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A review of solar water heating systems

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DOI: 10.1063/1.3167285

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 JOURNAL OF RENEWABLE AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY 1, 043106 共2009兲

A review of solar water heating systems

N. V. Ogueke,1,a兲 E. E. Anyanwu,1 and O. V. Ekechukwu2
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Technology, P.M.B. 1526,
Owerri, Nigeria
2
Director, Research and Innovation, National Universities Commission, Plot 430, Aguiyi
Ironsi Street, Maitama, P.M.B. 237, Garki GPO, Abuja, Nigeria
共Received 27 January 2009; accepted 5 June 2009; published online 17 July 2009兲

A review of solar water heating systems for domestic and industrial applications is
presented. They are grouped into two broad categories as passive and active solar
water heating systems. Each of them operates in either direct or indirect mode.
Their performances, uses and applications, and factors considered for their selec-
tion are reported. The active systems generally have higher efficiencies, their values
being 35%–80% higher than those of the passive systems. They are more complex
and expensive. Accordingly, they are most suited for industrial applications where
the load demand is quite high or in applications where the collector and service
water storage tank need not be close to each other or for the applications in which
the load requires more than one solar collector. On the other hand, the passive
systems are less expensive and easier to construct and install. They are most suit-
able for domestic applications and in applications where load demand is low or
medium. Generally more research and development work are needed to further
improve the existing level of efficiency for it to serve effectively as a viable alter-
native to the conventional means of hot water generation. The actual field testing
experiences, together with the prospects and economic problems that affect popu-
larization of the systems, are also presented. Their possible solutions are
suggested. © 2009 American Institute of Physics. 关DOI: 10.1063/1.3167285兴

I. INTRODUCTION
Hot water is essential both in industries and homes. It is required for taking baths, washing
clothes and utensils, and other domestic purposes in both the urban and rural areas. Hot water is
also required in large quantities in hotels, hospitals, hostels, and industries such as textile, paper,
food processing, dairy, and edible oil.1 In fact, hot water is required mainly for purposes of
hygiene and bathing in homes. For instance, in South Africa, the accepted norm is that each person
in a household requires at least 20 l of hot water per day out of which more than one-half is for
personal hygiene.2 Hot water demands appear to be highest within the periods of the day when
electric energy demand for other purposes is high. Figure 13 illustrates hot water usage trend and
its distribution for domestic uses. This figure shows that the hot water usage is highest in the
mornings and evenings, with demand for both periods being almost the same, while cooking and
bathing present the highest water demanding domestic activity.
At present, hot water demands are met mainly by the use of electric heaters. Unfortunately,
rising energy cost, environmental concerns, and the depleting nature of the current primary energy
sources in use have made electric heaters less attractive. This is because the primary energy
sources of electric energy utilized are mainly the fossil fuels. In addition, the demand for electric-
ity is growing rapidly; thus within those periods when hot water demand is highest the electric
energy facilities are often overstretched, resulting in some cases to power shading especially in
developing countries. These problems can be handled by taking off the energy demand for hot

a兲
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Electronic mail: nvogukee@yahoo.co.uk.

1941-7012/2009/1共4兲/043106/21/$25.00 1, 043106-1 © 2009 American Institute of Physics

043106-2 Ogueke, Anyanwu, and Ekechukwu J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 043106 共2009兲

200 200

160 160

No. of People

No. of People
120 120

80
80

40
40
0
Cooking Washing Washing Bathing 0
Clothes Dishes Morning Afternoon Evening

(i) (ii)

FIG. 1. 共i兲 Distribution of domestic hot water usage. 共ii兲 Hot water usage trend.

water purposes from electricity. Fortunately, the technical and economic feasibilities of solar hot
water systems 共SHWSs兲 are well established and they have found domestic and commercial
applications. These systems use solar energy to generate hot water. The technology employed has
been reasonably developed and can be easily implemented at a low cost. Several configurations
exist for this purpose. These configurations may be grouped into two, namely, the passive solar hot
water system 共PSHWS兲 and the active SHWS. The solar collectors employed in these configura-
tions could be flat plate, concentrating, or evacuated tube types. However, the flat-plate-type solar
collector appears to be the most commonly used. Its low cost and ease of design and construction
are basically responsible for this. They are often used for low and medium temperature applica-
tions but may be applied on high load situation by using more than one collector, connected in
series. The concentrating and evacuated tube collectors are used for industrial or commercial
applications where high load temperatures of up to 100 ° C are required. In this work we review
the current works on SHWSs with a view to bringing into focus their expected specific applica-
tions, cost, and ranges of performance.

II. THE PASSIVE SOLAR HOT WATER SYSTEMS

The PSHWSs generally transfer heat by natural circulation as a result of buoyancy due to
temperature difference between two regimes; hence they do not require pumps to function. They
are the most commonly used solar water heaters for domestic application and have been designed
and investigated by different researchers.4–8 They could either be open loop 共direct兲 or closed loop
共indirect兲 in operation. The open loop systems circulate service water through the collector while
the closed loop systems use a heat-transfer fluid to pick up solar energy from the solar collector
and subsequently transfer it to the storage tank containing the service water. Natural circulation
flow rate is often controlled by the insolation level. The thermosyphon systems and the integrated
collector storage 共ICS兲 systems generally fall within this category. However, the open and closed
loop types can only be applied to the thermosyphon system.

A. The thermosyphon solar hot water systems

In this type of SHWS, the facility for harvesting solar energy 共solar collector兲 and the hot
water storage tank are separate components, with the hot water tank usually placed at a level
higher than the solar collector. Figure 29 shows a schematic diagram of this type of SHWS. It can
be classified into two, viz., thermosyphon SHWS using phase change materials 共two phase sys-
tems兲 and thermosyphon SHWS without phase change materials 共single phase system兲.
043106-3 Solar water heating systems J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 043106 共2009兲

FIG. 2. Schematic diagram of a typical thermosyphon solar water heater.

