Energy for Sustainability

Randolph & Masters, 2008

Chapter 7:
Solar Energy for Buildings
Cooling energy loads are complicated
Hot roof

TAMB Ti qINT
qSOLAR
qENVELOPE
Ventilation,
qVENT
Infiltration
dehumidification
qA/C
PA/C
Air Conditioner

qREJECTED
 AC Cooling Energy Load begins with CDD

Cooling Degree Days (CDD):

CDD65= (Ta – 65) #days

CDDTb= HDDTb – 365 (Tb – Ta)

 Cooling Energy Load:

QA/C (Btu/yr) = 24 hr/day x (UAT) Btu/hroF x CDD oF-

day/yr

QA/C = 24 (UAT) CDD

SEER (Btu/Wh)= Annual cooling (Btu /yr)
Electrical input (Wh/yr)

Annual Envelope Cooling Electricity (Wh/yr)=

24(UA)CDD
SEER⋅ηDucts
Solar Gain and Cooling Energy
 Even Smarter Windows

Spectrally selective coating lets in

Conventional low-e blocks Far IR,
visible but blocks Near IR from sun
keeps winter heat in house
reducing solar gain and cooling load
Spectrally selective glass + sensor
controlled lighting
 Window low-e coating depend on local needs

Best for Passive Solar Heating:

Hi SHGF, Hi R

Best for Reduced Cooling,

Daylighting: Lo SHGF, Hi R
Cool Roofs
Summer Heat Gain through Roofs and
Effect of Roofing Reflectance
Much of solar thermal energy in NIR, not visible wavelengt
Cool roofs have same visible color,
but higher thermal reflectance
Green Roofs
•Saves on building cooling energy
• Retains stormwater
• Reducing urban heat island
Solar Thermal Applications
 Solar angles, orientation, site surveys
 Incident Solar Radiation (insolation) data
 Passive Solar Heating
 Hot Water Heating
 Solar collectors, efficiency
 Solar Path and Position
Noon β L+
90 −
N = δ

Sunrise
S
E β
φ

β = Altitude angle

φ = Azimuth angle (south = 0) Sunset

W
Effect of Sun’s Path on Incident Angles

June 21 Summer

Winter
90-L+23.5o
Dec 21

90-L- 23.5o
South South
(a) Altitude angle at noon (b) Designing an overhang

β
N =90 −L+δ
Effect of roof overhang on
Solar Shading

P
βN

Y
Y = P tan βN
Noon
Shadow line

South
 Sizing a Roof Overhang to shade
summer sun, admit winter sun
summer JUNE 21 winter DEC 21
P Y = 2 tan 29o = 1.1 ft

y 2 ft
P=
8 ft tan β N
8 29o
P= = 2.0 ft 1.1 ft
tan(76 )
76o o

Shaded at solar noon in June means it Sunny at solar noon in December

will be shaded all day long ! means it will be sunny all day long !
Sun Path Diagram
Solar Site Survey
Shows time of day and months of year when obstructions
will shade the point at which survey is made
 Interpreting Solar Site Survey
 Think about application:
 Space Heating (need in heating months)
 Water Heating and Photovoltaics (need all year)
 Pool Heating (need late spring to early fall)

 Survey gives months and time of day site is shaded

 Need to protect 10:00-2:00: % of daily insolation
 37½ N Lat: 73% Dec, 72% Jan/Nov, 62% Feb/Oct

