| Thermal Storage Banks and Thermal Solar Power |
| Written by Walter Hull | |
| Sunday, 14 February 2010 | |
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We use the words thermal solar power to describe any system designed to convert solar radiation into thermal energy. It is one of the major players in the solar power market and has huge untapped potentials.
We use the words thermal solar power to describe any system designed to convert solar radiation into thermal energy. It is one of the major players in the solar power market and has huge untapped potentials. The uses for thermal solar power are widespread and varied. Just think of any process which could utilize heat. This could range from something simple such as hot water heating, to more sophisticated designs involve stirling engines or industrial grade steam. For small scale applications, thermal solar power is used in the home. The heat is used to maintain hot water tanks, or is stored in the floors or walls of our buildings. There are other good uses for thermal solar power which we expect to increase in years to come. One is pebble bed heat exchangers, which act as a thermal storage bank for converted heat. This gives us some system capacity and operating flexibility. These pebble bed heat exchangers can be designed into your floors, walls, workshops, or other places around the home. They can be used for household heating, greenhouses, saunas, and as air driers for clothes. We had one design whereby a user wanted to heat up a nesting area in their chicken coupe! The typical operating temperature of a basic thermal solar power system will be somewhere between 100F and 200F. For high performance designs, up to 700F has been achieved for making high pressure steam. The exact temperatures we can obtain will depend entirely on the solar collector design and your system's needs. The solar collector is the most important component to a thermal solar power installation. A few different types include flat plate absorbers, evacuated tube absorbers, and parabolic trough concentrators. Their main purpose is to absorb solar radiation and generate heat for the system. With a good sized solar collector system, significant heat can be generated and distributed to multiple locations. The solar collector will transfer heat to a circulating fluid, whose flow is driven by a small pump. Depending on the system design temperature and operating environment, this fluid may be water, glycol, or oil. The circulating fluid is like the life blood of thermal solar power system by moving the energy to all the users. Anyone seriously interested in energy independence should start with thermal solar power technology. The components are simple and inexpensive. If you could identify your climate as having reasonable amounts of Sun, then thermal solar power is encouraged to the fullest extent. Thermal power systems are typically less expensive than solar power electricity, and can create household hot water and heat reliably. With the addition of pebble bed storage and higher operating temperatures, then the amount of potential uses suddenly becomes many. With the markets of sustainability re-growing their roots we expect to see a variety of new designs and installations in years to come. The Article Author: Walter Hull is a mechanical engineer with expertise in solar energy power systems. For a limited time you can get his free guide to solar energy from your own yard. |
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