1. The thermosyphon SHWS using phase change materials „two phase thermosyphon
system…
This type of SHWS falls within the indirect loop type. They use a phase change material to
transport heat between the solar collector and the water being heated. Heating is carried out by
utilizing the latent heat of vaporization of the condensing fluid. In the collector, the heat-transfer
fluid 共or refrigerants in some cases兲 picks up heat and vaporizes. It then flows to the storage tank
by buoyancy effect where it loses its latent heat of vaporization to the service water and subse-
quently changes back to liquid and returns to the collector by gravity effect. Esen and Esen10
experimentally investigated the performance of this type of system. Figure 3 shows the schematic
diagram of the system constructed. It is made from 6.32 mm o.d. copper of length of 1050 mm and
a 0.8 mm thick absorber plate with length of 1000 mm and width of 200 mm. A 30 mm air gap is
maintained between the absorber plate and a 4 mm thick glass cover, while under the absorber

FIG. 3. Schematic diagram of the unit studied. Reprinted from Esen and Esen, Sol. Energy, 79, 459 共2005兲, with permis-
sion from Elsevier.
043106-4 Ogueke, Anyanwu, and Ekechukwu J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 043106 共2009兲

plate a 100 mm thick glass wool serves as the insulation. Three thermosyphon working fluids,
namely, R-134a, R407C, and R410A, were investigated. For an average ambient temperature and
cumulative incident solar radiation on the collector of 11.93 ° C and 13.24 MJ/ m2 the maximum
water temperature rises of 19.5, 17.5, and 16.1 ° C were obtained for R410A, R407C, and R-134a,
respectively, at about 5:00 p.m. These correspond to maximum efficiencies of 50.84%, 49.43%,
and 48.72% for R410A, R407C, and R-134a, respectively. Thus R410A was adjudged the best
thermosyphon fluid. This was attributed to the high latent heat, high liquid thermal conductivity,
and low viscosity of R410A when compared with the other two.
Some other works have also been reported on this type of SHWS. Schreyer11 reported on the
use of R-11 in a thermosyphon SHWS for residential applications. He observed that for two
identical collectors, the peak instantaneous efficiency of a collector charged with boiling refriger-
ant was 6% greater than that of a hydronic fluid circulating solar collector. Joudi and Al-Tabbakh12
theoretically studied a two phase thermosyphon domestic SHWS using R-11. The calculation
procedure was first validated with established results of a single phase system before applying it to
a two phase system. Results obtained showed that in the two phase system, the collector efficiency
did not reveal a serious change with the loading condition, with its efficiency approximately 20%
higher than that of a single phase system. They also observed that the two phase system showed
faster response time than the single phase system. However, the choice of R-11 will not be popular
now due to environmental concerns. Moreover, it has been phased out and its production stopped.
Bottum13 concluded from about his 4 years of observing the hydronic and phase change SHWS
that the hydronic systems work very well when properly installed and maintained, but refrigerant
charged systems are more efficient and require less maintenance and the possibility of collector
freezing is eliminated. Esen and Yüksel14 experimentally studied various phase change fluids for
use in a two phase thermosyphon SHWS. The fluids studied are the acetone, methanol, and
ethanol. In particular, the effects of insolation and mass of fluid on the collector performance were
studied. It was observed that such a collector can be successfully used, especially during cold,
cloudy, and windy days.
Many other authors15–19 have successfully studied the thermosyphon solar water heater using
phase change materials and concluded that their performances are good enough or in some cases
better than the hydronic systems. They have the advantage of not being heavily affected by
irradiance levels,20 thus their suitability for all climatic conditions. Also they can be used in
regions with very cold weather where the hydronic systems could freeze and are suitable for
domestic solar water heating as well as heating of swimming pools. They overcome the shortcom-
ings often associated with the more common SHWS such as pipe corrosion due to use of water,
limited quantity of heat transfer by the heat-transfer fluid, extra space requirement for natural
circulation due to position limitation required, and night cooling due to the reverse flow of cooled
water.10 Apart from the above they are more suitable for use in regions with poor water quality.
Their other advantages include the following:21 heat transfer from the collector to the storage tank
is unidirectional 共heat diode兲, any loss of the heat stored in the tank is not possible as the
reversible heat flow does not exist, automatching of the installation to the ambient conditions,
installation can work with any values of solar radiation and ambient temperature provided that the
collector temperature exceeds the storage tank water temperature, insensitiveness of the collector
to negative ambient temperatures, coefficients of heat transfer are for the phase changes 共boiling,
condensation兲 on average higher by two orders of magnitude than in the case of free convection in
classical thermosyphon, practically isothermal collector surface as considered in the vertical di-
rection such that the heat removal factor can be higher, and smaller participation of the heat
capacity of the heat-transferring medium in the complete installation than in the case of the
traditional thermosyphon 共it is desired to have this participation as small as possible兲. However,
because they make use of phase change materials 共refrigerants兲 as means of conveying harvested
solar energy, they require a special circuit which must always be free from moisture or atmo-
spheric air. Hence, leak is often a major problem to the system’s performance especially since
most of the phase change fluids operate best at subatmospheric pressure. Thus a more regular
maintenance schedule is required. In addition, a phase change material may not be easily procured
043106-5 Solar water heating systems J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 043106 共2009兲

FIG. 4. A typical single phase thermosyphon SHWS.

in the locality where the solar water heater is required. Also the need for a heat exchanger in the
service water tank often results in higher initial and running costs of the solar water heating system
using phase change materials. The complexity of such systems is their other obvious shortfall,
since proper construction and choice of suitable phase change medium play very important roles
in assuring effective operation of a phase change thermosyphon.21

