Performance Evaluation of Solar – Operated Thermosyphon Hot Water System in ‎Akure

Abstract

Two passive solar-operated hot water systems were designed, constructed using local materials ‎and tested Akure on latitude 7.25 oN. The storage tank of one of the systems was not insulated ‎whilst in the other system, the storage tank was insulated and smaller diameter pipes with many ‎passes were used which gave even spread of water along the absorber, thereby increasing the ‎heat removal from the collector by the working fluid. The later which is an improvement on the ‎former system is designated as the “improved system”, whilst the uninsulated system is ‎designated as the “existing system”. Efficiency curves showed that the improved system had ‎higher thermal efficiency and performed better that the existing system. During the test period, a ‎maximum hot water temperature of 52.5 oC was obtained in the existing system whilst that of the ‎improved system was 76.5 oC