ARTICLE IN PRESS

Renewable Energy 33 (2008) 846858

www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Study of the distribution of the absorbed solar radiation on the

performance of a CPC-type ICS water heater
M. Souliotis, Y. Tripanagnostopoulos
Physics Department, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece
Received 19 March 2007; accepted 22 May 2007
Available online 24 July 2007

Abstract
An Integrated Collector Storage (ICS) solar water heater was designed, constructed and studied with an emphasis on its optical and
thermal performance. The ICS system consists of one cylindrical horizontal tank properly mounted in a stationary symmetrical
Compound Parabolic Concentrating (CPC) reector trough. The main objective was the design and the construction of a low cost solar
system with improved thermal performance based on the exploitation of the non-uniform distribution of the absorbed solar radiation on
the cylindrical storage tank surface. A ray-tracing model was developed to gauge the distribution of the incoming solar radiation on the
absorber surface and the results were compared with those from a theoretical optical model based on the average number of reections.
The variation of the optical efciency as function of the incident angle of the incoming solar radiation along with its dependence on the
month during annual operation of ICS system is presented. The ICS device was experimentally tested outdoors during a whole year in
order to correlate the observed temperature rise and stratication of the stored water with the non-uniform distribution of the absorbed
solar radiation. The results show that the upper part of the tank surface collects the larger fraction of the total absorbed solar radiation
for all incident angles throughout the year. This is found to have a signicant effect on the overall thermal performance of the ICS unit.
In addition, the presented results can be considered important for the design and the operation of ICS systems consisting of cylindrical
tank and CPC reectors.
r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Solar water heaters; Integrated collector storage systems; Compound parabolic concentrators; Optical performance

1. Introduction
Solar water heating in the low-temperature range
(4070 1C) can be achieved by Flat Plate Thermosiphonic
Units (FPTU) and Integrated Collector Storage (ICS)
units, as well. These solar devices cover domestic needs of
hot water of about 100200 l per day; they are widespread
enough and also have simple construction, installation and
operation. The main advantage of the FPTU units is their
ability to preserve effectively the temperature of the stored
water. On the other hand ICS systems have simpler
construction and lower cost compared to the corresponding FPTU ones. In addition, they can be better harmonized
to the surrounding architecture, mainly because of their
low height. The main problem of the ICS units is the
Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +30 2610 997459.

E-mail address: msouliot@physics.upatras.gr (M. Souliotis).

0960-1481/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.renene.2007.05.042

greater thermal losses of the stored water tank compared to

the corresponding thermal losses of the water tank in
FPTU units. This is related to the fact that signicant part
of the storage tank surface is exposed to ambience for the
absorption of solar radiation.
Many researchers have studied the thermal performance
of several types of ICS systems, suggesting improvements
for their operation. In the existing literature there are
works on ICS systems with at, cylindrical or other type of
water storage tank. Among them the systems that consist
of cylindrical storage tank are more interesting because of
their ability to resist the pressure of the water mains. For
the improvement of these ICS systems, Schmidt and
Goetzberger [1] suggest the use of Transparent Insulating
Materials (TIM) over the absorbing surface, Mason and
Davidson [2] propose the use of selective absorbing surface
within evacuated tube, while Kaptan and Kilic [3] and
Smyth et al. [4] adopt the use of tubular absorber with

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M. Souliotis, Y. Tripanagnostopoulos / Renewable Energy 33 (2008) 846858

