1 DISCUSSION
1.1 VERIFICATION OF THE CODE
The verification of the CODE is based on the comparison of dates with similar conditions
(Irradiance, solar altitude, zero overcloud, temperature, and location).
In this project, T*SOL was used to compare the solar gains of the calculation tool. T*SOL contains
solar air collectors for the simulation of building heating. Therefore, the results might be
illustrative. The selected parameters are as follows:
− Selected locations:
> Bern: Latitude = 47.378 º, Longitude = 8.567º, Altitude = 556 m
> Zuerich/Fluntern: Latitude = 46.948º, Longitude = 7.440º, Altitude = 540 m
− Solar air collector: SOLE SA – Solar Appliances Manufacturer, type AIRSOL 35
− 10 collectors per array, 2 rows. Total gross surface: 40 m2. Tilt angle: 20º. Total volume
flow rate of the fan: 2.000 m3/h.
− Building dimensions: 20 x 20 x 4 m, 1 floor. No windows and insulation.
− 45 ºC constant temperature.
− Usual times (season) all year
Fig. 1 shows the graphical set up of the dryer simulation with T*SOL.
Fig. 1: Simulation solar dryer
Two locations and three dates (summer and spring – hot weather, autumn – cold weather) with
clear sky and similar solar altitude were chosen for hourly comparison. A daily and yearly
comparison was also carried on.
The analysed parameters are ambient temperature (ºC), solar irradiance (kW/m2), collector power
output (kW) and temperature out collector (ºC).
1.1.1 AMBIENT TEMPERATURE
Ambient temperature is obtained from climate database. For T*SOL, it is based on Meteonorm 7.3,
and for CODE it is based on Meteonorm 8. Fig. 2, Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 show the ambient temperature,
grouped by hour, of a day in summer, winter and in spring, respectively. It can be seen that all four
cases show similar behaviour. In Winter, TSOL BERN differs more between the hours 10 and 16.
Also in winter, CODE BERN has higher values.
Table 1, Table 2 and Table 3 are the correlation tables for the previous values. In general, there is
a good correlation between the two locations for T*SOL and CODE. The correlation coefficient is
higher than 0.95 in most of the cases. CODE BERN and CODE ZURICH in summer have the best
correlation, 1. The worst correlations values can be also found in summer: TSOL BERN with
CODE BERN and CODE BERN with TSOL ZURICH, with a coefficient of 0.837 and 0.844
respectively.
Ambient temperature - Hour of Day, Summer
30
25
20
ºC
15
10
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Hour of Day
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
Fig. 2: Ambient temperature grouped by hour of day in summer
Table 1: Correlation table ambient temperature grouped by hour of day in summer
Summer hourly Ambient temperature
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
TSOL BERN 1
CODE BERN 0.837 1
TSOL ZURICH 0.986 0.844 1
CODE ZURICH 0.949 1 0.962 1
Ambient temperature - Hour of Day, Winter
18.00
16.00
14.00
12.00
10.00
ºC
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Hour of Day
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
Fig. 3: Ambient temperature grouped by hour of day in winter
Table 2: Correlation table ambient temperature grouped by hour of day in winter
Winter hourly Ambient temperature
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
TSOL BERN 1
CODE BERN 0.955 1
TSOL ZURICH 0.988 0.958 1
CODE ZURICH 0.972 0.992 0.963 1
Ambient temperature - Hour of Day, Spring
25
20
15
ºC
10
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Hour of Day
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
Fig. 4: Ambient temperature grouped by hour of day in spring
Table 3: Correlation table ambient temperature grouped by hour of day in spring
Spring hourly Ambient temperature
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
TSOL BERN 1
CODE BERN 0.958 1
TSOL ZURICH 0.997 0.953 1
CODE ZURICH 0.967 0.978 0.959 1
1.1.2 IRRADIANCE
Fig. 5, Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 represent irradiance, grouped by hour, of a day in summer, winter and in
spring, respectively. The performance for CODE and T*SOL is alike for both locations and days.
There are no unusual values.
Table 4, Table 5 and Table 6 show the correlation coefficient for these cases. In general, the
correlations are good. Irradiance in summer has the best results. The lowest correlation is in winter
for CODE BERN and TSOL ZURICH, with a value of 0.979.
Irradiance - Hour of Day, Summer
1.00
0.90
0.80
0.70
kWh/m²
0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Hour of Day
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
Fig. 5: Irradiance grouped by hour of day in summer
Table 4: Correlation table irradiance grouped by hour of day in summer
Summer hourly Irradiance
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
TSOL BERN 1
CODE BERN 1 1
TSOL ZURICH 1 0.990 1
CODE ZURICH 0.994 1 0.993 1
Irradiance - Hour of Day, Winter
0.80
0.70
0.60
0.50
kWh/m²
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Month
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
Fig. 6: Irradiance grouped by hour of day in winter
Table 5: Correlation table irradiance grouped by hour of day in winter
Winter hourly Irradiance
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
TSOL BERN 1
CODE BERN 0.987 1
TSOL ZURICH 0.999 0.979 1
CODE ZURICH 0.990 0.999 0.983 1
Irradiance - Hour of Day, Spring
1
0.8
kWh/m²
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Hour of Day
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
Fig. 7: Irradiance grouped by hour of day in spring
Table 6: Correlation table irradiance grouped by hour of day in spring
Spring hourly Irradiance
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
TSOL BERN 1
CODE BERN 0.990 1
TSOL ZURICH 1 0.987 1
CODE ZURICH 0.993 1 0.989 1
Fig. 8 shows the irradiance over a year, grouped by month. It is observed a similar behaviour
between the four cases. As expected, low irradiance was obtained in cold months (November-
February). In warm months (May-August), irradiation was higher.
