Technology - System Schematic
This is a general representation of our system showing all of the major components.
Evacuated
Tube Collectors
• Water from the hot water storage tank is continuously circulated through the collectors and is heated by the sun. This hot water acts as the fuel driving energy for the absorption chiller.
Storage Tank
• The storage tank is insulated and glass-lined much like your hot water tank at home. As the morning progresses the circulating water collects heat from the sun and the temperature in the tank rises. Temperatures in the tank will approach 205°F. The hot water will run the absorption chiller to provide air conditioning or simply provide domestic hot water and heating.
Absorption Chiller
• The chiller starts producing chilled water when the temperature in the tank reaches 158°F (about 9:00 am in the morning). This thermally and chemically driven heat pump has the property of creating ever colder chilled water as the water temperature in the storage tank rises throughout the day. Therefore a solar chiller is “in-phase” with demand.
Cooling Tower
Conventional air conditioners use air flowing over the condenser to reject the heat outdoors. An absorption chiller requires something more efficient and therefore uses a cooling tower, which is essentially a swamp cooler, through which cooling water is circulated from the chiller. Substitutes for the cooling tower could be a swimming pool, a continuous daily stream of cold water supply, or a ground source heat exchanger.
Fan Coil Unit
• The chilled water produced in the absorption chiller flows into the fan coil unit. The chilled water runs through pipes where a fan blows cooling the passing air.
Your Building
• Cool air enters your building. The brighter the sun shines outside the more efficient the process becomes and the cooler the air flow. The system is left on at all times to ensure maximum effect.
