Title of Invention

SOLAR FLAT PLATE COLLECTOR

Abstract

A device (assembly) is useful for the use in the Solar flat plate collector for absorbing the solar energy for heating water is disclosed. The device is an assembly of absorber fin with horizontally inclined riser tube used to direct the water rise horizontally upward direction. By using this device (assembly) in the solar collector, the solar water heating system can be used with low head / height of cold water, It also makes possible the installation of solar water heating in the multistoried building especially for the flats having wall getting sunlight .The device can be used in the form of wall mounted / integrated solar collector. By using this device the solar system installation is possible almost all the cases in which sunlight is available. This invention of the device will increase the use of solar water heating system due to its unique feature due to which the complete height of the system has been reduced drastically.

Full Text

SOLAR FLAT PLATE COLLECTOR WITH HORIZONTAL Y - INCLINED RISER TUBES & ABSORBER FIN ASSEMBLY COMPLETE SPECIFICATIONS This invention relates to the improvement in the design of the riser tube & absorber fin assembly (heart of solar collector) of the solar flat plate collector which changes the direction of water rise & in turn reduces the installation height of the solar collector & the solar water heating system. The conventional (regular) Solar Flat Plate Collector is available with the absorber fin which is bonded centrally (along with its length ) with the riser tubes (12.5 mm ) which are normally is of 2 mtr. Or more in length. The Solar Collectors are also having header tubes (Upper & bottom) of higher size than the riser tube i. e. of 1" normally. The riser tubes are connected perpendicularly to the header pipes on equal distance. The regular Solar Flat Plate collectors are installed vertically inclined with a tilt angle* considering the latitude angle +-10 Deg of the site location ( as shown in the FIG. No 14 on the drawing sheet No. 11). The cold water inlet from the solar hot water storage tank is given to the bottom header of the collector & the hot water outlet is taken from the top header pipe which is parallel to the bottom header & both are connected with the riser tubes (normally 9/10 Nos.) welded (brazed) perpendicularly with the header pipes so that the water rises upward due to the thermo siphon effect (because of the temp, difference occurred due to the heat gain by the absorber from the sun rays ) The outlet from the top header has been taken out ( Diagonally opposite to cold water inlet or Centrally ) and connected to the Hot Water Storage Tank on its top side ( above the middle level ). But due to the length of the riser tubes, which are normally of 2 mtrs or more in length, the collector as well as the height of the Solar Hot water tank (Bottom) also goes up to 4 to 5 feet normally from the installation level (depending upon the latitude angle). The basic need of this kind of system is the supply of cold water has to be at the height of 5 to 6 feet above the installed ground/ terrace level, which is not available normally on all the sites. The problem of providing the cold water supply at the required height of 6-9 feet is fulfilled by installing an additional PVC tank of equivalent capacity or above of the system capacity on a fabricated stand of the required height of 6 - 9 feet,( depending on the system capacity ). But this increases the cost of installation & has the following disadvantages. 5 It increases the cost of cold-water tank, Piping Network, Hardware, Pump; labor Charges, which is almost 25% of the system cost! 6 It also disturbs the aesthetics of the bungalows / house. 7 Increases the use of plastic tanks ( Not Environment Friendly ), as most of the people prefers to go for PVC tanks due to the cost factor which is cheaper as compare to the cost of the other material tanks for the storage of cold water. The overhead tanks ( UV resistive plastic ) are also available in two colors only ( Black & Blue ). 8 Installation of PVC tank on the top of the house looks ugly and hence most of architects reject the solar system in interest of saving the aesthetic. Hence even the house owners having the financial capacity to install the solar system do not go for solar water heating system. There is many more options ( but at some extra cost) to overcome the same problem by providing the pressurized supply of cold water (which also increases the Hot Water Tank cost due to its pressure vessel construction as well as hydro pneumatic system cost) or constructing a RCC tank at the time of construction of house only. But the fact is that the height of the solar system (present natural circulation / thermo siphon systems) can not be brought down by these kind of exercise and it adds to the cost of the complete projects which is presently the hurdle to promote the solar water heating applications in domestic sector i.e. especially in the bungalows/houses where water supply is not available on the required height necessary for the conventional solar water heating system & this is due to the length of riser tube and its vertical construction . There is also one another problem that due to the projected length of the conventional collector that cannot be installed outside the wall due the cost of heavy fabrication required for supporting the collector. It also cast longer vertical shadow below the collector due to which in multistoried building the flat owner below the flat which has solar system on the south wall can not installed the solar system due to the shadow. These problems are overcome by the present invention, which provides a better "absorber fin & riser tube assembly" design which allows the solar collector to install horizontally (along with the length) which reduces the total system height by 30 to 40% approx.