New Wiki - Solar & Boiler

Owned by Dennis De Beuckeleer
Last updated: Nov 16, 2023 by Tim Rombouts (Unlicensed)
3 min read

The templates consist of various configurations of solar combined with a boiler.

Solar & Boiler - Parallel

Working principle

The solar collector will capture the energy of the sun. When the temperature inside the solar collector is higher than 65°C and higher than the bottom temperature of the storage tank, the heat from the solar collector will be transferred to the storage tank by activating the pump. The pump is deactivated when the bottom temperature of the storage tank is higher than the collector temperature.

An alarm is set when the temperature of the solar exceeds 100°C because the solar collector is overheating. When the solar collector is overheating, the pump will be activated and the 3-way valve will switch to the end unit, releasing the excess heat to the ambient. If the temperature in the solar collector drops under 100°C again, the alarm is deactivated.

The boiler will be activated when the flow temperature is lower than the demanded temperature from the heating curve. When the boiler is activated, the 2-way on/off valve will open as well. If the bottom temperature of the storage valve is higher than the return temperature of the system, the 3-way valve will close, bypassing the storage tank.

More information on boilers can be found in Boilers.

Notices/Remarks

  • If the user changes the power of the end-units, the thermal capacity of the solar collector doesn’t change automatically. The user should implement a correct capacity corresponding with the thermal power. The same goes for the boiler.


    The capacity can be calculated by clicking on the pencil icon on the right side of the capacity. A pop-up window will appear in which the user can enter data from the technical specifications to calculate the capacitance.

     

  • The user should also implement the solar collector area and the thermal losses to simulate accurately. These parameters can also be found in the technical specifications of the solar collector.

  • The user can change the design temperatures, thermal power, end units, … But keep in mind that the controls have to be changed as well. This can be done by changing the setpoint values.

Solar & Boiler - Switchable serial in supply

Similar to the template “Solar & Boiler - Parallel”, except for the serial configuration instead of the parallel configuration. There is also a bypass valve to bypass the boiler when the boiler is deactivated.

More information about hybrid production configurations can be found in Hybrid production Heating.