An update on the Federal Solar Heating Program

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An update on the Federal Solar Heating Program

Sasaki, J. R.

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AN

UPDATE

OF THE

FEDERAL

SOLAR HEATING PROGRA!!T*

J . R . Sasaki

In 1976-77, a feasibility study o f solar h e a t i n g in Canada was completed, and t h e following new activities were i n i t i a t e d :

construction of 14 solar-heated demonstration homes, 7 research and development contracts, 4 monitoring contracts and the establishment of an independent solas-collector test facility. The 1977-78 program, with a budget

of

$2,100,000, will support construction of salar-

heated multi-unit residential buildTngs, monitoring of non-residential

solar-heated buildings, and additional research and development of solar h e a t i n g systems and components. TVork

an

the durability of s o l a r h e a t i n g components, and on l a r g e in-ground h e a t storage tanks will

also be undertaken.

PROGRAM

AIMS

The a i m s of t h e S o l a r Heating Research and Development Program of the National Research Council a r e t o :

i ) de-termine the feasibility of v a r i o u s ways of utilizing solar heatinx in Canada;

Cii) develop simplified design methods and a data base f o ~ the rational d e s i g n of s a l a r heating systems;

(iii) support construction o f solar heating demonstration projects,

t o stimulate p u b l i c interest and to obtain q u a n t i t a t i v e d a t a

an t h e performance of salar heating s y s t e m s in Canada;

( v ) a s s i s t Canadian equipment manufacturers to develop durable, cost-effective solar heating hardware.

FEASIBILITY

AND

DESIGN

METHODS

In pursuit sf t h e first aim, a feasibility study on solar h e a t i n g in Canada was undertaken by the University of !Talerloo. The results of t h i s study are now available. (I) Another result o f t h i s study was t h e development of a d e s i g n method for sizing solar heating systems, entitled the

WATSUN

program. ( 2 ) Work i s c o n t i n u i n g at Waterloo

on

t h e development of simpler methods f o r s i z i n g s o l a r h e a t i n g systems f o r residences.I3) Development o f a solar-heating system d e s i g n

method f o r more complex buildings, e . g . , air-conditioned o f f i c e buildings, will be undertaken in t h e c u r r e n t year by the Federal Department of P u b l i c Works.

*

Prepared f o r presentation at the Third

Annual

Meeting of the

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SOLAR DATA BASE

The development of a s o l a r data base is being undertaken by the Atmospheric Environment S e r v i c e of Environment Canada. _{Their i n t e n t}

is to prepare weather and solar radiation data for the major urban centres i n a format t h a t

can

be used by building h e a t i n g engineers,

To this end, they are developing a method for i n f e r r i n g i n s o l a t i o n f o r r e g i o n s with no measured radiation d a t a , and a reliable method f o r t r a n s l a t i n g insolation d a t a on horizontal surfaces i n t o insolation

d a t a on inclined surfaces. T h i s latter work is being conducted

jointly with Professor J . E . Hay of the University of British Columbia. DEMONSTRATIONS

In 1976-77, support was provided for the installation of s o l a r

space-heating systems in 14 single-family detached homes (Table I). Single-family homes were chosen f o r demonstration in t h e first year of t h e program because it was thought that this would stimulate the greatest interest in the c o n s t r u c t i o n i n d u s t r y and t h e general public.

In the c u r r e n t y e a r , both solar service-water and space-heating systems w i l l be demonstrated i n multi-unit residential buildings,

which

are now recognized t o be a more appropriate application f o r s o l a r energy.

MONITORING

Contracts were let in 1976-77 to monitor t h e performance of s o l a r

h e a t i n g systems on f o u r h o u s e s (Table 11). _Twoof the h o u s e s were constructed u n d e r t h e Canadian Urban Demonstration Program (now d i s c o n t i n u e d ) ; t h e o t h e r t w o were c o n s t r u c t e d w i t h p r i v a t e f u n d s .

