Experimental Daily Energy Performance of Flat Plate and Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors

Author(s):  
Enrico Zambolin ◽  
Davide Del Col ◽  
Andrea Padovan

New comparative tests on different types of solar collectors are presented in this paper. Tests have been performed at the solar energy conversion laboratory of the University of Padova. Two standard glazed flat plate collectors and one evacuated tube collector are installed in parallel; the evacuated collector is a direct flow through type with external CPC (compound parabolic concentrator) reflectors. The present test rig allows to make measurements on the flat plate, on the evacuated collector or on both simultaneously, by simply acting on the valves to modify the circuit. In this paper measurements of the performance of the evacuated tube collector and flat plate collectors working at the same conditions are reported. Efficiency in stationary conditions is measured following the standard EN 12975-2 [1] and it is compared with the input/output curves measured for an entire day. The main purpose of the present work is to characterize and to compare the daily energy performance of the two types of collectors. An effective mean for describing and analyzing the daily performance is the so called input/output diagram, in which the collected solar energy is plotted against the daily incident solar radiation. Test runs have been performed in several conditions to reproduce different conventional uses (hot water, space heating, solar cooling).

Author(s):  
Andy Walker ◽  
Fariborz Mahjouri ◽  
Robert Stiteler

This paper describes design, simulation, construction and measured initial performance of a solar water heating system (360 Evacuated Heat-Pipe Collector tubes, 54 m2 gross area, 36 m2 net absorber area) installed at the top of the hot water recirculation loop in the Social Security Mid-Atlantic Center in Philadelphia. Water returning to the hot water storage tank is heated by the solar array when solar energy is available. This new approach, as opposed to the more conventional approach of preheating incoming water, is made possible by the thermal diode effect of heat pipes and low heat loss from evacuated tube solar collectors. The simplicity of this approach and its low installation costs makes the deployment of solar energy in existing commercial buildings more attractive, especially where the roof is far removed from the water heating system, which is often in the basement. Initial observed performance of the system is reported. Hourly simulation estimates annual energy delivery of 111 GJ/year of solar heat and that the annual efficiency (based on the 54 m2 gross area) of the solar collectors is 41%, and that of the entire system including parasitic pump power, heat loss due to freeze protection, and heat loss from connecting piping is 34%. Annual average collector efficiency based on a net aperture area of 36 m2 is 61.5% according to the hourly simulation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamyar Tanha

This thesis is focused on the performance of the two SDHW systems of the sustainable Archetype houses in Vaughan, Ontario with daily hot water consumption of 225 litres. The first system consists of a flat plate solar thermal collector in conjunction with a gas boiler and a DWHR. The second SDHW system consists of an evacuated tube collector, an electric tank and a DWHR. The experimental results showed that the DWHRs were capable of an annual heat recovery of 789 kWh. The flat plate and evacuated tube collectors had an annual thermal energy output of 2038 kWh and 1383 kWh. The systems were also modeled in TRNSYS and validated with the experimental results. The simulated results showed that Edmonton has the highest annual energy consumption of 3763.4 kWh and 2852.9 kWh by gas boiler and electric tank and that the solar thermal collectors and DWHRs are most beneficial in Edmonton.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1829 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Olczak ◽  
Dominika Matuszewska ◽  
Jadwiga Zabagło

In Poland, various solar collector systems are used; among them, the most popular are flat plate collectors (FPCs) and evacuated tube collectors (ETCs). The work presents two installations located at a distance of 80 km apart, working in similar external conditions. One of them contains 120 flat plate collectors and works for the preparation of hot water in a swimming pool building; the second one consists of 32 evacuated tube collectors with a heat pipe and supports the preparation of domestic hot water for a multi-family house. During the comparison of the two quite large solar installations, it was confirmed that the use of evacuated tube solar collectors shows a much better solar energy productivity than flat plate collectors for the absorber area. Higher heat solar gains (by 7.9%) were also observed in the case of the gross collector area. The advantages of evacuated tube collectors are observed mainly during colder periods, which allows for a steadier thermal energy production.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. P. Koronaki ◽  
E. G. Papoutsis ◽  
M. T. Nitsas

Solar cooling systems offer a reliable and environmentally friendly alternative to conventional electrically driven vapor compression cooling units. Air conditioning systems powered by solar energy are very attractive because they have zero ozone depletion and global warming potential, their operational cost is low and they do not burden the electrical network during summer months. In this study, the installation of a solar cooling system in various Greek cities is examined. The system utilizes a single-stage, two-bed silica gel-water adsorption chiller driven by heat produced by solar collectors. A lumped parameter model is used to simulate the performance of the adsorption chiller. The optimum tilt of the solar collectors is calculated for each examined city in order for the collected solar energy to be maximized during the summer period (April to September). The climatic data are taken from the technical notes of Greek Regulation for Buildings Energy Performance. Then, using the f-chart cooling method the necessary collectors’ surface area is estimated for every examined city and for different types of flat plate collectors (including advanced flat plate, simple flat plate and hybrid photovoltaic thermal collectors).


