Ladybug Solar Water Heating components released !

Hi guys,

We are releasing a new set of Ladybug components for calculation of Solar Water Heating.

You can download them from here, or use the Update Ladbybug component instead. If you take the first option, after downloading check if .ghuser files are blocked (right click -> "Properties" and select "Unblock"). Then paste them in File->Special Folders->User Object Folder.
You can download the example files from here.


They act in similar way, Ladybug Photovoltaics components do: we pick a surface, and get an answer to a question: "How much thermal energy, for a certain number of persons can my roof, building facade... generate if I would populate them with Solar Water Heating collectors"?


This information can then be used to cover domestic hot water, space heating or space cooling loads:

Components enable setting specific details of the system, or using simplified ones.
They cover analysis of domestic hot water load, final performance of the SWH system, its embodied energy, energy value, consumption, emissions...
And finding optimal system and storage size.

By Dr. Chengchu Yan and Djordje Spasic, with invaluable support of Dr. Willian Beckman, Dr. Jason M. Keith, Jeff Maguire, Nicolas DiOrio, Niraj Palsule, Sargon George Ishaya and Craig Christensen.

 
Hope you will enjoy using the components!


References:

1) Calculation of delivered energy:
Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes, John Wiley and Sons, J. Duffie, W. Beckman, 4th ed., 2013.
Technical Manual for the SAM Solar Water Heating Model, NREL, N. DiOrio, C. Christensen, J. Burch, A. Dobos, 2014.
A simplified method for optimal design of solar water heating syste..., Renewable Energy journal, Yan, Wang, Ma, Shi, Vol 74, Feb 2015

2) Domestic hot water load:
Modeling patterns of hot water use in households, Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Lutz, Liu, McMahon, Dunham, Shown, McGrue; Nov 1996.
ASHRAE 2003 Applications Handbook (SI), Chapter 49, Service water heating

3) Mains water temperature
Residential alternative calculation method reference manual, California energy commission, June 2013.
Development of an Energy Savings Benchmark for All Residential End-..., NREL, August 2004.
Solar water heating project analysis chapter, Minister of Natural Resources Canada, 2004.

4) Pipe diameters and pump power:
Planning & Installing Solar Thermal Systems, Earthscan, 2nd edition

5) Sun postion and POA irradiance, the same as for Ladybug Photovoltaics (Michalsky (1988), diffuse irradiance by Perez (1990), ground reflected irradiance by Liu, Jordan (1963))

6) Optimal system and storage tank size:
A simplified method for optimal design of solar water heating syste..., Renewable Energy journal, Yan, Wang, Ma, Shi, Vol 74, Feb 2015.