One tank or two, sir?
The efficiency of a solar thermal system increases as the temperature of the water flowing through the collectors decreases. This is just basic physics. We don’t want the solar water to be any warmer than necessary at any given time. Systems that are designed and operated with this principle in mind will generate energy more efficiently…
September’s Solar Thermal Webinar Is Now Available
As the military continues to increase their interest in robust solar thermal technology, the time-tested principals of the drain back design are becoming more and more appealing. Since I’m scheduled to give another presentation to the Army Corps of Engineers tomorrow, I thought followers of my blog might find it interesting to see what I shared with military engineers last time…
Military Prefers Non-pressurized Solar Thermal Systems
The military has asked me to provide their engineers with regular webinars describing the advantages of non-pressurized (drain back) solar thermal systems over pressurized (glycol) systems. This is a good thing. The military has recognized the benefits of low maintenance and lower cost associated with the drain back design.
In Case You Missed the Last Solar Thermal Webinar…
Thanks to the overwhelmingly positive feedback we received, we will start broadcasting a one-hour solar thermal Q&A webinar on the third Wednesday of every month at noon. So that puts our next episode at April 18th. Please join us!
How To Avoid Over-sizing A Solar Thermal System
Properly sizing a commercial solar hot water system requires a simple understanding of a basic universal principal: the Law of Diminishing Returns. Let me explain. The term “Solar Fraction” is defined as the ratio between the solar energy output of a system over the total energy demand of a building served by that system.
“What’s wrong with using Rubatex to insulate solar thermal system piping?”
You may have heard me say before not to use any type of rubber when insulating the pipes of solar hot water systems. The picture to the right shows why. This rubber insulation was installed on a new A/C unit only some 4 years ago. The unit is in the shadow of a building and is as […]
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 […]