Publications
Planning and Installing Solar Thermal Systems
I've been looking for a good, up-to-date technical book on designing and installing active solar energy systems for at least 3 years. This summer at the American Solar Energy Association Conference in Cleveland I came across this title, and found exactly what I'd been searching for.
This book is not about the altruistic, political, or socio-economic impact of solar energy systems. It goes immediately to the technical core of how active solar thermal systems should be designed and covers a wide spectrum of hardware. Beautifully illustrated in full color, this book is published in the UK. Although it's written in English, it does use metric unit throughout. I found it covers methods of system design currently used in Europe where solar energy use is growing very quickly. These methods are sure to follow into the North American market as interest in solar energy usage continues to increase .
Trust me, it will take you quite a while to read through this 300 page book. It's packed with information and very well organized. The artwork is superb, and conducive to quickly understanding concepts such as thermal stratification, heat exchanger performance, and how collector mounting systems can be adapted to different roof styles. It's obvious that hundreds of hours went into the artwork alone.
If you're interested in adding solar to you repertoire of hydronic heating skills this is a great book to go through. It will without a doubt influence the choice of materials and methods you'll eventually choose to work with. This is not a cheap book intended for average consumers. It's a comprehensive technical reference you'll refer to many times, and it's worth every penny of its price.
Table of Contents
- Solar radiant and arguments for its use
- Components of solar thermal systems
- Systems for single family houses
- Installing, commissioning, maintenance and servicing
- Large-scale systems
- Solar concentrating systems
- Solar heating of open-air swimming pools
- Solar air systems
- Solar cooling
- Simulations programs for solar thermal systems
- Marketing and promotion
- Glossary
- Relevant UK solar regulations and technical standards
- Nomenclature
- References and further information
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