2. The thermosyphon SHWS without phase change material „single phase

thermosyphon system…
Here, the water being heated 共service water兲 circulates between the solar collector and the
storage tank located at a level higher than the solar collector component. They are basically the
direct loop type. Energy transfer between the collector and the storage tank occurs by natural
convection due to buoyancy induced flow of water molecules. Figure 4 shows the schematic
diagram of a typical thermosyphon solar water heater without phase change. Morrison and
Sapsford22 reported the performance of six thermosyphon solar water heaters that were measured
while the systems were supplying typical domestic hot water loads. The effects of system con-
figuration, daily load draw off times, and off-peak versus continuous boosting were studied. In
contrast to forced circulation systems the performance of thermosyphon systems was found to be
best if a morning peak load pattern was used. Operation with off-peak boosting was found to
improve the annual contribution by 14%. Morrison and Tran23 in their numerical study of a
thermosyphon solar water heater also observed that the performance of a thermosyphon solar
water heater is slightly better than their equivalent pumped system. In Nigeria, this type of system
was developed at the National Centre for Energy Research and Development, University of Ni-
geria, Nsukka in 1994.24 The prototype installed at the exhibition platform of the center has
performed satisfactorily for 7 years.
Nahar1 studied the cost and economic viability of thermosyphon solar water heaters manufac-
tured from alternate materials in India. The work involved solar heating systems with galvanized
steel tubes/aluminum plate, copper tubes/aluminum plate, and copper tubes/copper plate in a
flat-plate-type collector. It was observed that the performances of the three heaters were similar,
providing 100 l of hot water at an average temperature of 62 ° C at 4:00 p.m. which can be
maintained at 50.4 ° C when the average pump water temperature is about 23.9 ° C. This corre-
043106-6 Ogueke, Anyanwu, and Ekechukwu J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 043106 共2009兲

sponds to an efficiency of 51.9%. However, economic consideration revealed that galvanized steel
tubes/aluminum plate is better, with a cost of Rs 8000.00 as against Rs 10 250.00 for the copper
tube/copper plate system. Using compound annual interest rates, maintenance cost rates, and
inflation in fuel and maintenance cost rates of 10%, 5%, and 5%, respectively, the payback period
for the galvanized steel tubes/aluminum plate heating system was determined as 2.92–4.53 years
depending on the fuel it replaced.
Shariah and Shalab25 reported on the optimal design for a thermosyphon solar water heater.
They used the TRNSYS, a transient simulation program, to determine the optimized design param-
eters for thermosyphon solar water heaters installed in Amman and Aqaba, Jordan. The systems’
performance criteria optimized were their annual solar fraction. Results obtained indicate that the
number of risers, riser spacing, height of storage tank, height of return pipe from storage tank to
collector, and overall heat loss coefficient of the storage tank significantly affect the solar heating
system performance, the order being within the range of 7%–25%.
Khalifa and Mehdi26 observed from their work that flow rates in thermosyphon solar water
heaters follow the same pattern as the solar insolation and are not significantly affected by the
withdrawal of hot water from the storage tank. The work which involved monitoring the flow rate
using hydrogen bubble flow meter as well as numerically predicting the same revealed that both
methods were good tools for determining the flow rates in thermosyphon solar water heaters.
Solar intensity, the energy source for solar water heater, varies all year round. Hence utiliza-
tion of solar energy is severely limited by solar radiation and weather conditions. Thus in some
seasons of the year, there may not be enough solar energy to meet the hot water demand on the
facility. There is therefore the need, under such circumstance, for an electric auxiliary heater in
order for the solar water heater to meet its hot water demand. An electric auxiliary heater may be
installed in the storage tank or any location outside the tank. When this is done, the thermosyphon
system of the solar water heater becomes complex and difficult to analyze. However, attempts
have been made by some authors to study systems of such complexity. Wenxian and Enrong27
studied the impact of power of an auxiliary electric heater in the storage tank on the performance
of a thermosyphon solar water heating system with an auxiliary electric heater. By adopting the
fixed-node, equally convecting-mixing model, a detailed simulation analysis of the impact of the
power of the auxiliary electric heater was conducted from where a simple correlation for estimat-
ing the optimal values of the power of the auxiliary electric heater was developed.
Shariah and Löf28 reported the effect of auxiliary heater on annual performance of thermosy-
phon solar water heater under variable operating conditions. The TRNSYS simulation program was
used for their study. Tests were carried out for two different water load temperatures of 60 and
80 ° C and for two types of daily hot water volumes 共250 and 150 l兲 while the consumption profile
adopted were the Rand, continuous, evening, and morning profiles. Results of the analysis re-
vealed among others the following: 共a兲 performance of a thermosyphon solar water heater is
affected by the method of supplying auxiliary energy to the water delivered to the load and is
dependent on the size and quality of the collector, hot water draw profile, and daily load volume
and temperature, 共b兲 hot water draw off has a large effect on the performance of the solar heater,
the Rand profile providing the highest solar fraction, followed by the system using an evening
draw, then the continuous daytime profile, and finally the least effective being the morning draw.
This therefore reveals that the performance of thermosyphon solar water heater is affected by the
method of supplying auxiliary energy as well as water draw off method.
The direct-loop-type thermosyphon SHWS is ideal for low consumption high and low tem-
perature areas. Apart from use in swimming pool heating and use in region with very cold weather,
this type of SHWS is suitable in other applications where the thermosyphon systems using phase
change materials could be used. Their designs are, however, simpler and require less maintenance
and thus are cheaper to own. Its major disadvantages are10 limited heat transfer by convection as
the service water circulates due to buoyancy, pipe corrosion due to use of water, possibility of
water freezing during cold nights, night cooling due to reverse flow of cooled water, and extra
space requirement for the natural circulation system due to the position limitations required.
However, the problem of reverse flow could be solved by placing the storage tank at a height of
043106-7 Solar water heating systems J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 043106 共2009兲

FIG. 5. The first commercially produced ICS system. Reprinted from Smyth, Eames, and Norton, Renewable Sustainable
Energy Rev., 10, 503 共2006兲, with permission from Elsevier.

30–60 cm relative to the top of the collector24 while the problem of limited heat transfer can be
handled by using an evacuated tube or concentrating collector as against the flat-plate-type col-
lector most commonly used. The concentrating collector will, however, introduce solar tracking
which increases complexity and installation and running costs.