Table 7 shows the correlation table for annual irradiance. Overall, the results are good. All the
correlation coefficients are higher than 0.99.
Irradiance - Annual
200
180
160
140
120
kWh/m²
100
80
60
40
20
0
jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
Month
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
Fig. 8: Irradiance grouped by month
Table 7: Correlation table irradiance grouped by month
Annual Irradiance
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
TSOL BERN 1
CODE BERN 0.995 1
TSOL ZURICH 0.999 0.996 1
CODE ZURICH 0.998 0.998 0.999 1
1.1.3 COLLECTOR POWER OUTPUT
Fig. 9, Fig. 10 and Fig. 11 show collector power output, grouped by hour, of a day in summer,
winter and in spring, respectively. On the one hand, CODE BERN and TSOL BERN have an almost
identical behavior. On the other hand, TSOL ZURICH differs from the other cases and has lower
values for all the hours and days.
Table 8, Table 9 and Table 10 show the correlation coefficient for collector power output during
the period. In general, all the cases present a good correlation. The lowest value is in winter for
CODE BERN with TSOL ZURICH, with a value of 0.974.
Collector power output - Hour of Day, Summer
18.00
16.00
14.00
12.00
10.00
kW
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Hour of Day
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
Fig. 9: Collector power output grouped by hour of day in summer
Table 8: Correlation table collector power output grouped by hour of day in summer
Summer hourly Collector power output
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
TSOL BERN 1
CODE BERN 0.998 1
TSOL ZURICH 0.999 0.997 1
CODE ZURICH 0.993 0.993 0.991 1
Collector power output - Hour of Day, Winter
16.00
14.00
12.00
10.00
kWh/m²
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Month
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
Fig. 10: Collector power output grouped by hour of day in winter
Table 9: Correlation table collector power output grouped by hour of day in winter
Winter hourly Collector power output
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
TSOL BERN 1
CODE BERN 0.991 1
TSOL ZURICH 0.991 0.974 1
CODE ZURICH 0.995 0.999 0.982 1
Collector power output - Hour of Day, Spring
18
16
14
12
10
kW
8
6
4
2
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Hour of Day
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
Fig. 11: Collector power output grouped by hour of day in spring
Table 10: Correlation table collector power output grouped by hour of day in spring
Spring hourly Collector power output
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
TSOL BERN 1
CODE BERN 0.990 1
TSOL ZURICH 0.997 0.985 1
CODE ZURICH 0.992 1 0.988 1
Fig. 12 shows the collector power output over a year, grouped by month. Like observed in the
previous figures, they all have a similar behaviour. In general, the values of TSOL BERN and
TSOL ZURICH are lower for all the months. However, it is more pronounced for the cold months
(October-February). Another observation is that CODE BERN has always the highest power. Table
11 represents the correlation table for annual collector power output. The results are good. The
highest value is TSOL BERN with TSOL ZURICH and the lowest value is CODE BERN with
TSOL ZURICH, with a value of 0.998 and 0.981.
Collector power output - Annual
3,000
2,500
2,000
kW
1,500
1,000
500
0
jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
Month
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
Fig. 12: Collector power output grouped by month
Table 11: Correlation table collector power output grouped by month
Annual Collector power output
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
TSOL BERN 1
CODE BERN 0.983 1
TSOL ZURICH 0.998 0.981 1
CODE ZURICH 0.994 0.994 0.995 1
1.1.4 TEMPERATURE OUT COLLECTOR
Fig. 13, Fig. 14 and Fig. 15 show temperature out collector, grouped by hour, of a day in summer,
winter and in spring, respectively. All the cases follow a similar curve. In summer and spring,
CODE BERN has high values for hours 1 to 13. Also in summer and spring, between 17 and 19
hours, there is a peak for TSOL BERN and TSOL ZURICH. In winter, it can be observed that
TSOL ZURICH differs from CODE ZURICH in each hour.
Table 12, Table 13 and Table 14 show the correlation coefficient for temperature out collector
during the period. The worst correlations can be found in winter. The lowest value is 0.920 for
CODE BERN and TSOL ZURICH.
Temperature out collector - Hour of Day, Summer
60
50
40
ºC
30
20
10
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Hour of Day
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
Fig. 13: Temperature out collector grouped by hour of day in summer
Table 12: Correlation table temperature out collector grouped by hour of day in summer
Summer hourly Temperature out collector
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
TSOL BERN 1
CODE BERN 0.962 1
TSOL ZURICH 0.996 0.949 1
CODE ZURICH 0.970 0.998 0.958 1
Collector power - Hour of Day, Winter
16.00
14.00
12.00
10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
Fig. 14: Temperature out collector grouped by hour of day in winter
Table 13: Correlation table temperature out collector grouped by hour of day in winter
Winter hourly Temperature out collector
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
TSOL BERN 1
CODE BERN 0.927 1
TSOL ZURICH 0.993 0.920 1
CODE ZURICH 0.951 0.994 0.940 1
Temperature out collector - Hour of Day, Spring
60
50
40
ºC
30
20
10
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Hour of Day
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
Fig. 15: Temperature out collector grouped by hour of day in spring
Table 14: Correlation table temperature out collector grouped by hour of day in spring
Spring hourly Temperature out collector
TSOL BERN CODE BERN TSOL ZURICH CODE ZURICH
TSOL BERN 1
CODE BERN 0.932 1
TSOL ZURICH 0.999 0.931 1
CODE ZURICH 0.956 0.995 0.954 1
Why or why not the CODE is appropriate for solar air-drying applications? TO DO