Irregardless Cafe Goes Solar Thermal With Yes!
2012 is off to a shining start for Arthur Gordon, Chef Emeritus and Owner of the Irregardless Cafe here in Raleigh, NC. The Irregardless has joined the growing number of North Carolina businesses and organizations leading the charge for renewable energy. Arthur recently called Energy Specialist Dan Lezama of Yes! Solar Solutions to come out and […]
Dr. Ben Presents Solar Thermal System Design Seminar to PENC
I recently had the pleasure of presenting a solar thermal system design seminar to the Professional Engineers of North Carolina as part of their annual winter conference. It was good to see such a solid headcount for this 3-hour session which was an abridged version of the class I gave earlier this year for the NC […]
The Science Channel: “How It’s Made!” – Solar Water Heaters
I’m not sure how many of you out there watch the Science Channel but you may have heard of a show called “How It’s Made”. Well, last Thursday night (12/29) they included a segment on solar water heaters. Our friends at AET were highlighted in this episode so be sure to check it out whenever they […]
Pitt County Solar Thermal Storage Tank Hits The Road!
Watch this video to see how a 1750 gallon solar thermal storage tank headed for the Pitt County Jail gets loaded for shipping. Today we helped our most recently completed Fluid Handling System roll of the lot as part of a new solar hot water system in Greenville, NC.
Q&A: PV Controls for a Solar Thermal System?
Q&A: Does it make sense to control a solar thermal system using a solar radiation meter or UV meter?
New Solar Hot Water System Complete @ Murphey School!
This video is a must watch! We have completed our installation of a drainback solar hot water system comprised of 15 AET solar thermal collectors and a 500 gallon Fluid Handling System for the Murphey School apartments. Take a look and get the whole tour!
Optimal System Thermodynamics
In this blog post, I’d like to share some information about the Fluid Handling System design, especially relating to the immersion vent and the function of the cavity. Let me give you a little background into the origins of the Fluid Handling System design that dates back to 1978. At that time I undertook a […]
Is ASHRAE Getting It Right With Solar Thermal System Design?
I was interested in taking a gander at the ‘official’ ASHRAE solar thermal design manual since I see so many commercial specification packages done poorly. I know many PEs refer to the ASHRAE literature when a client asks them to put solar hot water system on a building project. The engineers do the only thing […]
Solar Hot Water Systems Design Class is a Success!
Thanks go out to all those who participated in today’s commercial solar hot water systems design class! It was a huge success. We were very pleased with the turn out of a capacity crowd. The conversations back and forth were extremely valuable. Hopefully this is just the beginning of the discussion as we continue to work […]
The Importance of Duty Cycle in Solar Thermal Systems
In a recent letter from Kevin about single tank vs two tank solar hot water systems, he brings up a very important concept that we didn’t cover in the previous discussion. It is known as “duty cycle”, or the load vs time. To start this off, let’s go back to Kevin’s comments about single tank […]