Comparison of Short-Term Testing and Long-Term Monitoring of Solar Domestic Hot Water Systems

This paper reports on the results of a comparison between short-term indoor testing and long-term outdoor monitoring of solar domestic hot water systems. Five solar-preheat systems were monitored under side-by-side conditions of irradiance and load, for a period of two years. The systems were then tested according to a standard day test, using a solar simulator, and a load schedule identical to that imposed on each system during the monitoring. The systems were found to deliver 19.7 MJ–25.8 MJ daily in the test, compared to a two-year average of 19.1 MJ–26.0 MJ (1.5 to 2.0 GJ/m² annually) outdoors. System rank was reasonably well preserved. Comparison of results on the basis of efficiency and solar fraction suggests that good correspondence exists between long-term outdoor results and those of indoor testing, at least for systems with stable controllers. Selected systems were also tested at different load schedules and radiation levels. Methods of predicting the performance of a solar-preheat system from the results of a standard day test are discussed, and the possibility of reducing testing time to a single day is explored.