B. The integrated collector storage system

This system falls within the passive solar water heater category and is characterized by having
both the collector and storage tank for the service water as one component, thus presenting a
compact unit. It is the first recorded type of SHWS commercially produced29 and can come in
043106-8 Ogueke, Anyanwu, and Ekechukwu J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 043106 共2009兲

FIG. 6. Cross-sectional view of a thermoplastic multiglazed ICS SHWS. Reprinted from Smyth, Eames, and Norton,
Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev., 10, 503 共2006兲, with permission from Elsevier..

different shapes. The progresses in its development, from when the ICS type was at its early stages
to present, are presented in Ref. 29. Figure 5 show the diagram of the first commercially produced
ICS SHWS while Figs. 6–929–32 show some of the different available shapes in which the ICS
systems could be produced. Tripanagnostopoulos and Souliotis33 reported on the ICS solar sys-
tems with two cylindrical water tanks. Six different configurations of this as presented in Fig. 10
were studied. The collector used is a compound parabolic concentrating 共CPC兲 of horizontal
east-west orientation. The prototypes were tested outdoors without water draining from the storage
tank. Results obtained indicate that the double tank ICS systems are more efficient in water
temperature rise during the day and satisfactory preservation of the hot water temperature during
night, with the upper storage tank more effective in performance in most of the models studied.
Reddy and Kaushika34 carried out a comparative study of transparent insulation material
共TIM兲 cover system for ICS solar water heater. The work involved experimental and numerical
investigation of the system. Two configurations were studied, viz., absorber-parallel TIM and
absorber-vertical TIM. The experimental system has a tank of 25 l 共66⫻ 45⫻ 8.5 cm3兲 with a
rectangular cross section and made up of 18 G galvanized iron sheet. It is insulated at the bottom

FIG. 7. A double vessel concentrating ICS SHWS. Reprinted from Kalogirou, Renewable Energy, 16, 652 共1999兲, with
permission from Elsevier.
043106-9 Solar water heating systems J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 043106 共2009兲

FIG. 8. Sectional view of an inverted absorber ICS SHWS. Reprinted from Smyth, McGarrigle, Earnes, and Norton, Sol.
Energy, 78, 223 共2005兲, with permission from Elsevier.

with 8 cm thick mineral wool while the insulation on the sides is 5 cm thick and of the same
material as that on the bottom. The insulation together with the entire assembly is enclosed in a
wooden box and inclined facing due south. Figure 11 shows the schematic diagram of this system.
Results obtained showed that the model results and that of the experimental agree, with the
absorber-parallel structure having solar collection efficiency in the range of 0.1433–0.3097 with
corresponding maximum water storage temperature of 47.7– 56.0 ° C on days when the insolation
level was 5.28– 6.32 kW h / day m2. On the other hand, the absorber-vertical structure gave col-
lector efficiency of 0.3100–0.3582 with maximum water temperature of 39.3– 47.6 ° C for inso-
lation of 5.25– 5.72 kW h / day m2. In both cases, initial water temperatures in the tank were
14.0–29.0 and 9.0– 11.0 ° C for the absorber-parallel and absorber-vertical structures, respectively.
They thus concluded that the absorber-vertical structure is better than the absorber-parallel struc-
ture. However, considering cost and ease of construction, the absorber-parallel is a preferred
structure.
Chaurasia and Twidell35 studied the collector cum storage solar water heaters with and with-
out TIM. Two units of ICS SHWS were used in the study, one with TIM and the other without.
Apart from this, they are identical in all respects. They consist of a 19 G copper storage tank

FIG. 9. Sectional diagram of a triangular and rectangular ICS solar water heater. Reprinted from Smyth, Eames, and
Norton, Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev., 10, 503 共2006兲 and Kaushik, Kumar, Garg, and Prakash, Heat Recovery Syst.
CHT, 14, 337 共1994兲, with permission from Elsevier.
043106-10 Ogueke, Anyanwu, and Ekechukwu J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 043106 共2009兲

FIG. 10. Configurations of ICS solar water heater with two cylindrical tanks.

insulated on all sides, except the front surface, with an opaque insulation. The front surface 共i.e.,
top surface兲 was blackened and covered by a plane glass or TIM. To provide water in the tank, two
copper tubes 共diameter of 12 mm, thickness of 1 mm, and length of 350 mm兲 were welded at a
distance of 35 mm from the edge along the length of the copper tank. Both were mounted on an
angle iron frame and inclined facing due south. Their height above the ground is 150 mm. This is
shown as Fig. 12. Results obtained showed that the unit with TIM yielded better performance with
water temperature higher by 8.5– 9.5 ° C the next morning. Their storage efficiencies were esti-
mated as 39.8% and 15.1%, respectively, for the system with TIM and that without TIM.
Nieuwoudt and Mathews2 designed and produced a mobile solar water heater for rural hous-
ing in Southern Africa. The facility has a wheel-barrow-like stand, thus making it mobile. It can
therefore be moved from one location to another. It is of the ICS type. This is shown as Fig. 13.
The total production cost was given as Rs 2135.00. Prototype testing revealed that this system
could produce hot water at 60 ° C by midafternoon on a winter day. By 8:00 p.m., hot water was
available at 40 ° C. In a similar novel approach, Hussain and Urmee36 designed and fabricated low
cost solar water heaters. One of them is constructed from two plastic bowls, one inside the other
with 5 cm thickness of insulation in between. A transparent plastic cover was tied around the
smaller vessel. The other system uses earthen vessels in place of the plastic bowls. A black plastic
sheet was placed on the bottom part of the inner plastic bowl to increase absorption of solar

FIG. 11. Sectional diagram of ICS SHWS using TIM cover system. Reprinted from Reddy and Kaushika, Sol. Energy
Mater. Sol. Cells, 58, 431 共1999兲, with permission from Elsevier.
043106-11 Solar water heating systems J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 043106 共2009兲