I n addition to l e t t i n g m o n i t o r i n g contracts on t h e 14 s o l a r demonstration houses, contracts will be l e t in t h e c u r r e n t year to p r e p a r e monitoring systems f o r n o n - r e s i d e n t i a l s o l a r - h e a t e d b u i l d i n g s ,

e.g., schools, office buildin~s and commercial b u i l d i n g s . Monitoring systems will also be installed in a home in O t t a w a with a simple

liquid-heating s o l a r system and in a 29-unit Senior C i t i z e n Home b e i n g c o n s t r u c t e d by t h e O n t a r i o Housing Corporation. The latter b u i l d i n g

will f e a t u r e a s o l a r h e a t i n g system i n t e n d e d to supply a l l t h e space- h e a t i n g needs by utilizing a seasonal heat s t o r a g e unit.

The

aims o f t h e m o n i t o r i n g program are t o determine rhe solar contribution to the h e a t i n g needs of t h e buildings and to p r o v i d e

technical d a t a f o r validating t h e worth of s o l a r system design methods.

RESEARCH AED DEVELOPIIENT

The seven research and development s t u d i e s i n i t i a t e d i n 1976-77

a r e listed ia Table T I T . The i n t e n t in t h i s part of t h e program was

t o develop information t h a t would he u s e f u l to both building system d e s i g n e r s and potential manufacturers of s o l a r h e a t i n g components and s y s t e m s , I n 1977-78 t h e r e will be continuing support for some of these

p r o j e c t s t h a t were started in the previous y e a r . N e w research and development work will be i n i t i a t e d a n : durability studies, selective

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coatings, chemical-change and latent heat storage units,

and

advanced collector designs.

The establishment of an independent s o l a r collector test facility was supported i n 1976-77 (Item 8 i n Table 111) in a n t i c i p a t i o n of the need f o r such a f a c i l i t y by a growirig collecto~ manufacturing i n d u s t r y .

FEDERAL GOmRNEEhT ACTIVITIES

Other Federal government departments w i l l be i n v o l v e d i n solar h e a t i n g activities in t h e current year, i n addition t o the activities

of the Atmospheric Environment Service and the Department of P u b l i c Id!orks a l r e a d y m e n t i o ~ e d . Agriculture Canada will be i n i t i a t i n g work on the a g r i c u l t u r a l applications of s o l a r heat. Central Flortgage and Housing Corporation will continue i t s s t u d y of the F l i n i - U t i l i t y Concept,

t h a t is, :he use o f a l a r g e , central solar-collection and heat-storage system s e r v i n g t h e space-heating needs of clusters of residential buildings, 711c Department af P u b l i c Works and the National Research

Council will be concerned with t h e p o s s i b i l i r y o f u t i l i z i n g solar

h e a t i n g systems in F e d e r a l buildings.

The Division of Building Research of t h e National Research Council

w r l l b e c o n c e n t r a t i n g on t h e f o l l o r ~ i n g areas: develorjment of test methods and standards for solar h e a t i n ? components ; d&rability of s o l a r heating components; and perfomancc of l a r g e in-ground heat storage units. Preparation of a handbook d e s c r i b i n g construction f e a t u r e s and costs of Canadian solar-heated huildings and a s t u d y of existing solar- heated b u i l d i n g s r e l a t e d to maintenance and component deterioration, will also be u n d e r t a k e n . A major u n d e r t a k i n g w i l l be the preparation

a n d / o r dissemination of reports r e s u l t i n g from the current research, devefopment, demonstration and monitoring contracts.

One a c t i v i t y o u t s i d e t h e s o l a r nrogram being u n d e r t a k e n jointly by t h e Division and thc Housing and Urban Development Association of

Canada [HUDAC), i s t h e construction of f o u r similar houses in Ottawa; one built to 1975 r e s i d e n t i a l s t a n d a r d s and t h e _{other three}_{w i t h}

a d d i t i o n a l energy-conservation f e a t u r e s . A l l f o u r houses will be

electrically h e a t e d , b u t one w i l l incorporate a su~plemcntary solar air-heating system and a n o t h e r will have an air-to-air heat pump, The effectiveness o f t h e energy-conserving f e a t u r e s and o f the solar- h e a t i n g and heat-pump systems will he studied in d e t a i l -

1NFORF:cY;TON ON FUNDING PROGRLUIS

TI? S o l a r Heating Research and Development Program of t h e X a t i o n a l

Researcli Council i s j u s t one of the activities supporting s o l a r h e a t i n g development in Canada. lVork t o be funded under t h i s program i s

announced i n t h e Research a n d Development Bulletin of t h e Denartment o f

Supply and Services, Ottawa. Those w i s h i n g to keen informed o f the r e s e a r c h and development f u n d s being made a v a i l a b l e should have their names p l a c e d on t h e mailing list o f t h e DSS RZD B u l l e t i n .

