Popis: |
Phase change materials have been considered as a form of energy storage in buildings, but this research has mostly been limited to space heating applications. However, solar thermal applications operate at a higher temperature than is necessary for modern hydronic heating systems. This is both due to the need to achieve a set minimum temperature of domestic hot water in its storage tank to avoid health risks and by the high temperature of stagnation of solar collectors. In order to evaluate the applicability of various phase change materials as mediums for energy storage and as passive protection mechanisms for collectors in stagnation, an overview of available materials was made and individual materials were evaluated and ranked based on their performance in comparison to a classic purely hydronic system, as well as the economic feasibility of the proposed system. The performance of such a system was then simulated for a typical family house solar domestic hot water system. |