Economical and technical viability of a thermosyphon solar water heater in Côte d'Ivoire

We propose a comparative study between solar water heater energy and classical sources of domestic hot water production. This study shows that Solar Water Heater (SWH) could be more competitive if the purchase price was reduced. In order to strengthen local technical capacity, to accelerate dissemination and insure appropriation of SWH technology as well as to stimulate acceptance of other solar technologies in Côte d'Ivoire, we propose an innovated design of a thermosyphon solar water heater, using available local materials in order to reduce cost. A prototype of the study SWH has been built and tested experimentally. The results show that the system is suitable for application in Côte d'Ivoire weather conditions. All those performances, combined with manufacturing simplicity and the absence of moving parts, make the system an interesting technological solution. The results can then be used for the dissemination of the system. The economic study confirms the viability and the real potential market of the locally manufactured SWH. The purchase cost is 2.0 times lower than the imported ones. © 2007 Asian Network for Scientific Information.