Integrated performance of liquid-based solar heating systems

A closed form model for the integrated performance of liquid-based solar heating systems is presented. The model is general enough to be used for most liquid-based systems. It can be used for systems with either flat plate or concentrating collectors and the load is not restricted to space heating applications. Three new system parameter are introduced by this model. These are the system heat storage factor, the solar distribution factor and the load distribution factor. These three factors respectively account for the reduction in system performancev which results from finite storage, non-uniform solar flux and non-uniform load. These factors are discussed in detail and closed form mathematical expressions, from which numerical values can be calculated, as persented.