A preliminary test of a flat-plate solar collector of hybrid solar water heater

This research is focused on the development of a low-cost solar water heater (SWH) system by utilizing solid waste material as part of system elements. Available technologies of the solar water heater systems, heat collectors and its components were reviewed and the best system combinations for low cost design were chosen. The passive-thermosiphon system have been chosen due to its simplicity and independency on external power as well as conventional pump. For the heat collector, flat plate type was identified as the most suitable collector for low cost design and suits with Malaysia climate. Detail study on the flat plate collector components found that the heat absorber is the main component that can significantly reduce the solar collector price if it is replaced with recycled solid waste material. Review on common solid wastes concluded that crushed glass is a non-metal material that has potential to either enhance or become the main heat absorber in solar collector. A collector prototype were then designed and fabricated based on crashed glass heat collector media. Thermal performance test were conducted for three configurations where configuration A (black painted aluminum absorber) used as benchmark, configuration B (crushed glass added partially) that use glass for improvement, and lastly configuration C (black colored crushed glass) that use colored glass as main absorber. Result for configuration B have shown a negative effect where the maximum collector efficiency is 26.8% lower than configuration A. Nevertheless, configuration C which use black crushed glass as main heat absorber shown a comparable maximum efficiency which is at 82.5% of the maximum efficiency for configuration A and furthermore have shown quite impressive increment of efficiency at the end of the experiment. Hence, black colored crushed glass is said to have quite a good potential as the heat absorber material and therefore turn out to be a new contender to other non-metal heat absorber such as plastic and rubber.

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Thermal Performance Enhancement in Flat Plate Solar Collector Solar Water Heater: A Review

Processes ◽

10.3390/pr8070756 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (7) ◽

pp. 756 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nurril Ikmal Shamsul Azha ◽

Hilmi Hussin ◽

Mohammad Shakir Nasif ◽

Tanweer Hussain

Keyword(s):

Heat Transfer ◽

Heat Transfer Enhancement ◽

Thermal Performance ◽

Solar Collector ◽

Performance Enhancement ◽

Solar Water Heater ◽

Transfer Enhancement ◽

Water Heater ◽

Solar Water ◽

Flat Plate Solar Collector

Various studies to improve the thermal performance of flat plate solar collector (FPSC) solar water heater have been conducted, and more are currently in progress. This study aims to review existing methods on thermal performance enhancement for FPSC and discuss on heat-transfer enhancement using vibration and its potential application for FPSC. Ten methods for improving thermal performance are identified, which include applications of nanofluids, absorber coatings, phase change materials (PCM), thermal performance enhancers, FPSC design modifications, polymer materials, heat loss reduction, mini and micro channel and heat-transfer enhancement using vibration. An examination of heat-transfer enhancement using vibration in low frequency ranges for an evacuated-tube solar collector (ETSC) solar water heater system showed that it can potentially achieve heat-transfer enhancement of up to 78%. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of research on the applications of heat-transfer enhancement using vibration on FPSC to date.

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96/00606 Some aspects of a PV/T collector/forced circulation flat plate solar water heater with solar cells

Fuel and Energy Abstracts ◽

10.1016/0140-6701(96)86760-9 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 37 (1) ◽

pp. 37

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Flat Plate ◽

Solar Water Heater ◽

Water Heater ◽

Forced Circulation ◽

Solar Water

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Performance Analysis and Optimization of Fresnel Lens Concentrated Solar Water Heater

Journal of Solar Energy Engineering ◽

10.1115/1.4041846 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 141 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Vinod Kumar Soni ◽

R. L. Shrivastava ◽

S. P. Untawale ◽

Kshitij Shrivastava

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Performance Analysis ◽

Flat Plate ◽

Mass Flow ◽

Critical Parameters ◽

Total System ◽

Outlet Temperature ◽

Solar Water Heater ◽

Water Heater ◽

Solar Water

Concentrated solar power (CSP) is a mature and efficient technology to cater the large-scale demand of hot water. Conventional reflectors/mirrors in CSP share 50% of total system cost. High installation as well as O&M cost is the major concern in reflector-based CSP. Apart from the above, manufacturing defects and adverse service environment cause premature degradation of reflectors and substantial drop in efficiency and service life. Performance analysis of an innovative optically concentrated solar water heater (OCSWH) using plurality of Fresnel lenses of poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) is presented in the work. Size and yield of any solar water heater (SWH) are mainly dependent on its aperture area, output temperature, and mass flow rate, which are termed herein as critical parameters. Series of experimentations is carried out by varying critical design and operating parameters viz. aperture area, outlet temperature, and rate of mass flow, and similar experimentation is also carried out on commercially available flat plate SWH to compare its performance. Loss of heat from riser and header pipes is restricted by application of effective insulation. Substantial improvement in collector efficiency, increase in rate of mass flow, and rise in discharge temperature with reference to flat plate collector are noted. Economics is also studied covering life cycle cost (LCC), life cycle saving (LCS), and energy payback period.

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Improved Model for Calculating Instantaneous Efficiency of Flat-Plate Solar Thermal Collector

Journal of Heat Transfer ◽

10.1115/1.4038827 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 140 (6) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Oussama Ibrahim ◽

Farouk Fardoun ◽

Rafic Younes ◽

Mohamad Ibrahim

Keyword(s):

Steady State ◽

Flat Plate ◽

Case Studies ◽

Solar Collector ◽

Heating System ◽

Solar Water Heating ◽

Solar Water ◽

Flat Plate Solar Collector ◽

Definition Of ◽

Solar Water Heating System

The performance of a flat-plate solar collector is usually assessed by its efficiency. This efficiency is normally defined on a steady-state basis, which makes it difficult to correctly track the instantaneous performance of the collector in various case-studies. Accordingly, this paper proposes an improved definition of instantaneous efficiency of a flat-plate solar collector used as a part of a solar water heating system. Using a predeveloped model by the authors for such a system, the proposed efficiency-definition is examined and compared with the conventional one for specific case studies. The results show that the improved definition of efficiency records reasonable values, i.e., no over-range values are observed contrast to the case of conventional efficiency-definition. Furthermore, this suggested efficiency approximately coincides with the conventional one at a wide range of time, as long as the system is operating in the so-called trans-steady-state phase or when the system is off-operational provided that the instantaneous rate of heat stored in the heat transfer fluid (HTF) is less than or equal to zero. As a result, the improved efficiency-definition yields more realistic results in reflecting the performance of a flat-plate collector in an active solar water heating system and is recommended to be used.

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