Experimental Investigation of Solar Water Heater with Thermal Energy Storage System

Unfortunately the global conventional fuels in reserves are running out while the world energy consumption is increasing very fast. All scientists agreed that solar energy is one of the best solutions for energy supply in many parts of the world. The aim of this work is to experimentally investigate the solar water heater at various flow rates integrated with phase change material (PCM). Abundantly available solar energy utilization for domestic and industrial application is hindered because of its intermittent nature. The thermal energy storage (TES) system using both the sensible and latent heat has many advantages like large heat storage capacity in a unit volume and its isothermal behaviour during the charging and discharging processes. The system consists of two simultaneous functioning heat absorbing units. One of them is a solar water heater sensible heat storing unit and the other a latent heat storage unit consisting of phase change materials (OM53). The storage unit stores the heat in phase change materials during (charging period) the daytime and supplies hot water, when solar radiation is not available. The experiment was conducted with different types of flow rates and verified energy storage time period in the evening hours.