Performance enhancement of phase change materials as thermal energy storage for domestic solar water heating applications

Abstract

Solar heating is a cost-effective technology for providing renewable heat. This technology has shown rapid growth globally in recent years. A general review of the statistics of the amount of energy produced in the world in 2017 reported by IEA (2019) in which the solar thermal and electrical systems (i.e. by solar thermal collectors photovoltaic panel, respectively) produce less than 2% of the total energy in the world. Although this ratio in recent years has reached about 4%, the full potential of this technology is yet to be unleashed.