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 […]
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. […]
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. […]