Nomenclature
Aa
Am
Ar
CR
d
DS
DT
Emr
f1
f2
G
Gt
Gb
Gd
IR,b
IR,d
IR,t
k
KT
La
LT
N
hNi
n
no
RT
Ta
TD
TM
TU

aperture surface area of systems (m2)

reector (mirror) surface area of systems (m2)
absorber (receiver ) surface area (m2)
concentration ratio
thermal insulation thickness (m)
depth of ICS system (m)
diameter of the cylindrical storage tank (m)
radiation exchange factor between reector and
absorber surface
focal length of rst parabolic reectors (m)
focal length of second parabolic reectors (m)
total incoming solar radiation intensity on
aperture area (W m2)
total incoming solar radiation intensity on
aperture area (W m2)
direct incoming solar radiation intensity on
aperture area (W m2)
diffuse incoming solar radiation intensity on
aperture area (Wm2)
Intensity of the direct absorbed solar radiation
on storage tank (W m2)
intensity of the diffuse absorbed solar radiation
on storage tank (W m2)
intensity of the total absorbed solar radiation
on storage tank (W m2)
thermal conductivity (W m1)
daily clearness index
system aperture length (m)
length of the cylindrical tank (m)
number of raysstrips
average number of reections
absorbed solar radiation on absorber surface
(%)
optical efciency
radius of the cylindrical tank (m)
ambient temperature (1C)
water temperature at storage bottom (1C)
water temperature at storage middle (1C)
water temperature at storage top (1C)

bafe plate placed inside them and the use of a vessel

with inner sleeves, respectively. Tripanagnostopoulos and
Yianoulis [5] suggested the use of inverted absorbing
surface to suppress the thermal losses of the ICS systems
approaching to a signicant degree the thermal losses of
the FPTU units. In a recent paper by Smyth et al. [6]
the most representative works on this subject was also
presented.
Aiming at achieving signicant water temperature
stratication inside the storage tank, Tripanagnostopoulos
et al. [7] designed two ICS prototypes consisting of
asymmetric CPC reectors and two horizontally mounted
cylindrical tanks. A similar suggestion, but in a different

Tm
VT
Vw
Wa
x
y

847

mean water temperature of storage tank (1C)

storage tank volume (m3)
wind speed (ms1)
system aperture width (m)
coordinates of the x-axis (m)
coordinates of the y-axis (m)

Greek symbols
a
ar
g
y
ymin
ymax
x1
x2
x01
x02
v
rr
t
j
j2m
c
cm
c0
c0m
o
om
o0
o0m

system acceptance angle (1, rad)

absorptance of receiver surface
fraction of the diffuse solar radiation that is
collected by system
angle of incidence of the incoming solar
radiation on aperture (1, rad)
minimum incident angle of the incoming
insolation in Patras (1, rad)
maximum incident angle of the incoming
insolation in Patras (1, rad)
angle between incident ray and the tangent
surface of the right reector (1, rad)
Angle between incident ray and the tangent
surface of the left reector (1, rad)
angle between reected ray and the tangent
surface of the right reector (1, rad)
angle between reected ray and the tangent
surface of the left reector (1, rad)
typical day in each month
surface reectance
glazing transmittance
angle of cylindrical storage tank (1, rad)
maximum angle of cylindrical tank in the
illuminated region (1, rad)
angle of rst parabolic reector (1, rad)
maximum value of angle c (1, rad)
angle of second parabolic reector (1, rad)
maximum value of angle c0 (1, rad)
angle of rst involute reector (1, rad)
maximum value of angle o (1, rad)
angle of second involute reector (1, rad)
maximum value of angle o0 (1, rad)

mounting mode, was also studied by Kalogirou [8].

Tripanagnostopoulos et al. [9] studied four ICS systems
which consisted of single and double cylindrical tanks
horizontally placed in truncated CPC-type reector
troughs. The suggested designs focused on the water
temperature rise during daily operation, by exploiting the
non-uniform distribution of solar radiation on absorber
surface, and the reduction of the thermal losses during
night, due to the use of the inverted absorbing surface
of the ICS designs. Several design concepts and experimental results, with the same objective, have also been
presented [1012]. In these works, we discussed in detail
the advantages of using symmetrical CPC-type reector

