Application of the Thermal Solar Energy in the Primary Circuit of Hot Water of the Four Palms Hotel

A proposal is made in the sanitary hot water system in a hotel installation consisting in the change of the black steel pipe system by high density polypropylene pipes in the primary circuit of the system. A field of vacuum tube solar collectors is sized to work in replacement of the heat recovery system of the water chiller. An economic and environmental analysis of the proposal is made. With the installation of the solar collectors, the hotel will deduct 27,545 liters (15,425 kg) of liquid gas propane (LPG) from its annual consumption, equivalent to 51,728 USD, avoiding the emission of 104,583 kg of CO2eq into the environment. The simple recovery time of the investment will be 5.88 years. The results obtained demonstrate the feasibility of using solar thermal energy in the heating of sanitary water due to the decrease in the consumption of liquefied petroleum gas and, therefore, the environmental damage is reduced when greenhouse gases are no longer emitted.