Short communication simple transient thermal model for solar colector/storage water heaters

This note presents a simple transient model for predicting the thermal performance of some novel solar water heaters which combine both collection and storage of solar energy. These heaters consist of either (i) an insulated rectangular tank whose top surface is blackened and suitably glazed, or (ii) an insulated open shallow tank with black bottom/inner sides and a top glass cover (shallow solar pond). the heaters are adequately covered with an insulation during the night to reduce the heat losses. the proposed model is based on different characteristic equations during sunshine and off-sunshine hours. It is seen that the model predicts the water temperature in close agreement with the experimental observations and earlier theoretical investigations.