District/Central Solar Hot Water Systems Design Guide

Book excerpt: The District/Central Solar Water Heating Systems Design Guide provides recommendations on optimal and reliable configurations of solar water heating systems in different climates, with design specifications, planning principles, and guidelines for these systems. The guidelines are complemented by numerous case studies of successfully implemented solar supported thermal networks along with results of exemplary simulations of different system options based on real world scenarios. This book also discusses the benefits and disadvantages of large-scale centralized versus decentralized solar thermal systems. The guide was developed by government, institutional, and private-sector parties funded by the U.S. Army Installations Management Command (IMCOM), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the U.S. Department of Energy Federal Energy Management Program (DOE FEMP), and reviewed and approved by ASHRAE Technical Committee (TC) 6.7, Solar Energy Utilization.