Design and Performance Evaluation of a Portable Solar Water Heater

Abstract

This paper presents design and performance evaluation of a solar water heater (SWH) using thermosyphon principles, thereby eliminating the use of electric water pump and reducing the cost of the entire system. There are many phenomena encouraging the application of solar water heating technology such as; electric power outage, high fuel price, rapid urbanization, low cost of installations, and governmental intervention. Therefore, there is need to encourage innovation in the field of solar technology. The design of this system was done using relevant equations to obtain the required dimensions of the various components of the system. The materials were selected based on design calculations, machining, availability and material cost. During the testing process, the first three days of testing the highest outlet temperature recorded was 65 oC. For the last three days of testing during the dry season, the highest outlet temperature recorded was 79.3 oC. The results showed that the system performs better during the dry season when the irradiance levels are higher. The highest irradiance recorded was 940 W/m2 on the sixth day of testing. The highest efficiency recorded from the system was 68.19% on the fourth day of testing. It is hereby recommended that sensor and a flow meter should be installed for determining water level and for easy identification of flow rate.