Upcoming Solar Thermal Engineering Course
Hey Gang! I’m excited to announce that the North Carolina Solar Center is offering a professional-level one-day course on commercial solar hot water systems. Here are the details… “Designing Durable, Low-Maintenance Commercial Solar Thermal Systems” Friday, September 9, 2011 8:30am – 5:00pm Holiday Inn Express at NCSU 3741 Thistledown Drive Raleigh, NC 27606 Or Attend Remotely Using Elluminate […]
Evaluating Hot Water Meter Data from The Healing Place
In this video I analyze the data we recently collected from the hot water meter we installed at The Healing Place. This is actually the first of four data sets we will need to evaluate for the entire facility in the process of our design for their solar hot water system. Information from our datalogger […]
More Hot Water Metering at The Healing Place
In this video I show how we set up a non-invasive flow meter on another hot water line at The Healing Place of Wake County as part of our design process for a solar hot water system. The flow meter requires a straight run of pipe in order to properly collect data. In addition to […]
Dr. Ben Attends ASES 2011
The American Solar Energy Society (ASES) held its 40th annual National Solar Convention at the Raleigh Convention Center last week. The turn out was impressive and I had the pleasure of seeing many old friends and making some new ones. I also had the honor of being a panel member in two of the breakout […]
Design Advantages of Drainback Solar Hot Water Systems
Watch this video illustrating the design advantages inherent to drainback solar hot water systems. This is a follow-up to my three part video series on pressurized glycol solar water heating systems. If you haven’t seen that yet, you can click here to catch up. Unlike pressurized glycol systems, the drainback design requires none of the […]
NC Solar Center Solar Hot Water Training
Hey Everyone, I just wanted to pass on a quick reminder to my subscribers that the North Carolina Solar Center is offering a course in solar hot water systems this summer at the McKimmon Center on the campus of North Carolina State University. If you are interested in getting a hands-on educational experience for designing […]
Further Design Pitfalls in Glycol Solar Hot Water Systems
I recently received a post on my blog from a subscriber in the U.K. by the name of Cleland who has installed numerous glycol solar hot water systems. He said he was starting to encounter many of the problems I’ve been describing lately. In particular, he mentioned the following headaches… Stagnation and boiling of glycol […]
Murphey School Solar Hot Water System
I went to check our solar hot water system being installed on the roof of the Murphey School Apartments in downtown Raleigh yesterday. Our friends at Peak Steel were installing the structural support upon which the array of fifteen solar hot water collectors will be mounted. I prefer to have my systems mechanically attached to […]
The Healing Place – Solar Hot Water System
The Healing Place of Wake County is a non-profit recovery and rehabilitation facility for homeless people with alcohol and drug dependency, located in Raleigh, NC. Just like college dormitories or county jails, rehab facilities have a strong hot water demand profile. The Healing Place has about 180 men each day eating meals, showering, and doing […]
The Heat Exchanger Arrives for our FHS250 Solar Hot Water Tank
The heat exchanger for our 250 gallon Fluid Handling System arrived today. With a little luck, we’ll be able to get this component installed and the tank finished by the end of this week. This solar hot water tank will be shipped out to my old friend Clarence Beaver of Beaver Brothers in Salisbury, NC. […]