What Is An “Immersion Vent”?
I had the opportunity to sit down recently with Alan Watts of Renewable Design Associates. To be such a young guy, Alan really seems to have a firm grasp of the basic fundamentals of solar hot water systems.
Inspecting the Solar Hot Water System at The Healing Place!
The solar thermal system at The Healing Place of Wake County is now up and running! So I decided to pay it a visit and see how it’s doing. I was pleased to see a fair amount of solar energy had been collected and stored over the past several days even though the weather had […]
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 […]
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!
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 […]
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 […]
Solar Thermal Design Class Reminder
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkJZzLS0T5M Hey Everybody! I’d just like to send out a reminder about the class for designing and engineering commercial-grade solar hot water systems that is coming up in about two and a half weeks. Here are the details… “Designing Durable, Low-Maintenance Commercial Solar Thermal Systems” Friday, September 9, 2011 8:30am – 5:00pm Holiday Inn Express at […]
Solar Hot Water Systems – Embedding FHS Controls
In this video, we’re putting the finishing touches on three Fluid Handling Systems that are soon to be delivered to the Fayetteville VA Medical Center as part of the solar hot water systems being installed there by our friends at Southern Energy Management. Sam and David are installing the controls and auto-fill valve… httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX0l8PXFhyA&feature=channel_video_title
Pump Selection for Solar Hot Water Systems
I’ve been having some conversations with a few engineers about how to properly select pumps for large solar hot water systems. The pumps used in our Fluid Handling Systems are selected from major manufacturers, such as TACO and Bell & Gossett. Each pump is chosen for the particular characteristics needed for solar thermal collector operation. […]