Innovative proposal for an autonomous solar water heater that costs less than 50% that a sales team promises to bring solar energy to the poor.
Often the simplest solution is the most effective, which is happening today with the use of solar energy in the domestic sector in Latin America.
For more than 40 years, “The Holy Grail” has been sought which allows economical and efficient access to the use of solar energy in homes for the production of sanitary hot water.
A situation that is evident in the Mexican case that of the 35 million homes that exist in the country, only about 2 million have commercial solar heating, a situation that is aggravated by the sharp increase in LPG in the last two years.
Therefore, industry is encouraged to urgently come up with proposals that address this issue if they are to be part of the windfall that comes with meeting the minimum expectations of a desperate market hungry for cost-effective and effective solutions.
The main reason why commercial solar water heaters have not flourished in Latin America is the high cost of equipment compared to the purchasing power of 95% of the population.
For example, a 100 liter solar water heater for a house of two or three people costs about 9,000 pesos in Mexico, including the essential water tank with which it will be fed, as well as the respective installation costs. . To which must be added other problems which discourage buyers, such as the fragility of the equipment which requires essential care. Así as ser conscious that el contar con un calentador solar no asegura tener agua caliente Durante todo el año, por lo que deben considerarse sistemas de apoyo como el gas y la electricidad para asegurar el servicio de agua caliente ante los eventuales caprichos climatológicos de las seasons.
This whole problem stems from the folly of reaching water temperatures above 70°C which require expensive thermal insulation for its preservation and then ironically being mixed with a cooler liquid for use in its final stage. , which is the shower. .
Why not try lower temperatures which make it easier to store and whose volume is such that it can be used directly in the shower?
Researchers from the College of Scientific and Technological Studies of the State of Jalisco, Mexico, CECyTEJ, have developed a new type of autonomous solar water heater made of polyethylene that provides up to 500 liters of sanitary hot water to a temperature of 40°C and whose cost is around 2000.00 pesos, in addition to the fact that it does not require particular maintenance and that it has a lifespan of at least 25 years.
To do this, they started from the fact that most commercial solar water heaters need a water tank to be powered, so why not create a hybrid between a water tank and a solar water heater? which serves as a preheating process based on renewable energy, which allows to reduce the final consumption of traditional energy sources such as LPG and electricity.
A revolutionary geometry that increases up to 80% the absorption of solar energy that strikes vertically, which is the one with the highest energy content, in addition to favoring the creation of convection currents fast enough to transform the design into an authentic heat sink to heat large volumes of water.
After months of research and development, they succeeded in creating a domestic water tank that offers water at two different temperatures with a thermal gradient of up to 15°C, that is, in the lower part the water comes out at 25°C and in the upper part it can reach temperatures of up to 40°C, allowing a reduction of up to 70% in the total consumption of gas and electricity in the production of hot water for sanitary use throughout the year.
The research team points out that this new technology is not intended to eliminate the solar water heaters that we are all familiar with from the market, but rather to create a synergy that will reduce the size and costs of this equipment, considerably promoting the use of solar energy. among the population.
We are looking for companies that help us quickly unleash this innovation for the benefit of society and the environment, so we are open to proposals.
Sergio Ronaldo Cortés, chief investigator.
For now, hundreds of interested consumers are anxiously asking when it will be available on the market so they can entrench themselves in the fierce energy war going on around the world.
Author: Sergio Cortes Gaytan