FIG. 12. ICS SHWS with and without TIM. Reprinted from Chaurasia and Twidell, Sol. Energy, 70, 403 共2001兲, with
permission from Elsevier.

radiation, while in the earthen vessel, this was achieved by painting the inside portion of the vessel
black. Both vessels have a total capacity of 12 l each. Figure 14 shows a cross-sectional view of
this system. Test performed on the systems revealed that a temperature increase of water in the
range of 18– 20 ° C above that of the ambient is possible when each containing 8 l of water is
exposed to solar radiation for about 5 h. This corresponds to an efficiency of about 70%. By 8:30
a.m. the following day, the temperature difference was observed to have dropped to about 13 ° C.
The ICS systems have the advantage of being compact and are simple in design and construc-
tion, installation, and operation 共i.e., they have low maintenance requirements when operated in
medium temperature range兲 and are generally cheaper than the flat plate thermosyphon systems.
This is because they do not require components such as pipes, gate valves, heat exchangers, and
stands, thus eliminating close to 70% of the overall solar water heating system cost which comes
from these components.35 For these reasons, they are often the preferred SHWSs for domestic
applications. However, their higher thermal losses make them suitable only in locations with
favorable weather conditions. This shortcoming may be overcome by adopting the TIM 共Refs. 34
and 35兲 or employing the two water tanks as reported in Ref. 33.

FIG. 13. The mobile solar water heater. Reprinted from Nieuwoudt and Mathews, Build. Environ., 40, 1217 共2005兲, with
permission from Elsevier.
043106-12 Ogueke, Anyanwu, and Ekechukwu J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 043106 共2009兲

FIG. 14. 共a兲 Artist’s view of the plastic bowl water heater. 共b兲 Cross-sectional view of the SWH. Reprinted from Hussain
and Urmee, 1996, with permission from the World Renewable Congress 共WREC兲.

III. THE ACTIVE SOLAR HOT WATER SYSTEMS

This category of SHWSs are those having an assembly of collectors, storage device, and
transfer fluid which converts solar energy into thermal energy and in which energy in addition to
solar input is used to accomplish the transfer of thermal energy.37 Active solar water heating
systems use electric pumps, valves, and controllers to circulate water or other heat-transfer fluids
through the collectors. Thus they are more complex and usually more expensive than passive
systems. This apparent disadvantage is, however, countered by the fact that they are more
efficient.38,39 Since they use pumps to circulate fluid, they do not suffer the restrictions of where to
locate their storage tanks as is the case with the passive systems that demand their tanks installed
either close to or on top of the collector. The active SHWSs may use any of the known collector
configurations depending on the load and hot water draw off pattern. Since pumps are used, they
are basically forced circulation systems and could either be direct or indirect in operation. In a
direct system, the water is directly circulated between the solar hot water storage tank and the
collector, while for indirect systems, a fluid 共usually an antifreeze, air, distilled water, or an
organic heat-transfer fluid兲 other than the service water is circulated in the solar collector. Heat
exchangers are hence employed to effect the transfer of collected heat at the collector to the
service water in the tank. This heat exchanger could be used in or outside the hot water storage
tank.
The active SHWS presents varying degree of performance depending on a lot of factors
including but not limited to collector size, collector slope, and hot water consumption pattern.
Michaelides et al.40 in their work, computer simulation, and optimization of solar heating systems
observed that for optimum domestic solar hot water performance in Cyprus, a collector slope of
35 ° C from the horizontal and a collector size 共in terms of number of consumers兲 of 1 m2 per
consumer is required. This study which used a TRNSYS transient analysis program was based on a
storage factor of 50 l / m2. Similarly, Michaelides and Wilson41 reported on the optimum design
criteria for SHWSs. In their work, they used the TRNSYS transient analysis program to perform
optimization of some design criteria of SHWSs intended for residential and hotel applications. The
system studied is a forced circulation solar system comprising a flat plate solar collector and an
insulated storage tank having performance characteristics given in Table I. Three different sce-
narios based on three different consumption patterns were considered. Results obtained indicate

TABLE I. Performance characteristics of the SHWS studied 共Ref. 41兲.

Slope of the collector efficiency curve 0.78

Intercept of the collector efficiency curve 24.4 kJ h−1 K−1 m−2
Collector mass flux 50 kg h−1 m−2
Collector slope 35° from the horizontal
Backup fuel cost rate 7.4 US$/GJ
Backup fuel inflation rate 5%/year
Storage factor 50 l m−2
043106-13 Solar water heating systems J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 043106 共2009兲

FIG. 15. Schematic diagram of a constant delivery SHW. Reprinted from Kumar and Kumar, Energy Convers. Manage.,
38, 61 共1997兲, with permission from Elsevier.

