Technical information on Solar Systems

Commercial Solar Water Heating System Design Tool

Calculating the likely energy performance of commercial scale solar water heating systems requires computer simulation modelling of the system. The solar simulation tool SolSimNZ tool is aimed at helping solar suppliers, designers and architects better understand how their proposed solar water heating system will work and will help system designers size components and choose the appropriate collectors. SolSimNZ allows the most common solar water heating systems to be modelled for 16 areas in New Zealand. The instructions for operating the simulation tool are available here. (You should note that it is a 10mB file so loading via dial-up will be slow. As the file to be downloaded is a .msi file you will be asked if you want to run it. If you click yes then it will automatically load the files to the desktop of your PC).

 

Publications on the technical aspects of Solar Water Heating

 

  • The Large Scale Solar Thermal Systems Design Handbook is now available on Sustainability Victoria's website for free download. Hard copies can be purchased through MPMSAA


    The Master Plumbers and Mechanical Services Association Australia (MPSAA) and Sustainability Victoria jointly produced the 'Large Scale Solar Thermal Systems Design Handbook' which provides guidance in designing best practice large scale solar hot water systems used in commercial and small industrial applications with the 60-120o Celsius range such as breweries, abbatoirs and hospitals. The Design Guide addresses common design issues including flow rates, hydraulic configuration, control system and collector arrangements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Hot Pipe Material, Article from Oct/Nov 2005 issue of NZ Plumbers Journal, published by the Master Plumbers Gasfitters & Drainlayers NZ Inc.

 

 

 

SWH Articles and Reports on BRANZ

Solar water heating articles and research reports published by BRANZ (www.branz.co.nz) are available by clicking here. This is the link to the BRANZ publications shop. Enter 'solar' in the search field and select 'All publication series' from the drop down menu. It will search all BRANZ publication sources. (Some articles and reports have to be purchased while older articles become free to download after a certain period).