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M. Souliotis, Y. Tripanagnostopoulos / Renewable Energy 33 (2008) 846858

troughs [10] with respect to the temperature rise during

daily operation, the lower thermal losses during night
operation using asymmetric CPC-type reectors [11] and
the design concepts regarding the use of horizontally or
vertically mounted CPC-type reector troughs [12].
Taking into consideration all these works as well as the
longtime experience of the University of Patras research
group in this subject, we conclude that the nonuniform distribution of the absorbed solar radiation on
the cylindrical receivers of the ICS systems is signicant
for the effective heating of the stored water. In
addition, considering that ICS systems combined with
symmetric CPC-type reectors have easy construction and
low cost, we suggest that they present the most promising
perspective in water heating. Souliotis and Tripanagnostopoulos [13] presented extended experimental results of
an ICS solar water heater combined with symmetrical
CPC-type reectors. In that paper, we studied a combination of used materials such as black painted and selective
absorbing surface, reectors with low and high reectivity
(rr) and single or double glazing transparent covers
with low and high transmissivity (t). For the aforementioned combinations, a total number of 12 devices
were experimentally tested. The results of these experiments showed that the selective absorbing surface along
with the high reectivity reector and double glazing
with high transmissivity is the combination which exhibits
the best thermal performance among all congurations
studied.
Generally, the main objective of our work in this subject
is both the design and the development of improved ICS
systems regarding their thermal performance and also the
investigation of the ability of construction cost effective
commercial solar devices. In the present work, we study the
optical and thermal performance of an ICS system that
consists of a single horizontal cylindrical storage tank
properly mounted inside truncated symmetric CPC-type
reector trough. We have used the ray-tracing method
to produce diagrams which correspond to the spatial
distribution of the incoming solar radiation on the
absorber surface. Using the technique of the average
number of reections, which was proposed by Rabl [14],
and the ray trace procedure, we have studied the optical
efciency of the ICS system as a function of both the
angle of incidence of solar radiation and the month
during annual operation in the region of Patras, in
Greece. Moreover, we study the effect of the non-uniform
distribution on both the temperature rise and stratication
of water inside the storage tank during day. Therefore,
experimental results of 24 h operation of the studied ICS
system during the four seasons of year are presented. By
this experimental procedure we attempt to correlate the
distribution of the absorbed solar radiation with the water
temperature stratication inside the storage tank. Our
results can be considered as a rst, but necessary, step
before a detailed theoretical opticalthermal model resolve
this issue, accurately.

2. Design and construction of the ICS experimental model

The design of the studied ICS system is mainly based on
the exploitation of the non-uniform distribution of solar
radiation on absorber surface. This is achieved by using
CPC reector troughs in combination with cylindrical
receivers [15,16]. Both this principal design and the
partially thermal insulation at the non-illuminated part of
the storage tank aim at achieving signicant water
temperature rise and stratication inside the storage tank
during daily operation and also sufcient water temperature preservation during night. In the previous work [13],
the geometry of the studied ICS unit was analyzed in detail
and in this work a brief description is repeated for the sake
of the reader.
In Fig. 1, we present the cross section of the experimental
model ICS, which consists of truncated symmetric CPC
reectors with parabolic parts (AB), (DA0 ) and involute
parts (BC) and (C0 D). The intersection point between the
corresponding parabolas axis BB0 and DD0 lies on the
aperture surface (glazing) and determines the truncation
level (E46%) for the constructed experimental model. We
consider RT, the radius of the cylindrical storage tank, o
and o0 the angles that are used to form the two involute
reector parts (BC) and (C0 D) correspondingly, with c, c0
the angles of the two parabolic reector parts (AB) and
(DA0 ), respectively. In the same gure we indicate the
considered direction of increase of angles o, o0 , c and c0 .
The maximum angles o and o0 are taken om o0m 90 ,
the maximum angles c and c0 (rim angles) are cm c0m
63:91 and the focal lengths are f 1 BE pRT =2 and
f 2 DE0  pRT =2, respectively. Based on the above
parameters, the analytic equations of the reector parts,

Fig. 1. Cross section of the experimental ICS model.

