Optimum sizing of residential active solar water heating systems for Libyan families

Abstract EN

This paper investigates the optimum sizing of active solar water heaters for residential sector in Libya according to family size, typical weather condition and typical operating condition.

an active solar water heating system model built in TRNSYS was used to evaluate the thermal performance of the system, while the optimization process was accomplished using genetic algorithm technique.

nine design parameters were chosen for the optimization, and their search space of the problem under investigation was defined.

three Libyan family sizes were suggested for the investigation for optimum solar water heaters ; 4, 6, and 8 people.

the parito optimal front of the cost function for the three cases was plotted as function of system’s solar fraction.

the design parameters of some feasible non-dominated solutions are presented in tables.

these results confirm the effectiveness of using the genetic algorithm technique for solar water heating system optimization.