Experimental Study of Solar - Phase Change Material Wall for Domestic Hot Water Production under the Tropical Climate

This paper reports experimental performance investigation of a solar-phase change material wall for domestic hot water (S-PCMW) in tropical climate. The S-PCMW objectives are to provide domestic hot water and reduce heat transferred from outside. It consisted of a glazed solar hot water collector, 0.22 m thick with PCM and painted black pipes 0.01 m. diameter to produce hot water which can hold approximately 10 litters. The internal glass insulator was 0.020 m thick. Comparison between S-PCMW and Simple Concrete Wall (SW) using two small house models of the same dimensions are presented and discussed. The experiment revealed that indoor temperature of the room mounted with S-PCMW was lower than that of the SW. Heat gain through the south wall of S-PCMW decreased significantly when compared with the other type. The S-PCMW wall can produce hot water at temperature varying from 45°C to 51°C. Thus, it has been proved that the S-PCMW is energy efficient in term of heat gain reduction and energy saving.