Date of Award

6-10-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Santa Clara : Santa Clara University, 2020.

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Hohyun Lee

Abstract

Sunny-Side Solutions is a solar water heating and shower system designed for Naretu Academy in Narok, Kenya, to provide the academy's teachers a simple, reliable, and frugal method of receiving hot water for daily showers. After thorough research and testing, the final system's main components are ½ diameter, 54.9 m long irrigation piping solar collector, a 100 L insulated hot water tank, and a 67 W circulation pump. These components ensure that all water that enters the system will be able to achieve a final temperature of 38 °C and maintain this temperature until the teachers shower and drain the hot water tank. With the solar collector optimally angled towards the sun, a final theoretical temperature of 43.1 °C was reached, equating to a temperature difference of 17.8 °C. Sunny-Side Solutions' solar system is not only more time efficient for the teachers, as does not require constant watch like boiling water does, but it also saves Sabore's Well 57.6 % compared to Kenya's leading market solar solution. A hot water shower serves as a form of appreciation for all the hard work the teachers put in to supporting the Maasai community and its children's education. In order to further optimize and test the Sunny-Side Solutions solar system at Naretu Academy, an instruction manual, visually outlining how to build the solar collector, and informational pamphlet, containing materials, substitutes, and suggestions to simplify the building process, was sent to Sabore's Well.

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