Browsing by Author "Amoabeng, Owura Kofi"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Assessing the feasibility of a solar water heating system based on performance and economic analysis
    (2012-06-15) Amoabeng, Owura Kofi
    Solar water heating technology is one of the cost-effective ways of heating water in residential and public buildings such as hospitals and health centres. This thesis has used the T*SOL® software programme to assess a proposed solar water heating system for the government hospital of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. The assessment is based on thermal performance and economics of two distinct collector configurations; a flat plate and evacuated tube collectors. The thermal performance analyses of the collectors show that the flat plate collector with annual solar contribution of 38, 221 kWh and reduced CO2 emissions of 25, 456 kg has a better performance over the evacuated tube collector with solar contribution of 37, 946 kWh and reduced CO2 emissions of 25, 273 kg. The annual hot water heating load of the hospital is 57 MWh. The technical parameters of the proposed system from T*SOL® gives a total of 13 flat plate collector modules with collector area of 48.05 m2 and annual collector surface area irradiation of 68.80 MWh. The contribution of the system to the annual heating load is 32.49 MWh with annual solar fraction of 54 percent and collector system efficiency of 47.2 percent. The annual fuel energy savings of the system is 38.2 MWh. The economic analysis of the system from T*SOL provides annual fuel savings of GH¢ 26,640 (US$ 13,320) with annual operating cost of GH¢ 5,400 (US$ 2,700). The total investment of the solar water system is GH¢ 57,658 (US$ 28,829) with a project life span of 20 years and a simple payback period of 6 years. The system gives a positive net present value of GH¢ 63,738 (US$ 31,869). However, an interest rate value of 12 percent or less would yield a payback period of 5 years or less. The thermal performance and economic analysis of the system has therefore shown that it is feasible and worthy of implementation.