2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 1121-1133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annamaria Buonomano ◽  
Francesco Calise ◽  
Maria Vicidomini

In this paper a new simulation model of a novel solar heating and cooling system based on innovative high temperature flat plate evacuated solar thermal collector is presented. The system configuration includes: flat-plate evacuated solar collectors, a double-stage LiBr-H2O absorption chiller, gas-fired auxiliary heater, a closed loop cooling tower, pumps, heat exchangers, storage tanks, valves, mixers and controllers. The novelty of this study lies in the utilization of flat-plate stationary solar collectors, manufactured by TVP Solar, rather than concentrating ones (typically adopted for driving double-stage absorption chillers). Such devices show ultra-high thermal efficiencies, even at very high (about 200?C) operating temperatures, thanks to the high vacuum insulation. Aim of the paper is to analyse the energy and economic feasibility of such novel technology, by including it in a prototypal solar heating and cooling system. For this purpose, the solar heating and cooling system design and performance were analysed by means of a purposely developed dynamic simulation model, implemented in TRNSYS. A suitable case study is also presented. Here, the simulated plant is conceived for the space heating and cooling and the domestic hot water production of a small building, whose energy needs are fulfilled through a real installation (settled also for experimental purposes) built up close to Naples (South Italy). Simulation results show that the investigated system is able to reach high thermal efficiencies and very good energy performance. Finally, the economic analysis shows results comparable to those achieved through similar renewable energy systems.


1985 ◽  
Vol 107 (4) ◽  
pp. 277-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Collares-Pereira

A 1.5 × non-evacuated CPC type concentrator is described and tested. The results obtained can be summarized by F′ηo = 0.673 ± 0.001 and F′U = (2.64 ± 0.041) W/m2 ° C. The early average performance of the concentrator is calculated and compared with the performance of two other collector types at constant operating temperature: a selectively coated regular flat plate and an evacuated tube type collector. It is shown that the concentrator performs better than both the flat plate and the evacuated tube collector for constant operating temperatures for 35° C to 100° C in a climate like the one in Lisbon. The three collectors are also compared operating in two systems: (1) DHW in which they all deliver comparable yearly average amounts of energy, and (2) IPH at 95° C (process return temperature = 65° C) in which the flat plate delivers ∼30 percent less yearly energy on the average in comparison with the other two which behave very much in the same way. The 1.5 × low cost is discussed in comparison with the other two collector types, establishing the concentrator as an excellent choice for hot water heating applications.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamyar Tanha

This thesis is focused on the performance of the two SDHW systems of the sustainable Archetype houses in Vaughan, Ontario with daily hot water consumption of 225 litres. The first system consists of a flat plate solar thermal collector in conjunction with a gas boiler and a DWHR. The second SDHW system consists of an evacuated tube collector, an electric tank and a DWHR. The experimental results showed that the DWHRs were capable of an annual heat recovery of 789 kWh. The flat plate and evacuated tube collectors had an annual thermal energy output of 2038 kWh and 1383 kWh. The systems were also modeled in TRNSYS and validated with the experimental results. The simulated results showed that Edmonton has the highest annual energy consumption of 3763.4 kWh and 2852.9 kWh by gas boiler and electric tank and that the solar thermal collectors and DWHRs are most beneficial in Edmonton.


Amid numerous sources of energy, solar energy possesses calibre to combat energy requisite for various sectors. A lot of significant research work has been carried out on solar energy to maximize its applications and efficiency of available designs. Among many applications, cooking is the one of the dominant application of solar energy. Other than basic design of box type solar cooker, solar collectors are employed in solar cooking system for the feasibility of more effective cooking. This manuscript inhibits various cooking system based on solar collectors like FPC(flat plate collector),ETC (evacuated tube collector),PDC(parabolic dish collector), PTC(parabolic trough collector), fresnel lens based collector and scheffler reflector type collector. Solar collectors based cooker designs render compatibility of cooking regarding cooking load, cost, cooking type, ease of operation and cooking time


2016 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 477-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Nájera-Trejo ◽  
Ignacio R. Martin-Domínguez ◽  
Jorge A. Escobedo-Bretado

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