AL-78-02-4 -- Using Controls to Reduce Component Size and Energy Needs for Solar HVAC

Many solar heating and cooling systems have now been described at workshops and energy related meetings. The systems employ various types of essentially standard heating and air conditioning components which are intended to be energized by heat obtained from solar collector arrays. From the component viewpoint, the solar collector is the only item which has not had wide service in numerous conventional installations.

In the majority of systems described, the HVAC equipment is operated in the same manner which would be employed in conventional systems. Yet the variable rate and temperature level at which solar heat is available requires different operating techniques to secure maximum performance from both the components and the system. This is particularly true as to the thermal storage equipment for either heating or cooling, and to the use of absorption equipment for coqling. Modifications in control application and sequence will often increase the amount of useful solar heating or cooling which can be obtained from a given collector array by as much as 35 or 40%.

Citation: ASHRAE Transactions, Volume 84, Part 2, Albuquerque, NM



Product Code(s): D-AL-78-02-4