& also makes possible the solar system installation in the multistoried/ high rise buildings by installing the collector on the south, east or west wall of the building considering the maximum gain of the sunlight available considering the travel of the sun during Uttarayan & Dakshinayan period of the year. This also reduces the use of PVC Cold water tank, which also damages the aesthetics of the house, bungalow or building. By using one form of the invention we shall be able to eliminate (or remove) the hurdle in solar water heating system installation in the multistoried building i. e. on any floor without using the terrace area & hence reduces the high plumbing cost as far as this case is concern. The individuals can install the solar system on their above-mentioned (south south-east, south-west or west walls) without taking the society permission, which was very essential in case of common terrace installation as the property belongs to the society The horizontal riser tube with an angle of inclination welded diagonally with the individual absorber sheet (as shown in the FIG 1 of drawing sheet no. 1) has been used in the invention of Horizontal Solar Flat Plate Collector with Horizontally inclined riser tubes & absorber fin assemblies as shown in the FIG 8 of drawing Sheet No 5. The inlet of cold water supply from the Hot water storage tank has been given from the point 7 & the hot water outlet from the collector has been taken from the point No. 5 of the FIG. 8 of drawing sheet No.5. The principal used in constructing Horizontal Solar Flat Plate Collector is the phenomena of liquid (water or any other) due to which it tends to go up due to temp / density difference (As the temp, of any liquid increases the density decreases which means it becomes lighter than the cold liquid). This is irrespective of the direction (excluding downwards) .In short the liquid can travel in any upward direction. In other words the water heated in the riser tube can travel to the left or right if there is any upward inclination is available which means if the inclined path is available in any direction (except downwards) the liquid can travels by that path. On the basis of this, the inclined path has been given to the riser tubes towards the hot water header pipe (which also acts as a riser tube in this case) which is on the opposite side of the cold water header pipe & in upward direction .In conventional Solar Flat plate Collector the riser tubes are vertical & the header tubes are horizontal. The water rises upward till the header tube & 2- then it turns in 90 Deg. in the header pipe, which is connected to the upper side of the hot water storage tank. Normally the inlet cold water supply & hot water outlet is kept diagonally apposite to each other. In the present invention the riser tubes has been connected horizontally with an inclination angle ( as shown in draw. No. 2 ) In this collector the header pipes are placed vertically ( both cold water as well as Hot water outlet ) & the hot water outlet header acts as a riser tube only. This design reduces the height of the collector & in turn reduces the height of the total solar system almost by 30 - 50 % approximately. We can further reduce the height of the collector by increasing the lengths of the riser tubes to a certain extend. Hence when the solar ray falls on the absorber sheet the heat is transmitted to the water available in the riser tubes and once the water starts getting heated up it goes up in the direction of point no. 5 as shown in the FIG No. 10 of drawing sheet No.7. The angular shape of the tube can be a straight line (FIG.1) or an arc having the rising curvature towards the hot water outlet point No. 4 of FIG. No.4 & 5 of drawing sheet no 3. The straight-lined inclination is adopted from the production point of view. The inclination can be from right to left or left to right as shown in the FIG. No.2 & FIG. No. 3 respectively as shown in drawing sheet no. 2. To assist with the understanding the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which shows some examples of the invention. FIG. 1, FIG. 2 & FIG. 3 shows example of the " horizontally inclined riser tube & absorber fin assembly" according to this invention. FIG. 4 & FIG. 5 shows the horizontal fin tube assembly with the curvature riser tubes instead of the straight inclined riser tube. FIG. 6 & FIG. 7 shows one example of the Solar Flat Plate collector for water heating with single " horizontally inclined riser tube & absorber fin assembly". FIG. 8 shows the application of no. of " horizontally inclined riser tube & absorber fin assemblies with the individual absorber sheets." in a single solar collector. FIG. 9 shows the application of no. of " horizontally inclined riser tube & absorber fin assembly with the no. of riser tubes with single common absorber sheet." in a single solar collector. FIG. 10 shows the application of solar water heating system with Flat Plate solar collector with " horizontally inclined riser tubes & individual absorber fin assemblies". FIG. 11 shows one of the applications of invention for solar water heating system installation in the multistoried building. FIG. 12. Shows the application of the invention in the wall integrated or wall mounted solar collector for water heating purpose. FIG. 13 shows one another application of the invention in the solar collector having parallel riser tubes & individual or single common absorber sheet after inclining with an angle as per the invention. 3 FIG. 14 shows the convention solar water heating system & FIG. 15 shows the solar system with horizontal collector as per the invention. Detailed description of the preferred embodiments In one form of the invention the single absorber fin & one inclined riser tube assembly has been used. (FIG. 6 & 7 of the drawing sheet no.4). The riser tube has been welded/ brazed mechanically or chemically joined with the absorber fin in such a way that there will be little angle for traveling for water from the cold inlet point no. 3 to the hot water outlet point 4 which are at the lower & higher point respectively (diagonally opposite). If we consider the same size of the absorber fin (thickness, width & length) as used in the conventional flat plate collector. The whole assembly is fitted in the insulated box having insulation material at the bottom & side from inside. There will be a aluminum reflective foil which will be placed between the assembly & the insulation for reflecting the lost solar rays from the absorber. The box will be covered with the toughened glass of suitable thickness on the absorber assembly as shown in the drawing. This collector can be installed on the south, east or west side wall of the building or any direction in between these directions with the tilt angle* considering the latitude angle of the location of installation. In another form of invention the horizontally inclined riser tube & absorber fin assemblies has been joined with the header pipes of higher diameter as shown in the FIG No. 8 of drawing sheet no. 5. In this case the collector is same like the conventional flat plate collector as far as the outer body is concern. This will be the most useful form of invention by which we can install the solar collector