 Better to protect 9:00-3:00

 37½ N Lat: 93% Dec, 92% Jan/Nov, 84% Feb/Oct
 Creating a Sun Path Diagram
 Plot average monthly solar altitude and azimuth
angles for your latitute
 Go to http://solardat.uoregon.edu/SunChartProgram.html
 SOLAR TILT ANGLES
TIME 0 20 30 40 50 60 90
LATITUDE 35 N (Btu/ft2-hr)
7, 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8, 4 45 77 90 101 109 113 107
Incident Solar 9, 3 105 158 178 193 202 206 180
Radiation 10, 2
11, 1
152
182
217
254
241
279
257
297
266
305
268
305
225
251
(Insolation) 12 192 266 292 310 318 317 259
Btu/ft2-d 1158 1679 1870 2006 2083 2099 1784
LATITUDE 40 N (Btu/ft2-hr)
7, 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
January Hourly 8, 4 28 54 65 74 81 85 84
Clear-sky Solar 9, 3
10, 2
82
126
134
193
155
218
171
238
182
250
188
254
172
224
Insolation 11, 1 154 229 257 278 290 294 254
12 163 241 270 291 304 307 264
(Btu/ft2-hr) Btu/ft2-d 942 1461 1660 1811 1908 1950 1733
LATITUDE 45 N (Btu/ft2-hr)
7, 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8, 4 12 27 33 39 44 47 48
9, 3 59 107 127 143 155 162 156
10, 2 99 165 191 212 227 234 217
11, 1 125 201 230 253 269 276 251
12 133 212 243 267 283 290 262
Btu/ft2-d 722 1212 1408 1562 1671 1731 1604
Daily average
Clear-sky Solar Insolation – Btu/ft2-da
DAILY CLEAR SKY INSOLATION (Btu/ft2-day) LATITUDE 40 N
AZIMUTH: HORIZ SOUTH FACING EAST, WEST
TILT: 0 20 30 40 50 60 90 20 30 40 50 60 90
JAN 942 1461 1660 1811 1908 1950 1733 910 885 845 809 752 536
FEB 1346 1828 1993 2100 2145 2128 1715 1293 1240 1186 1112 1032 707
MAR 1827 2191 2280 2304 2261 2153 1481 1748 1674 1580 1471 1352 900
APR 2289 2450 2427 2334 2182 1968 1031 2184 2077 1952 1805 1634 1058
MAY 2554 2550 2440 2261 2037 1756 717 2428 2299 2142 1959 1759 1101
JUN 2622 2556 2414 2206 1958 1657 603 2488 2349 2179 1984 1777 1092
JLY 2526 2516 2406 2228 2006 1728 706 2401 2272 2115 1933 1734 1082
AUG 2239 2389 2364 2272 2123 1914 1006 2134 2028 1904 1757 1588 1021
SEP 1786 2122 2202 2219 2173 2066 1414 1707 1633 1538 1429 1310 865
OCT 1291 1743 1897 1997 2039 2022 1632 1238 1183 1130 1056 976 663
NOV 916 1411 1601 1744 1837 1876 1667 884 859 818 783 726 515
DEC 785 1287 1486 1641 1747 1803 1652 758 741 711 681 633 456
kBtu/ft2-yr 643 746 766 764 742 700 466 614 586 551 511 465 304
 Actual Average Insolation, Btu/ft2-day
LOS ANGELES CA LATITUDE 33.93 N
TILT JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JLY AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC YEAR
LAT ­ 15 1204 1426 1743 2028 2028 2028 2250 2155 1870 1585 1331 1141 1743
LAT 1395 1585 1807 1997 1933 1902 2092 2092 1902 1712 1490 1331 1775
LAT + 15 1490 1616 1775 1870 1712 1648 1838 1902 1807 1743 1585 1426 1712
90 1299 1299 1204 1046 792 697 761 951 1141 1331 1363 1299 1109
BOULDER CO LATITUDE 40.02 N
TILT JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JLY AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC YEAR
LAT ­ 15 1204 1458 1712 1933 1965 2092 2092 1997 1870 1616 1268 1109 1712
LAT 1395 1616 1775 1902 1870 1933 1933 1933 1902 1775 1458 1331 1743
LAT + 15 1521 1680 1775 1775 1648 1648 1680 1743 1838 1807 1521 1426 1680
90 1426 1458 1363 1141 887 824 856 1014 1268 1458 1395 1363 1204
BOSTON MA LATITUDE 42.37 N
TILT JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JLY AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC YEAR
LAT ­ 15 951 1204 1458 1648 1807 1902 1902 1807 1585 1299 887 792 1426
LAT 1078 1331 1490 1585 1680 1743 1775 1743 1616 1363 983 919 1458
LAT + 15 1141 1363 1458 1490 1490 1521 1553 1585 1553 1395 1046 983 1395
90 1078 1236 1173 983 887 824 887 983 1109 1141 951 919 1014
ATLANTA GA LATITUDE 33.65 N
TILT JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JLY AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC YEAR
LAT ­ 15 1078 1331 1616 1902 1965 1997 1933 1870 1680 1553 1204 1014 1585
LAT 1204 1458 1680 1838 1838 1838 1807 1807 1712 1648 1331 1173 1616
LAT + 15 1299 1490 1616 1712 1648 1616 1585 1648 1616 1680 1553 1236 1553
90 1109 1173 1109 951 761 697 697 856 1014 1268 1204 1109 983
 Generating Solar Insolation Data
 NREL site: http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/old_data/nsrdb/redbook/sum2/
 Find location
 Download the data to a text file
 Open the file into Excel (delimit by comma)
 Isolate the data you want by deleting unwanted rows
and columns
 Convert data to desired units.
NREL Insolation Data Website
 Roanoke Actual Avg Insolation Data
Btu/ft2-da

