Active Solar Heating Systems | EGEE 102

Solar heating systems are classified as “active” or “passive” solar heating systems, or a combination of both. We will first look at active systems.

Active solar heating systems are comprised of collectors, a distribution system, and a storage device.

Instructions: Click on the hot spots in the image below to find out more about the main components of an active solar heating system.

Active solar heating systems operate as follows:

• Flat plate collectors are usually placed on the roof or ground in the sunlight. The top or sunny side has a glass or plastic cover to let the solar energy in. The inside space is a black (absorbing) material to maximize the absorption of the solar energy.
• Cold water is drawn from the storage tank by pump #1 and is pumped through the flat plate collector mounted on the roof of the house.
• The water absorbs the solar energy and is returned back to the tank.
• Warm water from the tank is pumped by pump #2 though the heating coil.
• The fan blows air (from the room) over the heated coil, and the heated air then passes into the room and heats the room.
• Cold air sinks to the bottom and is recirculated over the heating coil.

Note: The standby electric coil is automatically turned on and provides the heat when the water temperature to the heating coil drops because of consecutive cloudy days.

Instruction : Click the “play” button to observe the operation of an Active Solar Heating System:

Operation of an Active Solar Heating System Click here to open a text description of the operation of an active solar heating system.

Operation of an Active Solar Heating System

Water from the storage tank is pumped up to the roof-mounted solar panels. The sun heats the water as it travels back to the water tank. The warm water from the tank is moved by a separate pump through a series of coils inside an air furnace. The furnace moves cool air past the coils to be heated and then distributed throughout the building.

Credit: © Penn State is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Collector’s Efficiency is the ratio of solar radiation that is captured and transferred to the collector or heat transfer fluid.

The efficiency of a collector can be expressed as:

Collector's Efficiency=( Useful energy delivered Isolation on collector ) × 100%

Typical collector efficiencies range from 50–70 percent.

Solar Plate Collector Credit: © Penn State is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0