that the optimum collector size for active SHWSs intended for hotel applications varies between
0.8 and 1.2 m2 of collector per consumer depending on the hot water consumption pattern and the
category of the hotel. This also means that a larger collector is economically justified as consump-
tion of water increases. In terms of the annual thermal load, the optimum collector size varies
between 0.3 and 0.4 m2 of collector per annual gigajoule of thermal load for low and high hot
water consumption profiles, respectively, as compared to the 0.45 for residential applications.
The active SHWSs employ more easily the not very common solar collector, such as the
evacuated tube, and could use more than one collector connected either in series or in parallel
arrangement for improved heater performance. Kumar and Kumar42 proposed a constant delivery
temperature solar water heater—an integrated approach. Figure 15 shows the schematic diagram
of the proposed system. Here, cold water from the cold water tank first flows over the glass cover
of the solar still/storage tank before entering the solar collectors connected in series, hence picking
up the latent heat of vaporization of the water vapor, thus achieving more condensate in the solar
still. In order to achieve the desired goal, variation in mass flow rate of cold water is proposed.
Results of the analysis showed that relatively constant delivery temperature is possible, though
during sunshine hours there is a slight increase above the desired constant delivery temperature of
60 ° C.
Al-Madani43 reported the performance of a cylindrical solar water heater built and tested in
the University of Bahrain. It consists of a cylindrical tube made from high quality glass of length
of 0.8 m, 0.14 m outer diameter, and 0.006 m thickness. A copper tube painted black with an inner
diameter of 0.002 m and outer diameter of 0.3175 m serves as a collector to the incident solar
energy on the cylinder wall. The tube is coiled with a circular cross section. The glass tube is
closed from each end by a transparent plastic flange which is sealed by rubber as air in the tube is
evacuated 共Fig. 16兲. Test results show that with a mass flow rate of 9 kg/h maintained in the
copper tube, 27.8 ° C water temperature difference between the inlet and outlet from the collector
is possible. This corresponds to an efficiency of 41.8%. Apart from the fairly high efficiency
obtained, the system so described has the following advantages: 共i兲 since it is circular, it is not
necessary to direct it to the sun and 共ii兲 the cost of manufacturing it is cheaper than that of a
conventional flat plate type 共for the same size tested, its cost is US$318 as against US$358 for a
flat plate type兲.
Wongsuwan and Kumar44 reported the work they carried out on forced circulation solar water
043106-14 Ogueke, Anyanwu, and Ekechukwu J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 043106 共2009兲

FIG. 16. Diagram of the cylindrical solar water heater. Reprinted from Al-Madani, Renewable Energy, 31, 1751 共2006兲,
with permission from Elsevier.

heater performance prediction by TRNSYS and ANN. The system studied has two identical solar
arrays connected in parallel, a pump, a valve, and other plumbing and dual 共horizontal兲 storage
tanks—200 and 216 l capacities. The solar arrays consist of three flat plate collectors connected in
series, each with a gross area of 1.89 m2 and tilted at 15 ° C 共Fig. 17兲. The solar collector is the
blue panel plate from “YAZAKI.” An experimental test of the solar water heater performance was
first undertaken before employing the TRNSYS and ANN prediction methods. Results obtained from
experimental test revealed that the outlet water temperature from the collector varied from 30 and
66.1 ° C between 7:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. on clear days while it was 30– 56.8 ° C on partly cloudy
days between 7:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. For cloudy and very cloudy days, the same system’s outlet
water temperature from the collector was between 25 and 53 ° C and between 30 and 42.2 ° C,
respectively. The maximum storage tank water temperatures were 34.5, 47.9, 50.5. and 57.4 ° C,
respectively, for the very cloudy, cloudy, partly cloudy, and clear days. Predicted performance of
the solar water heater using the TRNSYS and ANN methods showed that they are good tools for both
hourly and daily estimations of the solar water heater performance, with their average deviation
from experimental results being about 2.9%.
The efficiency of active SHWS is one major advantage it has over the passive system.
Khalifa39 showed that it is usually in the range of 35%–80% higher than its passive counterpart.

FIG. 17. Schematic diagram of a forced circulation solar water heater. Reprinted from Wongsuwan and Kumar, Int. J.
Sustainable Energy, 3, 125 共1986兲, with permission from Taylor & Francis Group.
043106-15 Solar water heating systems J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 043106 共2009兲

The other advantage it has over the passive system is the fact that the collectors do not necessarily
need to be close to the storage tank; hence they can be used in providing hot water for high rise
buildings or other facilities where the collectors do not necessarily need to be close to the service
water tank. Its major disadvantage is its complicated nature and the dependence on grid connected
electricity. It therefore requires more experienced personnel to run it. These translate to a much
higher running cost than that of the passive system. On the other hand, the passive systems enjoy
ease of construction and low running cost but have limited application.

IV. SOLAR WATER HEATING SYSTEM PROGRESS

The earliest work on solar water heating systems focused more on establishing the technical
feasibility using different configurations. This is evidenced by the large number of patents filed in
the USA and Japan in the early 20th century31 soon after the first patent of SHWS in 1891.45 These
early systems tested, basically of the ICS type, were soon discovered to suffer substantially from
heat losses to ambient, particularly at night and during periods when solar heating is not going on.
This was due to their constructions which comprised simply of exposed tanks left out to warm in
the sun.31 Consequently the thermosyphon SHWS gained prominence and eventually displaced the
ICS SHWS in the late 19th century.46 More detailed description of the early SHWS is given in
Refs. 47 and 48. Today, however, the ICS SHWS design incorporates new and novel methods of
not only reducing heat loss but also improving the overall solar energy collection/utilization
efficiency of the system. Some of these introductions for better performance include the use of
TIM, better vessel inclination and orientation, evacuation of space between the glazing and col-
lector, use of baffles in heat store, etc.31 In general, technical advances in SHWS have been very
rapid in the past 50 years and these advances are mainly on flat plate solar collectors.
The thermosyphon SHWS which gained prominence in the late 19th century has also enjoyed
the technical advances within this period. These range from the tank shape and orientation for
better thermal stratification and heat transfer to the collector design and construction for improved
solar energy harvesting; thus the thermosyphon SHWS can perform as effectively as forced cir-
culation units.46
Until recently, solar water heating technology has been used basically for small domestic
applications. This has extended to applications such as swimming pool heating, large size water
heaters for communities, and some industrial uses.49 It has also found application in agriculture50
and power generation.51 From some of the previous works in SHWS reported in Refs. 46, 52, and
53, their technical feasibility, designs, and method of sizing for specific applications have been
well established. However, some of these works are dedicated to a particular type of SHWS and
even when and where all the types are considered, the emphasis is usually on their designs, sizing,
and construction. There is therefore the need to outline factors considered for selection of each
type of SHWS for particular application, field testing experiences, prospects, and economic prob-
lems affecting their popularization, and possible solutions and also determine their level of ac-
ceptability.

V. PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF SOLAR HOT WATER SYSTEMS

A. Field experiences
The field experiences of SHWS in different regions of the world show that they have the
potentials of reducing the dependence on conventional energy sources for hot water generation. In
Turkey, this good performance has brought about an increase in the number of companies pro-
ducing collectors and the number of collectors sold for hot water generation.54 Dehmani et al.55
reported the performance of an ICS-type SWHS in Tunisia. The system was built by the Labora-
tory of Energetic and Thermal Processes, Tunisia. Experimental tests showed that the water heater
offers good performance relative to its cost with the thermal efficiency for the test period being
about 46%. With this value, the authors concluded that more than 70% of the energy needs of a
single family can be covered with such system. In the Mediterranean area, a unit operating in a
good environment with a flat plate absorber area of 2.5– 4 m2 and storage tank capacity of
043106-16 Ogueke, Anyanwu, and Ekechukwu J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 043106 共2009兲

TABLE II. Installed solar water collector areas in Europe.

Installed collector area per 1000 population

Country 共m2兲

Australia 288.89
Greece 283.43
Denmark 60.63
Germany 45.13
Switzerland 36.11
Portugal 25.00
Sweden 25.00
Netherlands 13.48
Spain 11.42
France 9.90
Finland 5.87
Italy 5.45
United Kingdom 3.49
Belgium 2.35
Ireland 0.87

between 150 and 180 l can provide about 80% of the hot water requirements of a four-person
family.56 In Nigeria, Agbo and Oparaku24 reported that the installed SHWSs in Nsukka, South East
Nigeria and Sokoto, Northern Nigeria performed satisfactorily. However, this has not translated to
increased utilization of solar energy systems for hot water generation due mainly to poor aware-
ness, overdependence on fossil fuel and wood for hot water generation, and lack of government
policy on solar energy utilization. Fanney and Klein57 reported the 12 month performance of six
types of solar domestic hot water systems at the National Bureau of Standards, USA. Results
obtained from this extended performance test enhance decision making on the choice of SHWS
type and configuration for use. Results of the performances of installed systems in addition to their
other field experiences in several locations are important to establish system reliability as well as
provide operating data. It will also enable feedback from users as in the case with photovoltaic
共PV兲 powered refrigerators.
So far, the use of SHWSs is gaining wider acceptability in Europe. Hepbasli et al.58 reported
that the total annual production capacity in Turkey is about 200 000 m2 while it stands at about
500 000 m2 in the European market. The total amount of collector mounted in Europe is esti-
mated at about 3.5⫻ 106 m2. Yohanis et al.59 gave a more detailed breakdown in Table II of the
installed solar collector areas for SHWS in Europe. In Israel,51 the use of SHWSs is on the
increase, apparently due to favorable climate and the regulations requiring installation of solar
water heaters. Their prospective solar hot water market and the environmental impact in 2005 is
put at over 3.0⫻ 106 m2 of the collector, representing a CO2 emission reduction of over
500 000 tonnes/ year. Based on surveys conducted by IT Power for the CEC Directorate General
for Energy60 and the IEA CADDET Renewable Energy review,61 the total glazed collector areas
installed in Australia, Japan, and the USA in 1994 were 1 400 000 m2, 7 000 000 m2, and
4 000 000 m2, respectively. In India, the value is about 1.66⫻ 106 m2 as at the end of January
2007.62 This value, however, falls below the expected level of penetration due to multitude of
barriers which include high up-front system costs compared to conventional alternatives, unwill-
ingness of banks to provide financing, and lack of awareness about the favorable life cycle
economics of solar water heating technology vis-à-vis conventional water heaters. Data of this
nature are required for all the regions of the world in order to effectively access the level of
acceptability of SHWSs worldwide.
Africa’s climate has the potential to support utilization of SHWSs. However, the bulk of the
reports on SHWSs in Africa is experimental results to ascertain the technical feasibility. Extended
long term performance of such systems is yet to be reported. This is essential for the development
043106-17 Solar water heating systems J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 043106 共2009兲

TABLE III. Breakdown of hot water potentials in different sectors of the Nigeria economy.

Sector Capacity

Householda 20 million households

Agricultureb 330 000 km2 of cropland 共only 0.7% has been irrigated兲
14 000 共7210 are operated by local government hospital
Healthc councils兲
40 000 共primary schools兲; 6500 共secondary schools兲; 40
Educationc 共universities兲
Federal ministries/parastatals; state ministries; local
Officesa government offices; private sector establishment
Tourism Hotels 共over 1000兲

a
Reference 24.
b
Reference 64.
c
Reference 63.

of international standards for SHWSs and possibly evolves long term performance characteriza-
tion techniques readily understandable by customers. Government and corporate organizations
should finance extended performance testing of SHWS in order to establish a universal certifica-
tion method for the production, testing, and comparison of different SHWSs. At present, such
standards exist at individual country levels. Furthermore, extended testing of SHWS, both at the
laboratory level and the installed commercial system level, will enable the generation of enough
information on their technical capabilities and also create room for their further improvement.

B. Prospects
The application of solar energy for water heating purposes dates back to the late 1800s,29
when exposed water tanks were left out to warm in the sun on a few farms and ranches in the
southwest of the USA. Since then, the use of SHWS has been on the increase. The highest call for
its use came in the middle of the 20th century as a result of the rising energy cost and environ-
mental concerns. With the continuing instability in the conventional energy and the urgent need to
protect our environment, the prospects of solar as an energy source for hot water generation are
very bright.
At present, hot water needs for households, agricultural purposes, health, education, and
offices worldwide are met mainly by electrical energy. In the rural areas of the developing coun-
tries, such as Nigeria, most of the hot water needs are met through the burning of fossil or wood
fuels. This group forms a large percentage of the total population of these nations. In Nigeria, they
represent about 70% of the total population.63 There are environmental pollution concerns such as
global warming and desertification arising from the use of fossil fuel and felling of trees for use as
fire wood. Environmental pollution not only degrades the atmosphere but also destroys the land,
rivers, and streams. Perhaps the most alarming is the current global concern on environmental
pollution from conventional energy development, which significantly contributes to the growth of
green house gases in the atmosphere and hence the threat of global climate change. Use of solar
energy in water heating, crop drying, etc., would significantly reduce reliance on these conven-
tional energy sources for heating application. Apart from the high demand for hot water for
domestic uses, other sectors of the economy to some extent also require hot water for its day to
day running. The potential of SHWS essentially depends on availability and accessibility of solar
radiation, affordability of the user to invest in solar water heating system, and accessibility of solar
radiation to the household.62 Table III shows a breakdown of the hot water requirement potentials
in different sectors of Nigeria’s economy. In South Africa, the domestic hot water usage trend for
rural households in the Pretoria area is given in Fig. 1. This trend represents the hot water usage
trend in most homes. In India, an estimated potential of SHWS has been put at 27 million homes.
This value was arrived at from an equation given as62
043106-18 Ogueke, Anyanwu, and Ekechukwu J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 043106 共2009兲

