JP2009092284A - Water heater utilizing solar heat - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a water heater utilizing solar heat, capable of improving solar heat availability throughout the year. <P>SOLUTION: This water heater 10 utilizing solar heat is composed of a heat collecting plate 18 collecting the solar heat, heat transferring means 28, 30, 32 for transferring the heat of the heat collecting plate, a hot water storage tank 16 for storing the water heated by the heat transferred through the heat transferring means, and a housing 12 enclosing the hot water storage tank. The heat collecting plate 18 is disposed on a side face of the housing 12 in a state that an angle between a plate face of the heat collecting plate and a side face of the housing is variable on an upper end portion of the heat collecting plate as an axis, thus the heat collecting plate 18 can cope with seasonal solar altitude and the solar heat availability can be improved throughout the year. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a solar water heater, and more particularly to a solar water heater that improves the utilization rate of solar heat throughout the year.

  Solar water heaters are installed in places that receive sunlight, such as on a roof or on a veranda, for example, for detached houses or apartment buildings, and use, for example, water to be heated using the heat energy from sunlight. And provided to users.

  Specifically, for example, as described in Patent Document 1, a solar panel is integrally attached to a surface corresponding to a trapezoid hypotenuse of a main body housing having a trapezoidal longitudinal cross-sectional shape. It is known to transfer heat from a heat collecting plate to water in a hot water supply tank provided in a main body housing.

  For heat transfer from the heat collecting plate to the water in the hot water supply tank, a heat exchanger (evaporator) provided close to the heat collecting plate and a heat exchanger (condenser) provided in the hot water supply tank are connected by piping. However, it is performed by circulating a heat medium. In other words, the heat medium evaporated and vaporized by the heat of the heat collecting plate flows through the pipe to the hot water supply tank, where it exchanges heat with water, warms the water by condensation heat, liquefies, and returns to the heat collecting plate. It is like that.

  In addition, an auxiliary heat source device using a heat pump or the like is provided in the main body housing, and when the heating by solar heat is insufficient, the auxiliary heat source device is operated to compensate.

JP-A-3-194360

  However, the solar water heater using Patent Document 1 described above leaves room for improvement in improving the solar heat utilization rate throughout the year.

  That is, although the solar altitude (angle formed by the horizon and the sun) is a high angle in the summer and a low angle in the winter and changes throughout the year, in the solar water heater of Patent Document 1, the heat collecting plate is integrated with the housing. As a result, it cannot respond to seasonal solar altitude, and as a result, it cannot be said that sunlight is received efficiently.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to improve the utilization rate of solar heat throughout the year.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a solar water heater of the present invention includes a heat collecting plate for collecting solar heat, a heat transfer means for transferring the heat of the heat collection plate, and heat transferred through the heat transfer means. A hot water storage tank for storing the water heated by the water and a housing containing the hot water storage tank, and the heat collecting plate is formed on the side surface of the housing with the upper end of the heat collecting plate as an axis. And an angle formed between the housing and the side surface of the housing.

  According to this, it is possible to adjust the heat collecting plate to an angle at which the amount of received sunlight is maximized, corresponding to the solar altitude that varies from season to season. Therefore, sunlight can be received efficiently throughout the year, and as a result, the utilization rate of solar heat throughout the year can be improved.

  Here, the utilization rate of solar heat throughout the year is the amount of heat energy supplied to water in one year per unit area of the heat collecting plate. Therefore, if the area of the heat collecting plate and the energy conversion efficiency of solar heat, heat transfer conditions, sunlight conditions, etc. are the same, the total amount of heat supply annually can be improved by making the angle of the heat collecting plate variable. To do.

  In order to change the angle formed between the plate surface of the heat collecting plate and the side surface of the housing with the upper end portion of the heat collecting plate as an axis, for example, a heat collecting plate or a heat collecting device including the heat collecting plate is used. What is necessary is just to fix an upper part and the side surface of a housing with fixing brackets, such as a hinge type.

  Further, in the above-described solar water heater, the heat transfer means is composed of a heat medium that evaporates due to heat of the heat collecting plate and exchanges heat with water and condenses, and a pipe that circulates the heat medium. It is preferable to circulate by the heat medium circulation pump provided in the heat medium flow path of the piping, and to form the heat collecting plate at the same height as the side surface of the housing.