.4n i n d u s t r i a l s u p p o r t program t h a t may be apnlicable t o

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Development Program of the Department of I n d u s t r y , 'Trade

and

Commerce. Information regarding t h i s program can be obtained from the regional o f f i c e s a f the Department

Soma o f the provinces are currently establishing programs in support of renewable energy development, i n c l u d i n g s o l a r h e a t i n g . Provincial energy ministries can provide details

on

t h e programs in t h e i r respective provinces.

This paper i s a contribution from the Division of Building

Research of t h e National Research Council of Canada and i s published with the approval of t h e D i r e c t o r of the Division.

REFERENCES

nollands, K.G.T. and Orgill, J . F . , Potential f o r solar h e a t i n g in Canada. Waterloo Research I n s t i t u t e , University o f IVaterloo,

February 1 9 7 7 , $3.50, 102 pages.

(2) Orgill, S . E . and Hollatads, K.G.T, User's blanual - IVATSUN - A s o l a r h e a t i n g simulation and economic e v a l u a t i o n program. IVaterloo Research Institute, University of Waterloo, May 1977. (3) Mlsllands, K.G.'l'. and Orgill, J . F . , Continuation s t u d y of t h e

potential f o r s o l a r h e a t i n g of buildings in Canada. Waterloo Research Institute, University of Waterloo, May 1977.

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TABLE

11

MONITORING

SOLAR HEATING CONTRACTS, 1976-77 D. Lorriman (Toronto) -

Ta monitor t h e s o l a r h e a t c o n t r i b u t e d by a liquid-heating s o l a r

system with a water/air heat pump i n a home, i n ~ i s s i s s a u ~ a ,

Ontario.

Hoopex and Angus Assoc. Ltd. (Toronto)

-

To monitor t h e s o l a r h e a t contributed by a liquid-heating s o l a r

system with a seasonal heat storage u n i t

in

ah-,

near- in^

C i t y , Ontaxio. Domshy Tndustries Ltd. (Calgary)

-

To monitor t h e solar h e a t contributed by an a i r - h e a t i n g , remotely- l o c a t e d solar furnace a t t a c h e d to a home

i n

Regina, Saskatchewan. P r o f e s s o r B.P. Wisnicki, U.B.C. [Vancouver)

-

Ts monitor t h e s o l a r heat c o n t r i b u t e d by a passive, s o l a r air-heating wall in a home

i n

Naramata, B.C.

TABLE 111 RF,O SOLAR HEATING CONTRACTS 1976-77

Mr, V. I r e t o n (Fredericton, N . B . ) -

To s t u d y a developmental, r e t r o - f i t , s o l a r service-water h e a t i n g system

i n

a home i n F r e d e r i c t o n , N.B.

Acres C o n s u l t i n g Services L t d . (Niagara Falls, Ontario) -

To s t u d y t h e f c a s i b i l i t y of u s i n g t h e ground as a h e a t storage medium f o r solar h e a t i n g systems.

Electrohorne L t d . (Kitchener, Ontario) -

To develop design i n f o m a t i o n for packed-bed heat s t o r a g e u n i t s f o r a i r - h e a t ing s o l a r systems.

Solco Energy Systems Ltd. (Toronto, O n t a r i o ) -

To develop and evaluate prototype d e s i g n s of Liquid-heating solar collectors.

EXectrohorne Ltd. (Kitchener, Ontario) -

'1'0 develop and e v a l u a t e prototype designs of a i r - h e a t i n g s o l a r collectors.

Ontario Research Foundation (Toronto, Ontario) -

To s t u d y c o r ~ ~ s i o n problems a s s o c i a t e d

w ~ t h

s o l a r h e a t i n g components and systems.

Chemical E n g i n c e ~ i n g Research C o n s u l t a n t s (Toronto, Ontario) - To s t u d y o r g a n i c pigments f o r p o t e n t i a l use in selectively absorbing p a i n t s .

Ontario Research Foundation -.-- ( T o ~ o n t o , - - . Ontario) -

To construct a solar collector calorimetry facility for commercial testing of b o t h a i r - h e a t i n g and liquid-heating c o l l e c t o r s .