NASWF Installing Solar Powered Water Heater to Save Energy

A new energy source will heat the Wings Club at Naval Air Station Whiting Field. As part of an energy conservation effort, the process of switching the hot water supply from the existing 2.1 mil Btu/hr rated natural gas powered steam boiler to the solar powered system began Jan. 15 and will be completed Jan. 29.

The instillation cost, internally funded from within the base, was $75,000. The new system, however, will pay for itself within six years since the predicted annual savings will amount to $13,000. It will not only be better for the environment, but it will save the base money over time.

The new boiler system, entirely powered by the sun, incorporates two different types of solar panels. Solar collector panels use energy from sunlight to heat water while solar voltaic panels convert the sun’s energy into electricity for the user to control the system and to pump the hot water throughout the system.

“There are a series of tubes that take UV rays from the sun and physically make the water hot,” Jay Baynes, Whiting Field Project Resources Engineer said. “The photovoltaic panels create the electricity to run the entire system and charge the battery.”

Sean Gardner, part owner and operator of Compass Solar Energy, went on to explain that the battery will hold a charge that can operate the system for three days without sunlight.

“The pipes are run on very low energy. They are run by a battery that is charged by the solar panels. If the sun is not out, it [the system] will run off the charged batteries.”

There are also two back-up sources to heat the water in the case of system failures or for winter heating. An electric run water heater was added into the system and the old steam boiler will remain as a second back-up.

“It does have an emergency back-up water heater run by electricity from the building. Ten percent of your annual power will be from back-up sources, such as winter heating,” Gardner added.

The instillation and utilization of this new system is a step in the direction of a greener base. If it proves itself to be successful over time, new water heating systems may appear in new buildings throughout the NAS Whiting Field. Baynes is already optimistic that solar heating may become base’s the future water heating source.

“We don’t currently have anything specific in mind,” he said. “But we have hot water demands for the Combined Bachelor Quarters and Aces Club that this system would be ideal for.”