Performance study of a laboratory model shallow solar pond with and without single transparent glass cover for solar thermal energy conversion applications

- Shallow solar pond water heater is suited for roof top solar energy collection.
- SSP Solar collection efficiency is 40% comparable to converting Flat Plate Collector System.
- No thermosyphon circulation in SSPWH when compared to Solar Water Heating System.
- Hot water storage could be kept beneath the roof top in bathrooms.
- The hot water of SSP is drained by the gravity flow to ground floors.

The thermal performance of a shallow solar pond with and without the single transparent glass cover has been investigated experimentally. This experiment has been performed during the summer season of 2014 under the operational condition for five different storage volumes of water upto a maximum of 10 liter. The pond performance is investigated in terms of the rate of energy collected and its collection efficiency. A Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) black sheet liner of 200 μm thickness was laid on all the interior sides of the pond for solar energy absorption. A clear transparent PVC plastic sheet of 150 μm thickness was laid over the water surface as evaporation suppressing membrane. Calibrated Copper constantan thermocouples were used to measure the temperatures of the system. A highest temperature of 81.5 °C has been achieved for the stored volume of 2 liter of water, when the pond was used with a single transparent glass cover of 5 mm thickness. When the shallow solar pond was used without the transparent glass cover the system attained a maximum temperature of 62 °C for the same stored volume of 2 liter. A comparison between the two conditions of with and without the transparent glass cover, on the thermal performance of the SSP has been reported. A shallow solar pond system of the present type could be used us a source of warm water, of desired temperature, below 10 °C which are required for the domestic and industrial utilities. The global warming is increased day by day; inorder to reduce global warming a typical method of small scale shallow solar pond has been used to absorb the radiation from the sun to convert it to useful heat energy by the source of water. The SSP is an eco friendly way to generate energy without polluting our environment and in an environment safety manner. Based on environmental safety this study has experimentally investigated the thermal performance of the shallow solar pond.