  That is, when using natural circulation by evaporation and condensation of the heat medium as in the prior art, the heat collecting plate is installed due to the height position of the heat exchange part (condensation part) that condenses the vaporized heat medium. The height position may be limited. In other words, it is necessary to install piping so that the evaporated heat medium flows from a position lower than the condensation site. If the condensation site is low, the installation position of the heat collecting plate must also be lowered. May limit the size of the heat collecting plate.

  In this regard, the heat medium is forcibly circulated by the heat medium circulation pump, so that, for example, the gas phase heat medium is sent from a position higher than the condensing part regardless of the height position of the condensing part. Since the medium is circulated smoothly, the heat collecting plate can be formed at the same height as the side surface of the housing. According to this, since the area of the heat collecting plate can be increased, a larger amount of sunlight can be received and the amount of supplied heat energy can be improved.

  Further, a control means for setting an angle formed by the plate surface of the heat collecting plate and the side surface of the housing, and a driving means for driving the heat collecting plate based on a command from the control means are provided, and the control means The angle formed by the plate surface of the heat collecting plate and the side surface of the housing may be set based on the date and an angle table set in advance corresponding to the date stored in the storage unit.

  For example, the driving means for driving the heat collecting plate can be constituted by a wire and an electric motor that pulls the wire. In other words, the wire is attached to the heat collecting plate or the heat collector that contains the heat collecting plate, and the angle between the plate surface of the heat collecting plate and the side surface of the housing is adjusted by controlling the pulling amount of the wire with an electric motor or the like. can do.

  The angle is set by a current date by a built-in date timer or the like and an angle table stored in the storage means and associated with the date. In the angle table, for example, since the solar altitude is high in the summer, the angle may be set to be large, and the angle may be set to be small in response to the low solar altitude in the winter.

  According to the present invention, the utilization rate of solar heat throughout the year can be improved.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a solar water heater using the present invention will be described. In the following description, the same functional parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a first embodiment of the solar water heater according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a solar water heater 10 is provided in a housing 12, a lower portion in the housing 12, for example, an auxiliary heat source device 14 having a heat pump circuit, and an upper portion of the auxiliary heat source device 14. A hot water storage tank 16 that stores water to be heated and a heat collector 20 that includes a heat collecting plate 18 that collects heat for heating the water in the hot water storage tank 16 from sunlight are configured. . The outer surface of the heat collector 20 on the side receiving sunlight is covered with a glass panel, and the heat collecting plate 18 is formed of, for example, an aluminum alloy having good thermal conductivity.

  Further, an auxiliary heat condenser inlet pipe 24 through which a heat medium compressed by a compressor (not shown) of the auxiliary heat source device 14 flows to an auxiliary heat condenser 22 provided in the upper part of the hot water storage tank 16, and auxiliary heat An auxiliary heat condenser outlet pipe 26 for returning the liquid heat medium condensed by exchanging heat with water in the condenser 22 to the auxiliary heat source device 14 is connected.

  Further, the solar heat condenser 28 provided in the lower part of the hot water storage tank 16 exchanges heat with water by the solar heat condenser inlet pipe 30 through which the heat medium vaporized by the heat of the heat collecting plate 18 flows and the solar heat condenser 28. A solar heat condenser outlet pipe 32 is connected to return the condensed liquid heat medium to the heat collecting plate. Then, a heat exchange pipe (evaporation pipe) is provided meandering in the hollow portion between the glass panel and the heat collection plate of the heat collector, and the upper part of this pipe and the solar condenser inlet pipe 30 are connected to each other. The lower part and the solar heat condenser outlet piping 32 are connected. That is, the heat collecting plate is provided by a heat medium, an evaporation pipe provided close to the heat collecting plate 18, a solar condenser inlet pipe 30 through which the heat medium flows, a solar condenser 28, a solar condenser outlet pipe 32, and the like. A heat transfer means for transferring 18 heat is configured.

  The hot water storage tank 16 is connected to an inflow pipe 34 through which water to be heated flows from the lowermost part and a supply pipe 36 for supplying hot water heated from the uppermost part to the user. In addition, the auxiliary | assistant heat source apparatus 14 and the heat medium used by the transmission of solar heat can use a freon etc., for example.

  Next, the basic operation of the solar heat utilizing hot water supply apparatus 10 of the present embodiment will be described. The solar water heater 10 is installed on a roof or on a verandah where solar radiation is received. When there is solar radiation during the day, sunlight passes through the glass panel of the heat collector 20 to collect the heat. 18 enters and heat collecting plate 18 is heated. Then, the heat medium in the pipe provided close to the heat collecting plate 18 is heated and evaporates.

