On the study of applications of solar thermal energy for mobile homes

A great deal of work has been done in the study of applications of solar thermal energy for conventional site-built houses; however, little effort has been directed to the study of these applications for mobile homes although they account virtually for a large portion of low cost single family homes. Mobile homes are different from the conventional home and building in configuration, structure, arrangement and cost. The concept and criteria of designing a solar space heating/cooling system for mobile homes differs somewhat from that of a conventional site-built house or building. The mobile home is a low-cost housing. The solar system developed for mobile homes should be really low in cost before it can appeal to the mobile home community. This paper presents the unique characteristics of mobile homes and their impacts on the design/selection of its solar space heating/cooling system and system for supplying domestic hot water. A typical model mobile home is selected for investigation of the solar system design for four representative climatic regions (cool, temperate, hot-humid and hot-arid) of this country. Economical feasibility study is also discussed. A low-cost solar collector is suggested and its estimated performance is presented.