This document discusses solar ponds, which use salinity gradients to passively collect and store solar energy. There are three main layers in a salinity gradient solar pond: an upper convective zone, a lower convective zone, and a non-convective middle layer that insulates the lower layer. Heat is collected in the lower layer and can be used for applications like heating buildings, generating power, and desalination. Examples of existing solar ponds are given from Texas, Palestine, and India. Advantages include low cost thermal storage and ability to use diffuse radiation, while large land area and cleaning requirements are disadvantages.

1. Presented by
Yasser Abidnoor Jabar
2018

2. OUTLINE
1. INTRODUCTION
2. WHAT is THE SOLAR POND ?
WORKING PRINCIPLES
3. TYPES of SOLAR PONDS
1. NON-CONVECTING SOLAR POND
2. CONVECTING SOLAR POND
4. APPLICATIONS
5. EXAMPLES of SOLAR PONDS
6. ADVANTAGES and DISADVANTAGES of THE SOLAR
PONDS
7. REFERENCES

3. 1. INTRODUCTION
 The sun is the main source of energy.
 It mainly consists of the Hydrogen
isotopes.
 The energy is produced due to the nuclear
fusion of Tritium and Deuterium.

4. 2. WHAT IS THE SOLAR POND ?
 Solar ponds represent one of the simplest
methods for directly collecting solar
irradiation and converting it to thermal
energy.
 The main type of solar ponds is the Salinity
Gradient Solar Pond (SGSP).
 The principle of (SGSP) is divided to
THREE layers (zones). They have different
salt concentration.

5.  The middle zone has gradient salinity. Which prevents
vertical convection and evaporation.
Figure 1: Simplified scheme of a salt-gradient Solar Pond.

6. 2.1 WORKING PRINCIPLE
 Normally the hot water rises up and the cold stays
below due to the convection. But in the solar pond
the middle zone prevents this movement.
 The convection currents occur only within the upper
and the lower zones separately but not within the
middle zone.
 Hence the heat will be accumulated in the LCZ.
From which the heat can be supplied.

7. 3. TYPES OF SOLAR PONDS
There are two general types of solar ponds.
1. NON-CONVECTING SOLAR PONDS.
2. CONVECTING SOLAR PONDS.
Figure 3: A diagram shows the different classifications and types of solar ponds.

8. 4. APPLICATIONS
They applications of the solar ponds are:
1. Heating and Cooling of Buildings.
2. Generating of Power.
3. Desalination by Distillation.
4. Refrigeration.

9. 5. EXAMPLES of SOLAR PONDS
El Paso Solar Pond, Texas
It was a research project of the University of Texas and
was running for several years. It has a surface of 3,000
m2 and is 3.2 m deep.
Figure 4: El Paso Solar Pond.

10. Beith Ha’Avara Solar Pond, Palestine
It is located in the West Bank in Palestine. Was the
largest solar pond ever built. Its area was first
estimated 1,000,000 m2 where an irradiation of
1850 kW/ m2 per year was assumed.
Bhuj Solar Pond, India
The solar pond in Bhuj has a surface of 6,000m2
and heats up to about 70oC. It is 3m deep, and
supplies the gained heat to a factory.

11. 6. ADVANTAGES and DISADVANTAGES
 Low investment costs per installed collection area.
 Thermal storage is incorporated into the collector
and it is of very low cost.
 Diffuse radiation (cloudy days) is fully used.
 Very large surface area is needed, thus large scale
energy generation is possible.
 Expensive cleaning of large collector surfaces in
dusty areas is required.

12. 7. REFERENCES
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Dissertation, University of Gävle, pp. 1.
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Passive Design”, 2nd edn. London : Hemisphere, pp. 284.
 [3] H. P. Garg (2000), "Solar Energy: fundamentals and applications”, pp. 94.
 [4] Ibrahim Alenezi (2012), " Salinity Gradient Solar Ponds: Theoretical
Modelling and Integration with Desalination", PH. Thesis, University of
Surrey.
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processes”, 3rd edn..
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Energy Engineering, Vol. 123, Issue 3, pp. 178.
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“The History of Solar Pond Science & Technology”, Proceedings of the
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The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi, India.
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