horizontally & the hot water header pipe also acts like a riser tube. If the width is reduced & length is increased to match the 2 sq. meter area, the height can be further reduced. Due to which the solar system then only require the cold water inlet at a height of 2 to 3 Vi ft (as shown in the FIG. No. 15 of drawing sheet no. 11), which is normally available almost all the places where overhead tank is available on the terrace. This also allows the collector installation outside on the south, east or west-facing wall with the help of small brackets (at negligible cost difference). This makes solar system installation possible in the multistoried/ high-rise buildings as shown in the FIG. No. 11 of Drawing Sheet no.8. This will require little modification in the tank construction so that the tank can withstand the pipeline water pressure, which is normally between 2.5 to 3.5 kg/ sq cm. The solar collector shall be with the risers tubes with individual absorber fin as shown in fig .8 of drawing sheet no.5 or there can be a single absorber for all the riser tube as shown in the 1TG No. 9 of drawing sheet No. 6. As the header tube is acting as a riser tube the absorber fin can be incorporated with it to gain the maximum Heat from the sunlight. In all the above cases of the invention the riser tubes can be fitted on the front side of the absorber sheet or on the backside. If the riser tubes are on the front of the absorber sheet it should be coated with suitable heat absorbent paint or chemical coating. But the back side is preferred as the tube will in contact with the insulation slab and heat loss can be reduced to some extend. There is one more form of the invention in which the collector body shall be the wall of the building which is facing south, east or west or facing any other direction in between these directions as shown in the FIG. No. 12 of drawing sheet No. 9. In this case the collector body is the wall of the building or we can call it the building integrated collector in which the no. of horizontally inclined riser tube & absorber fin assemblies are installed 4 horizontally with the vertical spacing for the shadow casting due to the sun rays angle , as per the location. The spacing between the two assemblies is as per the design criteria considered for heat collection from the sunlight throughout the year (i.e. winter max design or designed to gain averagely max. energy through out the year). There will be a common header pipes connected to the riser tubes on the both ends of the riser tubes. The both ends of the riser tubes can be bend for the easiness of the welding & stronger joints with the header pipes. There is one more form of the invention in which the no. Of riser tubes can be with the single or individual absorber sheet and all the riser tubes are connected to the header pipes as shown in the FIG. No. 13 of drawing sheet No. 10. In this case the riser tubes can be parallel to each other and complete assembly is enclosed in the collector body, but the complete assembly can be kept inclined to direct the flow horizontally upward direction. Please note that the collector tilt angle means the angle between the collector body & the horizontal level. The tilt angle is decided as per the latitude of the location of the installation site. The horizontal inclination is the angle between the riser tube/ riser tubes assembly & the horizontal after installation of the collector horizontally along its length. The design of solar absorber of present invention allows the use of south wall, south -east wall, south - west wall, or all (except the North side) with +- azimuth angle variation & installation on any building is quite possible by calculating the suitable size of collector absorber area. By the use of the invention the solar system can be installed in the multistoried building for individual use without increasing the piping cost. Due to the use of the invention in the conventional solar collector the total cost of the solar system can brought down due to its low cold-water head requirement because of the total height of the collector. Note: * The Collector Tilt Angle: The angle between the collector body & the horizontal surface . # The horizontal inclination angle: The angle between the riser tube inclination & the horizontal surface. 5 Statement of claim I claim, 1. Solar absorber comprising of an "inclined riser tube & absorber fin assembly" being adopted & placed horizontally to direct the flow of water in horizontally upward direction instead of vertically upward direction to reduce the height of the solar collector in turns reducing the total height of the solar system which works on thermosyphon principal. The inclination to the riser tube can be of curvature in nature also or in straight line. The straight line is adopted from the production point of view. There can be one or more than one tubes with each of the absorber sheet. 2. Solar flat plate collector comprising device 1 wherein the single "inclined riser tube & absorber fin assembly" has been used. The inlet cold water can be given from the lower end of the riser tube & hot water outlet to be taken from the other end of the riser tube. The assembly is then fitted into a box having back & side insulation of suitable thickness of rockwool / mineral wool. The complete body to install horizontally on the wall or on the roof with the collector tilt angle as per the latitude. There will be a glass cover for the top cover from where the sunlight enters into the collector box. 3. The Solar Flat plate collector comprising device 1 wherein the no. of "inclined riser tube & absorber fin assemblies" are of 9 / 10 nos. or any no. & connected in parallel to each other by the two header pipes on the both the end of the assembly for cold water inlet & hot water outlet. The cold-water inlet header is connected to the lower ends of the riser tubes & hot water outlet header pipe is connected to opposite ends of the riser tubes. Hence the hot water header is also acts like the riser only. The header pipes can be with the fins or without the fins of black or other heat absorbent coating to gain the maximum solar energy. The collector is with the top cover of toughened glass of suitable thickness. 