Roanoke VA Lat 37.5

TILT J AN FEB MAR APR MAY J UN J UL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC Year
0 730 984 1301 1650 1840 1967 1872 1745 1428 1142 793 635 1341
Lat - 15 1047 1269 1523 1777 1840 1904 1872 1809 1618 1460 1111 920 1512
Lat 1174 1364 1586 1745 1745 1777 1745 1745 1618 1555 1237 1079 1531
Lat + 15 1237 1428 1555 1618 1555 1523 1523 1586 1555 1555 1301 1142 1465
90 1142 1174 1142 984 793 730 761 888 1047 1237 1142 1047 1007
Passive Solar Heating
 Definition and components
 Building Orientation
 Calculating Solar Gain
 Sun-tempered House
 Effect of Thermal Mass
 Passive Solar Design Types
 Passive Solar Buildings
 Heating of houses is the biggest single category of energy demand in
the entire building sector. So, why not let the sun do some of that job?
 There are two ways to try to do that:
 Passive solar is based on just letting the sun pass through windows
and other solar apertures to provide needed heat. Passive solar
systems are simple, cheap and reliable.
 Active solar approach uses special solar-thermal collectors to
collect heat, then moves it to storage and distribution systems using
pumps and blowers. They provide greater control of heat flow, but
their high cost and uncertain reliability have led to less widespread
acceptance.
 The basic design guidelines for passive solar are pretty simple.
1. Maximize envelope efficiency
2. Orient the building along an East-West axis to control solar gains
3. Provide south-facing glazing systems to admit solar energy
4. Design proper overhangs to protect south-facing windows in the
summer
5. Provide sufficient thermal mass to absorb solar energy in excess of
daytime needs
 Solar Window Orientation

Afternoon S
W E Morning
S N sun
sun
1800

1600
South-facing
Daily Insolation (Btu/ft2-day)

1400
East, West-facing
1200

1000

800

600

400
Latitude 40 N
200
Clear sky
0
1
Jan 2
Feb 3
Mar 4
Apr 5
May 6
Jun 7
Jly 8
Aug 9
Sep 10
Oct 11 Dec
Nov 12
 Building Orientation
GOOD
Sunset Sunrise BAD
Summer Summer
N
N
plants
plants

W E W E

S S
Sunset Sunrise
Winter Winter
 Calculating Solar Gain

Solar Gain:
= 1204 Btu/ft2day x 0.71
= 855 Btu/ft2day

1204 Btu/ft2day SHGC = 0.71 Thermal Loss:

= UA ∆T x hours
= 0.50 Btu/hr.ft2.oF x (70 - 30)oF x 24 hr/d
Ta = 30oF Ti =70oF = 480 Btu/ft2day

U = 0.50 Btu/hr-ft2 Net Gain:

