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Assignment Solar Water Heating Project
Assignment Solar Water Heating Project
Assignment Solar Water Heating Project
01
DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT
You wish to examine the financial viability of using solar water heating to supply some of the domestic hot water requirements for a single family home. The owner of the home is keen to use renewable energy to satisfy a portion of his energy consumption. He would like a year-round system that operates in a freeze protected configuration.
SITE INFORMATION
The home is located in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The 2-storey, 185 m2 home has 3 occupants. The roof has a pitch of 12 in 12 and faces due south. A high-efficiency, natural gas-fired water heater already exists in the house. The solar storage tank will be located in a room on the ground floor; the horizontal distance from the collector to the storage tank will be 3 m. Since there is little space available, a standard 150-litre tank will be used. All piping shall be copper with foam insulation. A small heat exchanger and pump will be used.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION
The customer will purchase the system out of savings. He suggests that a discount rate equal to current mortgage rates be used. These average around 8%. The retail price of natural gas is currently $0.44/m3, but this is very high compared to prices in the recent past: a year ago, it was $0.24/m3. The retail price for electricity is $0.06/kWh. Inflation averages about 2.2%. New glazed solar collectors have a life expectancy of 25 years. In the Province of British Columbia, solar hot water systems are exempt from provincial sales tax of 7%. Prepare a RETScreen study, documenting any assumptions that you are required to make, and report on the significant conclusions from this analysis.