PERFORMANCE TESTING OF SOLAR DOMESTIC HOT WATER SYSTEMS IN TASK III OF THE IEA SOLAR HEATING AND COOLING PROGRAMME

One of the major fields of interest in Task III of the International Energy Agency's Solar Heating and Cooling Programme has been the development of means to evaluate solar domestic hot water (SDHW) systems using short-term test methods. Within the participating countries of Task III many different approaches to SDHW system testing have been developed in recent years. A review of these methods showed their suitability to different conditions and requirements and suggested desirable features for test methods for common use. Drawing on this experience, the Task has adopted a three-fold approach to the development of SDHW system tests: long-term performance prediction based on test measurements of component parameters, long-term performance prediction based on correlations with test measurements on the whole system, and diagnostic inspection procedures for the system configuration and the performance of the sensors and controllers. A summary of progress in this work is presented.