PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF SOLAR COLLECTORS USING A SOLAR SIMULATOR

Evaluation of solar-chimney power plants with multiple-angle collectors

Solar chimney power plants are plants based on solar thermal power including three parts of collector, chimney and turbine, which is able to produce electrical energy. One of the effective parameters in increasing the power production is the collector angles versus horizon. In the present study, a numerical analysis of a solar chimney power plant for different angles of the collector (divergent...

Experimental Investigation of the Thermal Performance of Vacuum Tube Solar Collectors (VTSC) Using Alumina Nanofluids

The enhancement of the thermal performance of Vacuum Tube Solar Collectors (VTSC) was studied by using alumina nanofluid as working fluid. VTSC is a simple and commonly utilized type of collector. This study established the heat transfer experimental model of all glass VTSCs used in a forced-circulation solar water heating system using alumina nanofluid as base fluid. Al2O3 (with an average par...

Low Temperature Solar Collectors

Evaluation of Surface Slope Irregularity in Linear Parabolic Solar Collectors

The paper describes amethodology, very simple in its application, for measuring surface irregularities of linear parabolic collectors. This technique was principally developed to be applied in cases where it is difficult to use cumbersome instruments and to facilitate logistic management. The instruments to be employed are a digital camera and a grating. If the reflector surface is defective, t...

Experimental investigation on performance comparison of nanofluid-based direct absorption and flat plate solar collectors

In the present work, a prototype of a new type of solar collectors, which called Direct Absorption Solar Collector, was built and its thermal performance is experimentally compared with conventional flat plate solar collector under transient and steady state conditions. Different volume fractions of multi wall carbon nanotubes in water and ethylene glycol mixture (70%:30% in volume) were used a...