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M. Souliotis, Y. Tripanagnostopoulos / Renewable Energy 33 (2008) 846858

according to the rectangular axis system O, x, y in Fig. 1,

are the following:
Parabolic part (AB):
x RT 1 p sin c=1 cos c,

(1)

y RT p cos c=1 cos c:

(2)

Involute part (BC):

x RT sin o  o cos o;

(3)

y RT cos o o sin o:

(4)

Involute part (C0 D):

x RT cos o0 o0 sin o0 ;

(5)

y RT sin o0  o0 cos o0 :

(6)

Parabolic part (DA0 ):

x RT p cos c0 =1 cos c0 ;

(7)

y RT 1 p sin c0 =1 cos c0 .

(8)

The cylindrical storage tank has a diameter of

DT 0:36 m, a length of LT 1:01 m and therefore the
total stored water volume is V T 102:8 l. However, the
design of the curved reector parts was based on a slightly
smaller tank diameter to ensure the reception of the reected
solar rays on absorber surface. This was considered
necessary in order to overcome possible imperfections of
the reector trough. Therefore, in Eqs. (1)(8) radius RT
equals to 0.17 m instead of 0.18 m (radius of the tank used)
to design and construct the CPC reector of ICS unit
(indicated in Fig. 1). The aperture width of the constructed
model was W a AA0  0:95 m and the aperture length
La 0:99 m. According to the last, the aperture surface area
of the system equals to Aa 0:94 m2 . The stationary CPC
reectors of the ICS model were combined with cylindrical
storage tank of large diameter and therefore the deep
truncation (E46%) resulted in keeping a moderate system
depth, which was DS 0:50 m (from the glazing to the rear
surface of the used thermal insulation). The concentration
ratio CR of the system is dened by CR Aa =Ar , where Ar
is the exposed to solar radiation cylindrical tank surface area
(absorber) and considering that Ar 0.84 m2, CR 1.12.
The above parameters indicate the ratio of the total stored
water volume per aperture as (V T =Aa ). This is equal to
E109.36 lm2, which is a large value compared to the
corresponding one in FPTU units. By this value a slowdown
water temperature rise during the day is obtained [13] and
nally the experimental study is facilitated. We note that in
commercial systems the value of the ratio V T =Aa can be
smaller in order to a signicant water temperature rise be
achieved.
The curved reectors of the solar device were thermally
insulated with polyurethane, which has thermal conductivity
k 0.05 W m1 K1. The mean insulation thickness is con-

849

sidered to be d 0.05 m and as a result k/d 1 W m2 K1.

We placed a usual iron oxide glass sheet 5 mm thick as the
systems transparent cover (t 0.86 in normal incidence) and
thin galvanized iron sheet as external protective cover of the
non-illuminated system surfaces. The cylindrical storage tank
was constructed by using thin (1 mm) galvanized iron sheet,
only for the needs of the experimental study. In a commercial
model the storage tank would be thicker to resist the pressure
of the water mains. The external surface of the used cylindrical
tank was painted mat black (ar 0.92) to achieve a very low
cost absorbing surface. For the CPC-type reectors, we used
as substrate a thin (0.5 mm) polished stainless steel sheet
(innox) to form the designed reector. In this ICS system we
used low cost reector of high reectance (aluminized mylar
foil, rr 0.85), which was placed on the upside curved innox
surface only during the test procedure. In commercial systems,
aluminized foil reectors or anodized aluminum should be
used in a different way, possibly fabricated in connection with
the thermal insulation.