4. The Solar Flat plate collector comprising device 1 wherein the "no. of inclined riser tubes with single common absorber fin assembly" is used. There are 9 / 10 no of inclined tubes, or any no., connected in parallel to each other by the two header pipes on the both the end of the assembly for cold water inlet & hot water outlet. The cold-water inlet header is connected to the lower ends of the riser tubes & hot water outlet header pipe is connected to opposite ends of the riser tubes. Hence the hot water header is also acts like the riser only. The header pipes can be with the fins or without the fins of black or other heat absorbent coating to gain the maximum solar energy. In this the single common absorber is used for all the riser tubes. The collector is with the top cover of toughened glass of suitable thickness. 5. The solar Hat plate collector comprising "inclined riser tube & absorber fin assembly" has been used for wall integrated collector on the south, east, west, south - east, south -west or any other vertical or inclined wall where sunlight is falling during the daytime. In this wall integrated collector the "inclined riser tube & absorber fin assemblies" has been installed in parallel with a vertical gap between two assemblies for the shadow casting due to the angular sunrays. The "inclined riser tube & absorber fin assemblies" are tilted with- atilt angle for the maximum gain of heat depending on the location instead of the collector tilt. The collector body of this collector is the wall (of any material) itself. There 6 will be a glass cover to prevent the heat dissipation from the front of the collector ( as in the other form from where the sunlight enters. The insulation is provided at the back & sides of the collector. 6. The solar flat plate collector device wherein the riser tube & absorber fin assemblies are connected parallel to each other with a specific gap or without any gap to the header pipes i.e. the riser tube is welded at the centre line of the each individual absorber fin or there can be a common absorber for all the tubes for the whole assembly. But the complete assembly is installed horizontally by inclining the complete collector from one side to a given angle to move the water upward. In this case the hot water header is also acting like the riser tube. 7. The solar flat plate collector of any one claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 wherein the collector body is made of FRP / Plastic / MS / SS / Extruded aluminum or any other suitable material of any suitable thickness. 8. The solar flat plate collector / absorber assembly of any one claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 wherein the fin tube assembly made of copper -copper, copper - aluminum or aluminum - aluminum or of any other material or combination of material of any suitable thickness. 9. The solar flat plate collector absorber of any one claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 wherein the fin coating is of paint / Hitex paint / selective coating or any other coating of black colour or any other colours. 10. The solar flat plate collector of any one claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 wherein the fin & tube joint is done by brazing / welding / ultrasonic welding / laser welding / mechanical jointing / chemical jointing or any other suitable method of joining two parts of same metal or different metals. 11. The solar flat plate collector absorber of any one claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 wherein the collector insulation ( Back & side ) is of Rockwood / Glass wool / PUF or any other insulation material of suitable thickness available. 12. The solar flat plate collector of any one claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 wherein the inclination of riser tube is of straight line or with a curvature line in upward direction from left to right or right to left of any suitable size and thickness. 13. The solar flat plate collector of any one claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 wherein the collector front cover is of tempered / toughened glass /polymer material / plastic or any suitable material of suitable thickness having good transitivity . 14. The solar flat plate collector of any one claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 wherein the collector back sheet is of aluminum / plastic or any other suitable material to hold the insulation at the high temp. 15. The solar flat plate collector of any one claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 wherein the collector is with reflective foil of aluminum / plastic or any other suitable material, to reflect the lost sunrays from the absorber area or without the reflective foil. 7 16. The solar flat plate collector of any one claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 wherein the collector absorber fin surface of plain sheet or serrated to reduce the reflectivity of any shape and size. 17. The solar absorber of the flat plate collector of any one claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 wherein the raiser tube length of l mtr to 6mtr for the better thermos phone or of any length with no. of hot water outlet points. 18. The solar flat plate collector of any one claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 wherein the collector / absorber fin. tube angle can be from 1 Deg. To 89 Deg ( left to right ) or. 91 Deg to 189Deg ( right to left ). The center point of the angle is considered from the point og cold water in of the riser tube/ tube. However the angle is to be kept between 5 to 10 degrees to get the advantage of reduction in total collector / system height which is due to increase in length riser tube due to which the path of the water travel is changed. 19. A solar absorber fin tube assembly & solar flat plate collector device substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 26th day of Sept.2005 Name of Applicant: WAWGE PRABHAKAR CHANGDEO ABSTRACT A device (assembly) is useful for the use in the Solar flat plate collector for absorbing the solar energy for heating water is disclosed. The device is an assembly of absorber fin with horizontally inclined riser tube used to direct the water rise horizontally upward direction. By using this device (assembly) in the solar collector, the solar water heating system can be used with low head / height of cold water, It also makes possible the installation of solar water heating in the multistoried building especially for the flats having wall getting sunlight .The device can be used in the form of wall mounted / integrated solar collector. By using this device the solar system installation is possible almost all the cases in which sunlight is available. This invention of the device will increase the use of solar water heating system due to its unique feature due to which the complete height of the system has been reduced drastically. 9