= (855 - 480) = 375 Btu/ft2day
S
BUILDING EFFICIENCY: (UA)-VALUE AND THERMAL INDEX
House #1: SUNTEMPERED with 100 ft2 of south window out of total 250 ft2
Component Area (ft2) Insulation R U=1/R* UA* % of Total*
Ceiling 1500 R-30 #13 30.3 0.033 49.5 12%
Non-S Windows 150 dbl Al #21 1.4 0.714 107.1 26%
Doors 60 No storm #19 2.6 0.385 23.1 6%
Walls 970 R-21 #3 19.2 0.052 50.5 12%
Floors 1500 R-21 #7 29.3 0.034 51.2 12%
3
ACH Volume (ft ) Efficiency
Infiltration 0.6 12,000 0 129.6 32%
Ventilation 0 12,000 70% 0 0%
o
TOTAL (UA)-value = 411 Btu/hr F
Note: *Columns are calculated values. All other information is data entry

ANNUAL FUEL CONSUMPTION

Fuel Price $12 per million Btu (Table 6.12)
Furnace Efficiency 80% Assume south windows
Distribution Efficiency 75%
Internal gains, qint 3000 Btu/hr
Net zero heat loss
Indoor set point, Ti 70 oF
HDD65 5052 oFd/yr for Blacksburg, VA (Table 6.11)
Tdesign -5 oF (Table 6.11)
Furn. pick-up factor 1.4
Calculations:
* Balance Point Temp 62.7 oF Tbal = Ti - qint/(UA)
* HDD @ Tbal 4546 oFd/yr HDDTb=HDD65-(0.021*HDD65+114)(65-Tbal)
* Qdel 44.8 Million Btu/yr Qdel=24(UA)HDD
* Qfuel 74.7 Million Btu/yr Qfuel=Qdel/(furn eff x dist eff)
* Annual fuel bill $ 897 per year $/yr=Qfuel x fuel price

* House without solar 1,108 per year using all 250 ft2 of windows
Note *Rows are calculated values. All other information is data entry
 Thermal mass needed if excess solar gain
Need thermal storage, ∆Qs
Solar gains with
large window Total house
area heat loss rate

Solar gains with

q (Btu/hr) modest window
area

MN Noon MN
Effect of Mass on indoor temperature
100
14% So. glass, no extra mass
90
14%, extra mass
80

70
Temperature (oF)

60

50
Ambient
40
7% So. Glass, no extra mass
30

20

10

0
6 12 18 24 30
6am Noon 6pm MN 6am
Passive Solar Heating Types
Air Circulation in Passive Solar
Convective Loop or Envelope House
Effect of Passive Gains on Auxiliary
Thermal Index (Btu/ft2-oF-da)
 Estimating Solar Performance:
Load Collector Ratio (LCR) method
24(UA) ST
LCR =
Ap
log10 (LCR2 LCR)
SSF =0.18 +0.3
log10 (LCR2 LCR5)
QDEL (Btu/yr) = 24 (UA)ST HDD65 (1-
SSF)

CR2=LCR@SSF=20%; LCR5=LCR@SSF=50%; DGB1, SSB7, TWB2 are design typ

 LCR Example
A house in Denver with a total (UA)-value of 400 Btu/hroF has 200 ft2 of U-0.50 direct
gain windows (with suitable mass). If the furnace and ducts are each 90% efficient
and the fuel is natural gas at $1.20/therm, estimate the fuel bill. Denver has HDD65
= 6016 oF-day/yr.

SOLUTION: The sun-tempered (UA) value subtracts those solar windows

(UA)ST = 400 Btu/hroF – 200 ft2 x 0.50 Btu/hrft2oF = 300 Btu/hroF
24 (UA)ST 24 ⋅300
The Load Collector Ratio is: LCR = = =36
Ap 200
From Table 7.6, LCR2 = 68 and LCR5 = 18, so using (7.6) we get
log10 (68 36)
SSF =0.18 +0.3 =0.324
log10 (68 /18)
Using (7.5) gives
QDEL = 24 hr/day x 300 Btu/hroF x 6016 oFday/yr x (1-0.324) = 29 x106 Btu/yr

The fuel bill will be 29x10 6 Btu yr $1.20

Fuel = ⋅ 5 =$430 / yr
0.90x0.90 10 Btu
Hot water heating
 Cost of Hot Water
Q = #gal/da x 365 da/yr x (Th- Tc)oF x 1 Btu/lboF x 8.34 lb/gal = Btu/yr