3. Optical study of the ICS system

Ray-tracing techniques are appropriate for line-axis
systems allowing evaluation of optical performance for
complicated system geometries regarding direct and diffuse
insolation. Optical analysis by this technique has been used
in many studies of solar devices and theoretical results have
been published. This subject is treated in detail in many
books on optics. A useful summary in the solar energy
context is provided by Welford and Winston [15]. Spencer
and Murty [17] presented a useful treatment of the method
and Bendt et al. [18] showed application of ray tracing to
linear parabolic concentrators. Ortabasi and Buehl [19]
presented the optical analysis of a novel tubular solar
thermal collector consisting of a combination of cusp
mirror-cylindrical heat pipes. Eames and Norton [20]
studied the optical performance of a compound parabolic
concentrating collector and Zacharopoulos et al. [21]
presented the optical analysis of a CPC solar collector
with four different absorber-envelope congurations. A
similar ray trace procedure was also performed by
Tripanagnostopoulos and Yianoulis [22] to study the effect
of the non-uniform distribution of the absorbed solar
radiation on at receivers combined with symmetric and
asymmetric CPC-type reectors. In the present work, we
employed an optical model based on ray-tracing technique
in order to evaluate the optical performance of the
integrated collector storage system ICS with four different
congurations of transparent cover and reector surface.
The purpose of the optical study by ray tracing is to
calculate the energy intercepted by the absorbing surface
for variable angles of incidence (y) and to specify its spatial
distribution. The last is necessary for the correlation
between the distribution of the solar radiation on the
absorbing surface and the water temperature stratication
during daily operation of the ICS system.

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M. Souliotis, Y. Tripanagnostopoulos / Renewable Energy 33 (2008) 846858

3.1. Details of the developed ray-tracing procedure

In ray trace procedure we use Eqs. (1)(8) and all
reections are assumed to be specular, so that the laws of
reection are applied. Assuming that the entrance aperture
of the line-axis concentrator has innite length allows end
effects to be ignored and a two-dimensional approach is
adopted. The incident energy is considered to be distributed in one plane only. With these approximations the
determination of solar energy ux at absorber surface of
the ICS system can be considered as a problem of
intersecting lines of solar rays, refraction, reection and
absorption. Slope errors and roughness of the reector
surface are expected to affect in general the distribution of
sunlight on the absorber surface. However, the reector
geometry, the deep reector truncation (E46%), the small
concentration ratio (CR 1.12) and the wide acceptance
angle (a 901), by which signicant fraction of diffused
solar radiation is collected, make this effect less signicant.
The width of a unit length of ICS aperture is divided into
N strips of equal width, so the energy incident on each strip
is given by the intensity of the insolation multiplied by the
width of the strip. The energy incident on each strip is
assumed to be contained in a single ray passing through the
center of the strip. As the number of strips N tends to
innity, the ray trace represents the actual solar radiation
input. For the direct (or beam) insolation the incidence
angle and the intensity at the aperture are required to
evaluate solar ux levels within the ICS system. To model
the diffuse solar radiation the ray trace procedure is
performed for incidence angles spread hemispherically in
the sky dome, where the intensity at each incident angle is
determined from the normalized skyward angular diffuse
distribution and the total diffuse intensity [23]. In the
computational results the diffuse insolation was considered
to be 20% of the total incoming insolation on the systems
aperture. This consideration was based on experimental
data, where the diffuse solar radiation varied between 13%
and 29% of the total incoming insolation on the aperture