Documents:

1183-mum-2005-abstract (complete).doc

1183-mum-2005-abstract (complete).pdf

1183-mum-2005-abstract(15-03-2007).pdf

1183-mum-2005-abstract-(15-3-2007).doc

1183-mum-2005-cancelled pages(15-03-2007).pdf

1183-mum-2005-claims (complete).doc

1183-mum-2005-claims (complete).pdf

1183-mum-2005-claims(granted)-(15-03-2007).pdf

1183-mum-2005-claims(granted)-(15-3-2007).doc

1183-mum-2005-correspondence(14-03-2007).pdf

1183-mum-2005-correspondence(ipo)-(30-01-2008).pdf

1183-mum-2005-correspondence-received-ver-03032006.pdf

1183-mum-2005-correspondence-received-ver-26092005.pdf

1183-mum-2005-correspondence-send.pdf

1183-mum-2005-description (complete).pdf

1183-mum-2005-description (provisional).pdf

1183-mum-2005-drawings(15-03-2007).pdf

1183-mum-2005-drawings.pdf

1183-mum-2005-form 1(26-09-2005).pdf

1183-mum-2005-form 18(04-10-2006).pdf

1183-mum-2005-form 2(granted)-(15-03-2007).pdf

1183-mum-2005-form 2(granted)-(15-3-2007).doc

1183-mum-2005-form 3(26-09-2005).pdf

1183-mum-2005-form 5(21-09-2005).pdf

1183-mum-2005-form 9(03-03-2006).pdf

1183-mum-2005-form-1.pdf

1183-mum-2005-form-18.pdf

1183-mum-2005-form-2 (complete).doc

1183-mum-2005-form-2 (complete).pdf

1183-mum-2005-form-2 (provisional).doc

1183-mum-2005-form-2 (provisional).pdf

1183-mum-2005-form-3.pdf

1183-mum-2005-form-5.pdf

1183-mum-2005-form-9.pdf

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