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Solar energy assessment using remote sensing technologies
Written by : Annette Hammer, Detlev Heinemann, Carsten Hoyer, Rolf
Kuhlemann,Elke Lorenz, Richard Mu ller, Hans Georg Beyer
Volume: 86 (2003) 423 432

Solar distillation is one of the important methods of utilizing the solar energy
for the supply of potable water to small communities where the natural supply of
fresh water is inadequate or of poor quality, and where sunshine is abundant. Solar
energy utilization in two different types of solar stills is considered, and factors that
influence the productivity of solar stills are discussed. The present investigation
showed that the productivity of asymmetric greenhouse type still (ASGHT) having
mirrors on its inside walls was higher than that of the symmetric greenhouse type still
(SGHT) and more efficient. It was found that the distilled water output of the
asymmetrical greenhouse type was 20% higher than that of symmetric greenhouse
type. Performance characteristics of the two stills showed that the temperature at the
water surface is closely related to the incident solar radiation, and the productivity of
the stills can be increased with decreasing water depth, and by the addition of dye.
(The effect of using different designs of solar stills on water distillation).

The consumption of fresh water is increasing all over the world, mainly due to the
population explosion and the rapid industrial growth. This causes a serious leakage of
fresh water. Fresh water is essential in domestic life and used in agriculture as well as
industry. But water is usually contaminated with chemical impurities and harmful
organisms. In locations where there is plenty of solar energy and where sources of
brackish water are available, supplies of small amounts of fresh water can be
produced at reasonable cost by solar stills which are relatively inexpensive to build
and easy to maintain. Also solar distillation is used on a small commercial scale to
supply small communities in isolated areas. The first known use of stills dates back to
1551 when it was used by Arab alchemists. Other scientists and naturalists used stills
over the coming centuries including Della Porta (1589), Lavoisier (1862), and
Mauchot (1869) [1,2]. The first conventional solar still plant was built in 1872 by a
Swedish engineer Charles Wilson in the mining community of Las Salinas in what is
now northern Chile. This still was a large basin-type still used for supplying fresh
water with very high salinity (4-fold of seawater) of the nitrate mine effluents to
supply with fresh water the workers of the mine and the nearby inhabitants. The plant
used wooden bays which had blackened bottoms using logwood dye and alum [3].
Many design variations exist, and a wide variety of construction materials are used
[48]. The amount of distilled water that can be produced varies quite dramatically
with the geographical position, the suns position, prevailing meteorological
conditions, solar still design, and operational techniques [4]. Some researchers [9
13] found that other parameters such as water depth, salinity, black dye, wind speed
and direction have an effect on the output of the solar stilis.
The use of solar energy is however more economical than the use of fossil fuels in
remote areas having low population densities, low rainfall and abundant available
solar energy. Solar stills can easily provide enough water for family drinking and
cooking needs. The productivity of fresh water by solar distillation depends
drastically on the intensity of solar radiation and the sunshine time interval during the

day. Considering that, Jordan is a suitable place for making extensive researches on
solar distillation [14].
The present solar stills are passive solar distillers that only need sunshine to operate.
There are no moving parts to wear out. The distilled water from the present solar stills
does not acquire the flat taste of commercially distilled water since the water is not
boiled (which lowers pH). They use natural evaporation which is the rainwater
process.
LOW TEMPERATURE LATENT HEAT THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE:
HEAT STORAGE MATERIALS
A.ABHAT
Vol 30, No. 4. pp 313-332. t983
Efficient and economical heat storage is the key to the effective and
widespread utilization of solar energy for low temperature thermal applications.
Amongst the various heat storage techniques of interest, latent heat storage is
particularly attractive due to its ability to provide a high energy storage density
and its characteristics to store heat at a constant temperature corresponding to
the phase transition temperature of the heat storage substance.
The term "Latent Heat Storage", as we generally understand it today, applies to
the storage of heat as the latent heat of fusion in suitable substances that
undergo melting and freezing at a desired temperature level. Consequently it is
also often called the "Heat-of-Fusion" storage. Typical heat-of-fusion storage
substances well-known to all of us are ice, paraffin or Glauber Salt. The term
"latent heat storage" may also be applied to include the heat stored in
substances, such as Diaminopentaerythritol, wherein heat is stored as the heat
of crystallization, as the substance is transformed from one solid phase to
another. The stored heat is recovered in a likewise manner as the original solid
phase is regained. Excluded in the present definition of "latent heat storage" is,

however, the heat stored in materials that undergo a liquid-to-vapor phase

transition, e.g. water-tosteam. Although the latter phase transitions are associated
with a latent heat of phase transition that is almost an order-of-magnitude higher
than that for solid-to-liquid or solid-to-solid phase change, the practical problems
of storing a gaseous phase and the necessity of pressurized containers for this
purpose rule out their potential utility Para~ns. Paraffins, as we normally
understand them, are substances having a waxy consistency at room
temperature. Chemically speaking, paraffin waxes consist primarily of straightchain hydrocarbons with only a small amount of branching, such as 2-methyl
groups, near the end of the chain. Paraffins contain in them one major
component called alkanes, characterized by C,H2,+z; the n-alkane content in
paraffin waxes usually exceeds 75 per cent and may reach lOOper cent[13].
Depending on the chain length of the alkane in the paraffin, paraffins may be
even-chained (n-paraffin) or odd-chained (iso-paraffin).
Heat-of-fusion storage materials for low temperature latent heat storage in the
temperature range 0-120C are reviewed. Organic and inorganic heat storage
materials classified as paraffins, fatty acids, inorganic salt hydrates and eutectic
compounds are considered. The melting and freezing behaviour of the various
substances is investigated using the techniques of Thermal Analysis and Differential
Scanning Calorimetry. The importance of thermal cycling tests for establishing the
long-term stability of the storage materials is discussed
Solar energy can be used in buildings and urban environments in variousactive and
passiveways. Active applications use solar thermal collectors for heating and
cooling or use photovoltaic (PV) generators, built upon rooftops or integrated into
building facades, for electricity production. Passive uses of solar energy mean
designing buildings and their windows in a way that they use solar radiation for
heating and illumination.

Ground measured solar radiation is scarcely available for a given site where a solar
system is plannedthe measurement networks density is usually far too low.
Geostationary satellites such as METEOSAT provide the opportunity to derive
information on solar irradiance for a large area at a temporal resolution of up to 30
min and a spatial resolution of up to 2.5 km. Derived hourly values have proven to be
at least as good as the measurements of a ground station at a distance of 25 km
AN ENERGY EFFICIENT HYBRID SYSTEM OF SOLAR POWERED
WATER HEATER AND ADSORPTION ICE MAKER
By written: R. Z. WANG , M. LI, Y. X. XU and J. Y. WU
Vol. 68, No. 2, pp. 189195, 2000
The ecological problems and energy crisis in the world have induced scientists
to develop sustainable energy utilization systems, in which solar energy is attractive.
Various solar water heaters, such as plate type, vacuum tube type, heat pipe vacuum
tube type etc., have been commercialized with the expanding market. In China, solar
water heater has been marketed for about 1 billion Yuan per year, and it is still being
developed. Solar powered ice-makers or refrigerators have been reported by a lot of
researchers, in which both absorption or adsorption systems have been demit is just
immersed into the water bath of a solar onstrated (Iloeje, 1985; Pons and Guilleminot,
1986; Pons, 1987; Hajjiet al., 1991), however a potential market seems to be
necessary for further research and development.