Solar Hot Water for Bragaw Hall?
As a school that prides itself deeply on its long history of education in engineering, North Carolina State University is always looking for new ways to become more efficient in its consumption of energy. I recently had the opportunity to meet with Pete Fraccaroli, the Facilities Engineer for University Housing. Pete knows very well that college dormitories make […]
Dr. Ben’s Solar Hot Water System Last 25 Years!
My old friend Clarence Beaver, owner of Beaver Brothers, Inc., called me just the other day to discuss a solar hot water system that I had manufactured back in 1985 for Rowan Helping Ministries under my old company, Astron. Apparently the ministry has received a grant that will allow them to replace all of their […]
Evaluating a New Solar Hot Water System Opportunity
I was recently invited to visit to a local community center that’s under construction. Ideally, I like to get involved in the planning phase for a solar hot water system as early as possible. This allows me to help the architects and engineers understand and make accommodations for the solar components such as the Fluid […]
Reviewing F-Chart Data from Duke
You may recall my trip a few weeks ago to the retrieve the flow meter data from the mechanical room of the Bryan Center on the campus of Duke University. I’ve been swamped with several other projects since then but finally had enough time to take the data and put it into my F-Chart program. […]
Limitations of Glycol Solar Water Heating Systems (Part III)
In this third part of my mini-series on pressurized glycol solar water heating systems, I go into some of the details regarding potential overheating, which is of particular concern for commercial systems. Remember, glycol systems do not scale up easily so the larger the system, the more heat you have to get rid of during […]
Limitations of Glycol Solar Water Heating Systems (Part II)
In the first video of this three part mini-series, I shed some light on why glycol systems represent the majority of solar hot water systems being designed today. I also hit on a few of the initial “features” that glycol systems require as well as their potential failure modes. The second video below goes into […]
Limitations of Glycol Solar Water Heating Systems (Part I)
I’ve recently been seeing more and more new construction projects designed to include solar hot water systems, especially in the government sector. This seems like it should be a good thing for the growth of our burgeoning little industry as a whole. It’s indicating that more architects and engineers are getting comfortable with embracing renewable […]
Using “Forensic Physics” to Determine the Hot Water Load
I had the good pleasure of paying a visit to Matt Thompson of Yes! Solar Solutions in Cary this morning. Matt is working on a solar water heating system design for a prospective client who owns a retirement home in Raleigh. First of all, senior living facilities are an ideal match for solar hot water! […]
Fort Myer Fluid Handling System Hits the Road!
This afternoon around 4pm, our 800 gallon Fluid Handling System left to be installed in the solar hot water system at Fort Myer, Virginia. Check out the video below for details. Thanks again to our friends at Southern Energy Management for trusting us to get the job done. We’re looking forward to seeing more orders from […]
Some Tips on Brazing from Dr. Ben
One of the many inherent benefits of the Fluid Handling System design is that all of the piping for the pumps and heat exchangers are done in the factory. This saves time and money versus installing the components in the field. So while working on this 800 gallon FHS for the Fort Myer installation, I […]