Performance of a solar-powered floor heating system was studied. This system utilized a 96m² solar collector array as heat source and servers an office area of 170 m². Experiments have been carried out for a whole winter under various conditions, and the result showed that this system goes well during the experimental period with average room temperature maintained above 16°C except for continuous overcast days. A computer program was developed to simulate system performance under variant conditions, and it showed that solar radiation and initial hot water temperature had significant influences on system performance. A great thermal lag was also observed in this system, which seriously reduced indoor temperature. By adjusting system control strategy, the negative influence of the thermal lag was eliminated with indoor temperature 1~2°C higher.
Keywords. solar energy; floor heating; system performance
How to cite this article
Song, Z., Wang, R. and Zhai, X. (2008). 'Investigation on performance of solar-driven floor heating system'. SET Proceedings, 7(1), pp. 753-758. https://doi.org/10.65582/set.2008.097