area (in most of the cases it was about 20%). In addition,

taking into account the work of Collares-Pereira and Rabl
[24] we obtained the same results in case of daily clearness
index close to 0.8 (KTE0.8). For the determination of the
direct and diffuse insolation ux, 100,000 rays were traced.
Especially for the diffuse insolation the rays were traced at
one- or two-degree intervals over the sky dome depending
on the angle of incidence.
The optical analysis of the ICS system was carried out
for each combination of the transparent cover and the
reector surface. In the computational model we assumed
two types of transparent covers 5 mm thick each and two
types of reector surfaces differing in material and
reectivity. We considered a transparent cover with low
transmissivity (LT), t 0.86 in normal incidence (which
corresponds to the usual glazing in the experimental
model), and another one with high transmissivity (HT),
t 0.93 (low iron oxide glass) in normal incidence, too.
Reector surfaces with low reectivity (LR), rr 0.68
(innox) and high reectivity (HR), rr 0.85 (aluminized
mylar) were also taken into account. Each combination of
LT, HT and LR, HR congurations correspond to
different ICS models. These models are: ICS A (LTLR),
ICS B (LTHR), ICS C (HTLR) and ICS D (HTHR).
In Fig. 2, we present an analytical drawing of the ICS
system that was considered in the ray trace procedure,
guring all the parameters that were used in the developed
optical model. For simplicity in the developed ray-tracing
model we assume a different rectangular system axis (O, x,
y), compared to that presented in Fig. 1 (451 left rotation).
Therefore, the computational results and especially the
spatial distribution of the solar radiation on the absorbing
surface are given as a function of the angle j, which starts
from the bottom of the absorbing surface. The nonilluminated part of the absorbing surface lies within
0ojo451 and j2mojo3601 (j2m 3151), as it is shown
in Fig. 2. We assume that solar rays form an angle y to the
perpendicular of the aperture width [AA0 ]. After refraction
in the transparent cover (points M1, M2, M3 and M4), some

Fig. 2. Analytical drawing of the ray trace procedure for the ICS model.

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The results of the employed computational model are

presented in the diagrams of Fig. 3, which show snapshots
at noon (12:30) of the spatial distribution of the absorbed
solar radiation on the cylindrical tank surface as a function
of the incidence angle y of the incoming insolation on the
ICS aperture plane. In each diagram the direct (Beam), the
diffuse (Diffuse) and total (Total) absorbed solar radiation,
are plotted (IR,b, IR,d and IR,t in W m2, respectively).
These diagrams have been taken from experiments during
annual operation of the ICS model, where the direct
Gb, diffuse Gd and total Gt (all in W m2) intensity of
the incoming solar radiation on its aperture area were
measured. We note that the ray-tracing computational
model was repeated each time for a specic percentage of
the diffused solar radiation as it was designated from each
experiment. From the entirety of the extracted computational results we present these that correspond to three
representative incident angles y (201, 01 and +101).
According to these results the non-uniform distribution
of the absorbed solar radiation IR on the absorbing surface
is apparent. Consequently, different parts of the cylindrical
tank surface collect different fractions of the total incoming
insolation. This might be expected to affect the water
temperature rise and stratication in case of systems
operation with or without water drainage. A signicant
fraction of the incoming diffuse solar radiation is collected
by the absorbing surface, as it is shown in the diagrams of
the above gures. The absorbed diffuse solar radiation
intensity IR,d depends on the angle of incidence y, the
reectivity rr of the reector surface and the transmission
factor t of the transparent cover. Generally it is varied
between 13% and 29% of the total absorbed solar
radiation IR,t (in the indicated diagrams is about 20%).
This optical performance is due to the design principles of
ICS system, where the wide acceptance angle (a 901), the
deep truncation (E46%) and the small concentration ratio
(CR 1.12) allow a signicant fraction of the incoming
diffuse solar radiation to be collected.
The dependence of the absorbed intensity of the total solar
radiation on the glazing transmittance of the transparent
cover and also on the reectivity of the reector surface is
indicated in the diagrams of Fig. 4. In this gure, we present
the distribution of the absorbed solar radiation (n) on the
tank surface in the four experimental models ICS A, ICS B,
ICS C and ICS D in case of angle of incidence y 01. The
results are given in percentage (n in %) considering that the

Absorbed Radiation IR ( Wm-2)

Incident Angle
 = - 20

60
50

Gb = 717 Wm-2

Beam

Gd = 193 Wm-2

Diffuse

-2

Gt = 909 Wm

40

Total

30
20
10
0
0

50
Absorbed Radiation IR ( Wm-2)

3.2. Results of the ray-tracing procedure

70

40

80
120 160 200 240 280 320
Absorber ( Angle Degrees From Bottom)

Incident Angle
 = 0

40
30

Gb = 784 Wm-2

Beam

Gd = 197 Wm-2

Diffuse

Gt = 981 Wm-2

Total

360

20
10
0
0

40

80
120 160 200 240 280 320
Absorber ( Angle Degrees From Bottom)

Incident Angle
 = +10

90
Absorbed Radiation IR ( Wm-2)

rays fall directly on the absorbing surface (points L3 and

L4) and other rays after reection (points K1 and K2) fall
on the absorber (points L1 and L2). In the last case, the
angles between the incident ray and the tangent reector
surface (x1 and x2) are equal to the angles between the
reected ray and the tangent reector surface (x01 and x02 )
according to the assumptions of the developed ray-tracing
model.

