The Characteristics of Solar Thermal Collector and Storage System Including Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage in South Korea
Abstract
A renewable hybrid energy system using seasonal thermal energy storage (STES) has been recently constructed in Jincheon, South Korea. The eco-friendly energy town was proposed and constructed in Jincheon to supply the heat from the solar thermal system and new and renewable hybrid energy systems with seasonal thermal energy storage (STES) to six buildings contained in town. In this research, the thermal behavior of the series connected solar thermal systems, which are flat-plate solar collectors and evacuated tube solar collectors, and the STES have been investigated. During the 21 days of trial operation period in January 2017, the ambient air conditions, irradiation, useful thermal energy gain, and internal thermal energy variation in STES were estimated by using measuring data. It was found that the efficiencies of solar thermal systems were 2.4 to 25.4%, and that of the STES were 90%, during the whole test period.