Solar Water Heating Systems: A Review

In the present review paper, the existing solar water heating systems are studied with their applications. Solar energy is free, environmentally clean, and therefore it is accepted as one of the most promising alternative energy sources. The effective use of solar energy is hindered by the intermittent nature of its availability, limiting its use and effectiveness in domestic and industrial applications especially in water heating. Now a day, plenty of hot water is used for domestic, commercial and industrial purposes. Various resources i.e. coal, diesel, gas etc, are used to heat water and sometimes for steam production. Solar energy is the main alternative to replace the conventional energy sources. The size of the systems depends on availability of solar radiation, temperature requirement of customer, geographical condition and arrangement of the solar system, etc. Therefore, it is necessary to design the solar water heating system as per above parameters. The available literature is reviewed to understand the construction, arrangement, applications and sizing of the solar thermal system.