  The vaporized heat medium rises in the pipe and reaches the hot water storage tank 16 through the solar condenser inlet pipe 30, where heat is exchanged with the water stored in the hot water storage tank 16 to heat the water by condensation heat. Liquefies together. The condensed and liquefied heat medium is lowered by gravity and returns to the lower part of the evaporation pipe adjacent to the heat collecting plate 18 again through the solar heat condenser outlet pipe 32.

  In this way, the water in the hot water storage tank 16 is heated and then supplied to the user via the supply pipe 36. Here, when the heating by solar heat is insufficient, the auxiliary heat source device 14 operates. That is, the compressor of the auxiliary heat source device 14 operates to compress the heat medium, and the high-temperature and high-pressure gas-phase heat medium reaches the hot water storage tank 16 via the auxiliary heat condenser inlet pipe 24. Here, the heat medium exchanges heat with water, warms the water by condensation heat, liquefies, and returns to the auxiliary heat source device 14 via the auxiliary heat condenser outlet pipe 26. Then, after being decompressed, it evaporates by heat exchange to become a gas phase, and flows into the compressor again.

  Next, the attachment aspect of the heat collector which is the characteristic part of a present Example is demonstrated. In this embodiment, the upper part of the heat collector 20 that encloses the heat collecting plate 18 and the side surface of the housing 12 are fixed by a hinge-type fixing bracket 38. Thereby, the angle (θ) formed between the plate surface of the heat collecting plate 18 and the side surface of the housing 12 can be made variable with the upper end portion of the heat collecting plate 18 as an axis.

  Further, in order to change the angle formed by the plate surface of the heat collecting plate 18 and the side surface of the housing 12, it is necessary to drive the heat collecting plate 18, and this driving means includes an electric motor that pulls the wire and the wire. Can be configured. That is, one end of the wire is attached to the lower end of the heat collector 20 and the other end of the wire is pulled by an electric motor to lift the heat collector 20 to increase the angle θ, and conversely, the wire is sent out to reduce the angle θ. Thus, the angle between the plate surface of the heat collecting plate and the side surface of the housing can be adjusted by controlling the traction amount and the feed amount.

  The traction amount and the feed amount correlated with the angle θ are set by control means realized by software. First, an angle table set in advance in association with a date is stored in a storage unit provided in the solar heat utilizing hot water supply apparatus 10. Further, the current date is obtained by a function such as a date timer, and an angle corresponding to the current date is read from the angle table and the angle is set. Then, the traction position of the wire corresponding to the set angle is obtained, the traction amount or feed amount is calculated by comparison with the current traction position, and a control command based on the calculated traction amount or feed amount is sent to the electric motor. Is output.

  The angle table, for example, calculates the solar altitude when the solar altitude is highest (summer solstice) and when it is low (winter solstice) from the latitude of the representative position, the inclination of the earth axis, etc. Obtain the angle at which the amount of received light increases (the angle at which the heat collecting plate is orthogonal to sunlight), and for other days, for example, every month, every half month, etc. Can be set.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, it is possible to adjust the heat collecting plate 18 to an angle at which the amount of received sunlight is maximized, corresponding to the solar altitude that varies from season to season. Therefore, sunlight can be received efficiently throughout the year, and as a result, the utilization rate of solar heat throughout the year can be improved. Moreover, this makes it possible to realize stable hot water supply throughout the year. Furthermore, since the operation opportunity of the auxiliary heat source device 14 can be reduced, an energy saving effect can be obtained.

  In the present embodiment, the angle adjustment of the heat collecting plate 18 and the heat collector 20 is automatically controlled according to the date. However, for example, a rod-shaped damper whose one end is fixed to the housing 12 is used. Accordingly, the angle θ may be adjusted by supporting the heat collector 20 like a stick.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a second embodiment of the solar water heater according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, the heat medium circulation pump is used for circulation of the heat medium, and the size of the heat collecting plate 18 and the heat collector 20 in the height direction is increased. These are different from the first embodiment. Therefore, the description of the same configuration as that of the first embodiment is omitted.

  In the present embodiment, the heat medium circulation pump 40 is provided in the flow path of the solar heat condenser outlet pipe 32. That is, in the present embodiment, the heat medium is forcibly circulated instead of the natural circulation using the rise due to the vaporization of the heat medium and the decrease due to the condensation as in the first embodiment.

