Because of their simplicity solar-cell based systems have become lower-cost and easier to install and maintain for water heating as panel + electric water heater, vs a piped direct solar thermal heating system. Higher "efficiency" for the direct thermal system, but overall system costs are lower for panel + heat.
I still love seeing the interplay with different combinations of physical systems and clever things humans figure out. Including with solar panels + other system items.
I have a solar oven on my wishlist for Christmas this year, I have a perfectly great spot for it, and generally think that if I can use it to bake bread, even if it takes a bit longer, its gonna get some serious usage ..
Just imagine the machinery you could power beneath the dessert, if you store the heat of the day.. Imagine for example salt water pits near the coast, where the heat creates fresh water mist, that rises and distills int he cold desert nights. To then be pumped onwards with sundriven steampumps, to places where the water is needed. No moving parts, just light redirecting glasfiber and infrastructure created beneath the sands creating geysers of fresh water miles away.
I've seen very simple DIY versions of this (stove coil directly wired to a panel) for home heating. At current panel pricing, I wonder if there is a config with a reasonable ROI.
That traditional biomass stove in paper's figures is perhaps the worst stove imaginable. Its efficiency could below 10%. Better designed stove has efficiency above 30% and has much less indoor air pollution.
That being said, the more I read it, the more I like this PV steam cooker. It is simple and easy to scale up by adding more PV panels and more sands. Although Ghana is close to the equator, I wonder whether it worth to steer the PV panels during the day.
Edit, efficiency measured by energy transferred to boiling water or cooking vs energy released from burning biomass.
A system similar to this can also be used for cooling rooms and buildings.
A lot of the world's population lives on the tropical belt, in hot conditions. A lot of them use air conditioning, and a lot more are going to start using it in coming decades.
A simple system, that cools a room down about 5 to 10 degrees Celsius, would be a great way to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
Sand batteries are pretty well known in the passive solar greenhouse world. Even in cold northern climates they’ve been proven to store enough heat for year round use to keep tropical fruits producing.
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[ 3.8 ms ] story [ 33.3 ms ] threadI still love seeing the interplay with different combinations of physical systems and clever things humans figure out. Including with solar panels + other system items.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6KOWGN6C28
That being said, the more I read it, the more I like this PV steam cooker. It is simple and easy to scale up by adding more PV panels and more sands. Although Ghana is close to the equator, I wonder whether it worth to steer the PV panels during the day.
Edit, efficiency measured by energy transferred to boiling water or cooking vs energy released from burning biomass.
A lot of the world's population lives on the tropical belt, in hot conditions. A lot of them use air conditioning, and a lot more are going to start using it in coming decades.
A simple system, that cools a room down about 5 to 10 degrees Celsius, would be a great way to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.