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Show tt ' and Garden Edition, Spring 1981 9 t t , W . Understanding solar energy prospects By Terrence Owen General Manager, Sunergy Systems a Subsidiary of Energy Products Corp. , There has been an obvious and very serious groundswell of interest in effective solar heating systems in the past year or two. Unfortunately, there are still a number of people who consider solar heating as an ecology freak system that is not really effective. Others consider it as Buck Rogers type of technology that is not cost effective. It is also unfortunate that, due to the swell of interest in solar energy, a large number of rip off artists are getting on the solar bandwagon. We read every month in various Solar Industry publications of the problems being created by these operators. They use high pressure sales techniques, similar to those used in the past by insulation and siding sales schemes, to get unwary buyers to purchase their shoddy, inferior products. When these systems do not meet the inflated claims made by the sellers, the disgruntled buyers tell all their w neighbors and friends that solar doesnt work. What they do not understand that solar does work.. .if you buy properly designed, matched and installed equipment. How Effective Is Solar? Let us consider what solar energy is and what it will and will not - do for you. If we burned all the fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas, etc.) available in the world as rapidly as we could, we could end up getting about as much energy as is provided to the earth from about two weeks of sunshine. Sunlight, in both the visible spectrum (what our eyes recognize as light) and the infrared spectrum (that part of the light waves that provide heat) is the basic source of all energy on the Earth. Sunlight provides the means by which plants grow...and consequently animals can live. The decayed, compressed carcasses of plants and animals has provided the raw material that has, these many years later, become fossil fuels. Wind is caused by the heating and cooling effects of the sun. Water is evaporated and returned to the earth as moisture. Solar power can be felt when you enter a car that has been WESTERN WEAR & Castle Rock Square Price 1169 0 Spring Specials Resistol 9 American Zac's North Main Spanish Fork, Utah 135 1 setting in the sun. It is felt when you sit near a southern - exposure window on a cold day. As far as Solar collecting is concerned, technology can be broken down into three primary areas. 1. High Technology: Often referred to as Buck Rogers due to the science fiction-lik-e aspects of proposed equipment and applications. Some of these Popular Science Magazine article proposals for solar energy collections are energy collecting satellites circling the earth and collecting electrical energy from the sun. Supposedly they would then send it down to earth via laser beam streams of light. Giant fields of solar collectors spanning for miles of desert land also falls into this category. 2. Middle Technology solar includes such exotics as photovoltaics (photo electric cells and strips) and the new generation solar heat pumps as well as the recent Isreali discovered liquid metal - electromagnetic solar electric generation system. These are systems and technologies that will most likely be practical and effective within the next decade, but are not cost effective or practical now and, most likely, will be used by commercial energy producers rather than the individual homeowner. 3. Low Technology Solar. Thats Us! The type of solar collections systems that are commercially available have been around - in various forms - for years. The present flat plate collectors used to heat water, or their cousins that are used for heating air, are There is pretty much not really much more that can be done to improve the efficiency of the top quality collectors. The operative word in the last sentence is Top Quality. Solar collectors are rated by the average number of BTUs (British Thermal Units) they absorb per square foot of collectors surface per day. The formula is written as: BTUFVDay. In 1979, the Florida Solar Energy Center, a Department of Energy recognized association, conducted tests on 56 solar collectors in accordance with -- state-of-the-ar- t. non-prof- it, standards established by the American Society of Heating, Referigeration and Air Conditioner Engineers or ASHRAE. The collection capability of these panels went from a low of 203 BTUFVDay to a high of 827 BTUFVDay. That means the top rated collector would absorb 407 percent more heat energy than the lowest rated system. How Do You Determine Quality? Since youre probably not an expert on solar systems, how can you judge between one system and another? Probably the best bet is to take a little time to learn to read the ASHRAE test data charts that come with all certified systems. If a system doesnt have one, beware. Also, the collector system should have had the test conducted by an Independent, Department Of Energy Recognized, testing laboratory. The information contained in the test data will allow you to compare efficiency curves of various collectors and determine which is the best for your requirements. (Utah temperature curves require efficiency in the 25 to 85 range.) The next consideration is the dealer andor installer. Is he reliable? Does he have a track record? Does he have references from local customers who are satisfied and are willing to And recommend him? remember this proper installation is just as important as the proper selection of equipment. And local availability of warranty repair and maintenance service should also be considered. What Solar Will Do For You To show the cost effectiveness of solar, let us take the average family of four who have installed a solar water heating system. The average family uses about 20 gallons of hot water per day for each person in the house. So, we will consider that our average family has installed a system from one of the major companies such as Grumman, Solaroll, Lourdan, etc. They have an 80 gallon solar storage tank hooked in series to their regular hot water heater. Before they had solar, their hot water tank (Continued on Page 14) Wrangler and Lee ft a NEW KIND of FORD! Boot Cuts ENTIRE STOCK Texas, Tony Lama, Nocona, Justin, Acme n ALL DIESEL ALL NEW DRIVE OR 13 TO 30 HORSEPOWER Huntington Tractor Implement Co., Ph. 748-226- EL & 3 Orangeville, Utah All you need is FORD |