Agriculture Commercial
5% 8%

Transportation
20%

Industrial
53% Domestic
14%

FIG. 18. Energy consumption by the various sectors in Vietnam.

Nsh = ␰1 冋兺 册
n

i=1
Ni␰2ui ␰3u , 共1兲

where Ni represents the total number of households in the ith state, ␰1 the fraction of households
living in the geographic areas with adequate solar radiation availability, ␰2ui the fraction of house-
holds living in the urban areas of the ith state, and ␰3u the fraction of households in the urban areas
having a piped water supply in the household premises.
In Vietnam, similar charts to Table III exist for energy consumption by various sectors; see
Fig. 18.65 The figure shows that the highest energy consumer is the industry, followed by trans-
portation. The least is agriculture which consumes about 5%. Although the transportation sector
may not provide adequate potentials for solar water heating, it accounts for only 20%, leaving the
remaining 80% as very viable areas of solar hot water applications. Of all, however, domestic
uses, hotels, hospitals, and some small cottage industries may present the most viable potential for
SHWS. Figures 19 and 2065 show the contribution of energy forms in typical households in
Hochiminh, Vietnam and energy consumption by different sectors in the household.
While noting that the common SHWS will not necessarily be able to generate water above
100 ° C, they can still be used for the purposes of preheating water in facilities where water
temperature above 100 ° C is required, thus reducing the amount spent on other forms of energy.
043106-19 Solar water heating systems J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 043106 共2009兲

Gas 1511 per

capita
31%
Electricity 3297
per capita
69%

FIG. 19. Contributions of energy forms in a typical household in Hochiminh.

Space Cooling
Cooking 16%
31% Water
Heating
11%

Cleaning
8%
Appliances
14%
Lighting
Entertainment
14%
6%
FIG. 20. Energy consumption by different sectors in a household.
043106-20 Ogueke, Anyanwu, and Ekechukwu J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 043106 共2009兲

C. Problems
In recent years, SHWSs have gained increased awareness due to high energy costs and the
need to use environmentally friendly sources of energy. Despite this increase in awareness, its
acceptability and usage are still on a limited scale. The major problems responsible for this poor
level of acceptability and usage vary from region to region but could broadly be classified as
economic and technical problems.

1. Economic problems
Several economic problems and government policies have negatively impacted on the desire
for increased utilization of SHWS. These include24 lack of awareness, lack of energy policy, low
income levels, lack of subsidy, short term investment syndrome, and lack of institutional support.
The above factors are, however, more predominant in the developing countries. In the developed
countries, the major economic problems are the system’s first cost, poor regulation for the pro-
motion of solar thermal system utilization, and poor public perception as many costumers do not
understand the difference between solar thermal systems and PV systems.
Solutions to these problems are basically dependent on the world governments’ ability to raise
the standard of living and introduce energy policies capable of encouraging the acquisition of solar
technology for hot water generation purposes. These policies include but certainly not limited to
the provision of direct subsidy on the purchase of SHWS and creation of a financing scheme
where interested users of SHWS could borrow from at a much reduced interest rate. Third party
financing should also be encouraged while incentives in the form of tax credits must be applied for
applications in industries and the public building sector.51 The problem of lack of awareness can
be overcome through mass education and public enlightenment programs. This can come in the
form of advertorials or sponsored programs on renewable energy.

2. Technical problems
The major technical problems of SHWS are the nonexistence of universal certification method
which will specify the entire necessary standard for its production and utilization, high energy loss
at night while using the ICS system, poor solar energy harvesting capability, and insufficient
information on the technical capabilities. Reduction in energy loss at night by the ICS systems has
been achieved 34,35 by incorporating a transparent insulation system. The TIM also has the poten-
tial of improving the efficiency of flat plate collector often employed in thermosyphon systems.
Another method of improving the solar energy collection capacity of the solar collector is by
employing a selective surface or by incorporating a plane mirror as reflectors. Selective surfaces,
however, are expensive to use. Overall, more research and development 共R&D兲 efforts are needed
to raise the efficiency level of SHWS from its current low level of about 35%.

VI. CONCLUSION
A review of solar water heating systems has been undertaken. From this study, the following
are evident:
共i兲 The passive systems are more common than the active systems with the ICS enjoying the
most attention for R&D. This is followed by the thermosyphon system and then the active
SHWSs.
共ii兲 The best efficiencies of PHWSs are in the range of 30%–50%. Those of the ICS are of the
order of 30% while those of the thermosyphon systems are of the order of 50%.
共iii兲 Efficiency of active SHWSs is about 35%–80% higher than that of the passive system.
共iv兲 The closed loop thermosyphon SHWSs in most situations perform better than the open loop
ones, are less climate selective, and generally are more suitable for use in region that
experience very cold temperature.
共v兲 SHWSs have very high potentials to significantly contribute to hot water requirement.
However, more favorable government economic policies and improved R&D activities are
required for its wide acceptability and the full harnessing of these potentials.
 043106-21 Solar water heating systems J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1, 043106 共2009兲

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