Components of solar thermal systems

Abstract

The heat production sub-system is the part of the overall system which provides heat to a thermally driven air-conditioning system. With regards to the solar-driven equipment, the solar collector is the main component of the sub-system. A brief review on the present state-of-the-art with respect to performance characteristics and available certification schemes of solar collectors is given in the following chapter. Besides the solar collector field, the storage unit and the back-up heat source unit are also important components. An overview of these items and the identification of other relevant components of the solar thermal system are given in the following sections.