  According to this, regardless of the height position of the solar heat condenser 28 in the hot water storage tank 16, even if it is configured to send the gas phase heat medium from a position higher than the solar heat condenser 28, the heat medium is circulated. Is done smoothly. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the heat collector 20 and the heat collecting plate 18 can be formed at the same height as the side surface of the housing 12. As a result, since the area of the heat collecting plate 18 can be increased, a larger amount of sunlight can be received, and the amount of supplied heat energy can be improved.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, since the heat medium can be passed from the lower side to the upper side in the solar heat condenser 28, the heat medium flow direction can be appropriately selected in consideration of the heat exchange efficiency and the like. It becomes possible. Also in the present embodiment, it is possible to adjust the heat collecting plate 18 to an angle at which the amount of received sunlight is maximized corresponding to the solar altitude that varies from season to season. In addition, the utilization rate of solar heat throughout the year can be improved.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a third embodiment of the solar water heater according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, this embodiment is different from the second embodiment in that the heat collector 20 and the heat collecting plate 18 can be attached to and detached from the housing 12. Therefore, the description of the same configuration as that of the second embodiment is omitted.

  In the present embodiment, the heat collector 20 and the heat collecting plate 18 are provided at an installation location separated from the installation location of the housing 12. The angle (θ) formed between the plate surface of the heat collecting plate and the installation surface 42 with the lower end portion of the heat collecting plate 18 as an axis can be adjusted by the gantry 44 with angle adjustment.

  According to this, for example, when there is a restriction such as an obstacle that blocks solar radiation at the place where the housing 12 is installed, the heat collector 20 and the heat collecting plate 18 are separated from the housing 12 and a place with good solar radiation conditions. Can be installed. Further, similarly to Examples 1 and 2, etc., it is possible to adjust the heat collecting plate 18 to an angle at which the amount of received sunlight is maximized in correspondence with the solar altitude that varies depending on the season. Similar to Examples 1 and 2, the solar heat utilization rate throughout the year can be improved.

It is the schematic which shows the whole structure of 1st Example of the solar-heat-use hot water supply apparatus of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the whole structure of 2nd Example of the solar water utilization hot-water supply apparatus of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the whole structure of 3rd Example of the solar-heat-use hot water supply apparatus of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Solar hot water supply apparatus 12 Housing 14 Auxiliary heat source apparatus 16 Hot water storage tank 18 Heat collecting plate 20 Heat collector 22 Auxiliary heat condenser 24 Auxiliary heat condenser inlet piping 26 Auxiliary heat condenser outlet piping 28 Solar condenser 30 Solar thermal condenser inlet Piping 32 Solar condenser outlet piping 34 Inflow piping 36 Supply piping 38 Fixing bracket 40 Heat medium circulation pump 42 Installation surface 44 Mount with angle adjustment

Claims (4)

A heat collecting plate for collecting solar heat, a heat transfer means for transferring heat of the heat collection plate, a hot water storage tank for storing water heated by the heat transferred through the heat transfer means, A solar-powered hot water supply device comprising a housing containing a hot water storage tank,
The solar collector is a solar water heater that is attached to a side surface of the housing in such a manner that an angle formed by a plate surface of the heat collector plate and a side surface of the housing is variably formed with an upper end portion of the heat collector plate as an axis.   The heat transfer means is a heat medium that evaporates by heat of the heat collecting plate and exchanges heat with the water and condenses, and a pipe that circulates the heat medium, and the heat medium is a heat medium flow of the pipe. It is circulated by the heat-medium circulation pump provided in the path, The said heat collecting board is a solar-heating hot water supply apparatus of Claim 1 formed in the same height as the side surface height of the said housing. Control means for setting an angle formed by the plate surface of the heat collecting plate and the side surface of the housing, and drive means for driving the heat collecting plate based on a command from the control means,
The control means sets an angle formed by the plate surface of the heat collecting plate and the side surface of the housing based on a current date and an angle table set in advance corresponding to the date stored in the storage means. The solar-heat-use hot water supply apparatus of Claim 1. A heat collecting plate for collecting solar heat, a pipe that circulates through a heat medium that evaporates by heat of the heat collecting board and that exchanges heat with water to be heated and condenses, and a heat medium flow path of the pipe. A solar water heater comprising: a heat medium circulation pump for circulating the heat medium; a hot water storage tank for storing water heated by the heat medium flowing through the piping; and a housing containing the hot water storage tank. And
The heat collecting plate is a hot water supply system using solar heat, in which the angle between the plate surface of the heat collecting plate and the installation surface is variably installed around the lower end portion of the heat collecting plate at the installation location separated from the installation location of the housing apparatus.

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