Example: 64 gal/da, Th = 130oF, Tc = 55oF

Q = 64 g/d x 365 d/yr x (130 – 55)oF x 1 Btu/lboF x 8.34 lb/gal = 14.6x106 Btu/yr

$ Cost natural gas = Btu/yr x 1 therm x $

EF 100,000 Btu therm

14.6x10 6 Btu yr 1 therm $1

Cost = ⋅ ⋅ =$256 / yr
0.57 100,000Btu therm
 Typical Energy Factor and Levelized
Cost of Different Hot Water Heaters
1st yr Levelized
Energy Installed Annual energy Life Cost
Water Heater Type Factor Cost energy cost (years) $/yr
GAS FIRED Therms
Conventional storage 0.57 $ 380 256 $ 256 13 $ 351
High-efficiency storage 0.65 $ 525 225 $ 225 13 $ 329
Instantaneous demand 0.70 $ 650 209 $ 209 20 $ 243
High-efficiency pilotless demand 0.84 $ 1,200 174 $ 174 20 $ 255
Solar (SF = 0.7) with gas back-up 0.57 $ 2,500 77 $ 77 20 $ 271
ELECTRICITY kWh
Conventional storage 0.90 $ 350 4758 $ 428 13 $ 557
High-efficiency storage 0.95 $ 440 4508 $ 406 13 $ 539
Instantaneous demand 0.95 $ 600 4508 $ 406 13 $ 556
Electric heat pump 2.20 $ 1,200 1947 $ 175 13 $ 340
Solar (SF = 0.7) with electric back-up 0.90 $ 2,500 1427 $ 128 20 $ 318

Assumptions: 64 gpd demand, 75oF delta T, natural gas @ $1/therm,

electricity @ 9¢/kWh, 3% fuel escalation, 5% discount rate, solar savings
fraction 70%.
 Solar Hot Water
FLAT-PLATE COLLECTOR SYSTEM DIAGRAM
Flow tubes

Header Glazing Tout

Tin Cold

Controller Hot

Flow ∆T
Insulation

Absorber plate
Frame Pump
The Flat Plate Collector

qDEL= qABS - qLOSS

qDEL = IA(τα) – ULA (TP – TAMB)

qDEL IA(
τα)−U L A(
TP −TAMB ) TP −TAMB 
η= = =(
τα)−U L  
qINCIDENT IA  I 
 Efficiency based on Plate Temperature Efficiency Based on Inlet Temperature

(τα) “y-axis intercept” FR(τα)

1

η UL “slope factor”
η
F R UL

X = “inlet parameter”

 Tp − Tamb   T − Tamb 
X =   in
a.   b. I 
 I 
 Unglazed,
pool collector

Single-glazed
DHW collector

η
Double-glazed
Space heating

80o 110o 140o Tin ..for average Tamb and I

Space Heat
Pool DHW

80o 110o 140o

High τα Medium τα Low τα
High UL Medium UL Low UL
 Collector Efficiency

__ __ 
__
T in −T amb 
η=FR (τα)Kτα −FRU L __
 
 I 
__ 100 o
−80 o
F
η=0.75 ⋅0.93 −1.18 Btu hr Fft 
o 2
2
=0.55 =55%
166 Btu hrft 

A(ft 2 )
=
(
gal /day )⋅8.34 lb gal ⋅1Btu lb oF ⋅∆ T oF
=
64 ⋅8.34 (
140 −60)
=46 ft 2

Insolation(
Btu / ft 2 day )
⋅η Collector ⋅(
1−losses) 1997 ⋅0.55 ⋅0.85
Solar Water Heating Analysis
Evaculated Tube collectors
Batch Water Heater:
Integrated Collector and Storage (ICS)
 160

140
T(F) or Insol (Btu/ft2hr)/10
120

Morning
100

80

60 Tamb Evening

40

20 I/10

0
6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30

Hot Water Btu/day ICS % of Load

Load Pattern Supplied Delivered Efficiency 40gal @120F
Evening load 40 g @ 123F 20,904 42% 104%
Morning load 40 g @ 84F 8,015 16% 40%
Thermosiphon Water Heater