Solar Thermal

About Solar Thermal

​​Our sun produces 400,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 watts of energy every second and the belief is that it will last another 5 billion years. Solar Energy technology is not the same as solar panel in the sense of photovoltaic, technology. Solar thermal electric energy generation concentrates or collects energy from the sun to create heat, and that heat is used to run a heat engines which turns a generator to make electricity or, heats domestic water, or preheats ventilation. The working fluid that is heated by the concentrated sunlight can be a liquid or a gas. Different working fluids include water, oil, salts, air, nitrogen, helium, etc.

​​If you have any questions, please contact ​Solar_Thermal@usace.army.mil.

Research & Services Solar hot water design guide

The next generation solar walls

Solar roofs like solar walls

The following is a reference list of design tools that might prove useful:

ASHRAE Solar Systems Guidline RETScreen 4 UFC 3-440-04N Solar Heating of Buildings and Domestic Hot Water FEMP - Solar Hot Water System Calculator F-Chart Solar System Analysis and Design ​ TRNSYS simulation software Whole Building Design Guide - Solar Water Heating Solar Water Heating Systems