and without state subsidies. However, due to the higher cost of ETC technology compared to FPC technology, and despite ETC's higher efficiency than FPC's, only US$0.34 per month can be saved on average because of the impact of energy subsidies. Thus, the FPC technology seems more profitable, under the mentioned conditions, because of its lower capital costs. With backup systems powered by unsubsidized energy, the two technologies are nearly comparable. The ETC technology appears suitable only under the unsubsidized electricity scenario. The novelty of this research is that real ST systems installed under similar conditions are integrated, the operation of ST technologies for DWH is simulated, and the different inclinations and orientations of solar collectors are considered. The results are compared with simulations from the F-chart model, and each system is economically assessed.

AB - One popular simulation tool for predicting solar thermal (ST) performance is the F-chart model, which has not been validated for the conditions in equatorial-climate countries. In this work, the performance of two ST systems (evacuated tube collectors (ETCs) and flat plate collectors (FPCs), widely used for supplying domestic hot water (DHW) was assessed and compared with F-chart simulation results. The energy demands were simulated by scheduling hot water discharges and measuring the backup energy requirements to fulfil DHW needs. Then, the difference between the calculated solar fraction using the F-chart model and the measured solar fraction was obtained. Both the measurements and simulations showed that the ETC systems performed better than the FPC systems in a city located on the Ecuadorian highlands with distinct climate conditions. The results showed that ETC systems are, on average, up to 18.5% more efficient than FPC systems. A comparative economic analysis was carried out considering that domestic water heating systems are backed up with liquified petroleum gas (LPG) or electricity, both with and without state subsidies. However, due to the higher cost of ETC technology compared to FPC technology, and despite ETC's higher efficiency than FPC's, only US$0.34 per month can be saved on average because of the impact of energy subsidies. Thus, the FPC technology seems more profitable, under the mentioned conditions, because of its lower capital costs. With backup systems powered by unsubsidized energy, the two technologies are nearly comparable. The ETC technology appears suitable only under the unsubsidized electricity scenario. The novelty of this research is that real ST systems installed under similar conditions are integrated, the operation of ST technologies for DWH is simulated, and the different inclinations and orientations of solar collectors are considered. The results are compared with simulations from the F-chart model, and each system is economically assessed.

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KW - Flat plate collectors

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KW - Solar thermal performance

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DO - 10.1016/j.egyr.2023.09.072

M3 - Article

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SN - 2352-4847

VL - 10

SP - 2567

EP - 2581

JO - Energy Reports

JF - Energy Reports

ER -

Comparative capacities of residential solar thermal systems versus F-chart model predictions and economic potential in an equatorial-latitude country

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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