851

-2

80

Gb = 821 Wm

Beam

70

Gd = 173 Wm-2

Diffuse

Gt = 994 Wm-2

Total

60

360

50
40
30
20
10
0
0

40

80
120 160 200 240 280 320
Absorber ( Angle Degrees From Bottom)

360

Fig. 3. Snapshots at noon (12:30) of the spatial distribution of the

absorbed solar radiation IR (W m2) on the cylindrical tank surface for
incident angles y  201, 01 and +101.

total incoming solar radiation intensity on the aperture area

in each model is 100% and the diffused insolation is 20% of
this. From these results we observe that model ICS D has
lower optical losses and also collects larger fraction of the
total incoming solar radiation on the aperture area compared
to other models. This is due to the larger values of the glazing
transmissivity (t 0.93) and the reectivity (rr 0.85)
of the reector surface. The differences in the absorbed
insolation can be more clearly shown round the picks of the

ARTICLE IN PRESS
M. Souliotis, Y. Tripanagnostopoulos / Renewable Energy 33 (2008) 846858
Incident Angle
 = 0

6.0
5.5
5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0

ICS A

ICS C

0.80
0.75
Optical Efficency no

Absorbed Solar Radiation n (%)

852

ICS B

ICS D

0.65
0.60
0.55
0.50

ICS A

ICS B

ICS C

ICS D

0.45
0.40
0

40

80
120 160 200 240 280
Absorber (Angle Degrees From Bottom)

320

360

1.4

0.80
0.75

0.65

0.60
0.8

0.55
0.50
0.45
0.40
0.35
0.30

0.6
A - RTM
B - RTM
C - RTM
D - RTM
<N> - RTM

A - ANR
B - ANR
C - ANR
D - ANR
<N> - ANR

0.4
0.2

Average Num. of Reflect. < N >

1.2

0.70

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Month

Fig. 4. Snapshot at noon (12:30) of the spatial distribution of the total

absorbed solar radiation n (%) on the absorbing surface of the ICS A, ICS
B, ICS C and ICS D models, for incident angle y 01.

Optical Efficency no

0.70

0.25
0
-70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Angle of Incidence  (Degrees)

Fig. 5. Optical efciency no and average number of reections /NS for

the ICS A, ICS B, ICS C and ICS D models as function of the incidence
angle y.

absorbed solar radiation in Fig. 4 for angle degrees from

bottom jE501, 701, 2901 and 3101.
3.3. Optical efficiency
The results from the Ray Tracing Method (RTM) were
used to calculate the optical efciency no of the ICS system
in all congurations (A, B, C, D) for all incident angles y
and for each month during all year round. In Figs. 5 and 6,
we present variation diagrams of the optical efciency no
in cases A, B, C and D of the studied ICS model as a
function of the incident angle y and month during all year,
respectively. Annual results of the optical efciency no are
taken for the typical day (n) in each month (n 17, 47, 75,
105, 135, 162, 198, 228, 258, 288, 318 and 344). Depending
on each conguration (A, B, C and D), the optical
efciency no varies due to the variation of the diffuse solar
radiation absorption and the tranmissivity t  ty of the

Fig. 6. Variation of the optical efciency no of systems ICS A, ICS B, ICS

C and ICS D during all year long, by the method of the average number of
reections (ANR).

glazing cover as well. This variation can be more clearly

shown in Fig. 5, for the angles of incidence jyj4a=2 45
(y4+451 or/and yo451). We must note that in this
range of incidence angles the optical efciency is not zero
because all ICS models absorb signicant fraction of the
diffuse insolation.
The conguration D (HT-HR, ICS D) exhibits the best
optical performance for incident angle y in the range of the
acceptance angle a(+451oyo451), conrming that the
transmitivity t of the transparent cover and the reectivity
rr of the reector surface are, beyond any doubt,
signicant parameters of the ICS design and operation.
The effective optical performance of the system ICS D all
year round is also clearly shown in the annual results of the
optical efciency no presented in Fig. 6. Due to the fact that
the variation of the angle of incidence is between ymin p
ypymax (in the region of Patras, yminE16.31 in December
and ymaxE+29.81 in June, considering system slope 451),
the dependence of the optical efciency no on the month is
almost marginal. From the diagrams of Figs. 5 and 6 we
conrm that the use of high transmittance glazing along
with high reectance reector surfaces is imperative for the
effective optical performance of ICS systems combined
with reector troughs.
In Fig. 5, we also present results of the optical efciency
no, calculated by an approximation method proposed by
Rabl [14]. These results are indicated in Fig. 5 by variation
diagrams of the optical efciency no as a function of the
incident angle y of solar radiation on apertures plane of
the ICS system (dashed curved lines). This method is
based on the Average Number of Reections /NS (ANR
method) and the optical efciency no is given by
no tar rhNi
r g.

(9)

In Eq. (9), t  ty is the total transmissivity of the

transparent cover, which depends on the incident angle y
and the type of the transparent cover used (t 0.86 for
usual and t 0.93 for low iron oxide glazing in normal

ARTICLE IN PRESS
M. Souliotis, Y. Tripanagnostopoulos / Renewable Energy 33 (2008) 846858

incidence), ar is the absorptivity of the absorbing surface

(ar 0.92) and rr is the reectivity of the reecting surfaces
(rr 0.68 for innox and rr 0.85 for aluminized mylar).
The average number of reections hNi is determined by the
relation:
hNi

Am
E mr ,
Ar

(10)

where Am, Ar are the reector and absorber surface areas,

respectively and Emr is the radiation exchange factor
between the reector and the absorber surfaces, for the case
rr-1.
In Eq. (9), the parameter g is dened as a factor of the
diffuse solar radiation, which is expressed by the formula:
g

G b G d CR
Gt

1

853

B and ICS D rr 0.85), conrming the theoretical

approach of the approximation method [14].
From the above it becomes evident that the ANR
method operates quite satisfactorily for both CPC collectors with deep truncation or/and small concentration ratio
and those with fully expansion reector curves, as it was
also be designated on previous work [27,28]. This fact
makes the ANR method a useful mathematical tool for the
prediction of the optical performance of the ICS systems
combined with reector troughs, irrespective of their
geometry. This was also be noticed on a previous work
of the authors [29].
4. Temperature variation and stratication of the stored
water

(11)

Eq. (11) is an approximate relation used by Rabl et al.

[25] in case of concentrating solar devices with small
concentration ratio CR and Gb, Gd and Gt are the
beam, diffuse and total intensity of the incoming solar
radiation on the apertures plane. Taking into account that
Gd 0.2Gt [24] and CR 1.12, then g in Eq. (11) equals
to gE0.98.
Using the geometry of the ICS system (Figs. 1 and 2),
Eqs. (1)(8) and following a similar theoretical procedure
as that presented in the study of Carvalho et al. [26], the
average number of reections hNi for the specic ICS
experimental model was calculated as
(
p
p 1 sin cm 2  1  cos cm 1=2 

hNi
12 3
1 cos cm 3=2
)
p
sin cm 21 cos cm 1=2
ln
.
12
1 cos cm
In Eq. (12), substituting cm 63.911 (rim angle of the
parabolic part (AB) or (DA0 )), we nd hNi  0:574 for the
ICS model. Strictly speaking, hNi depends on the incident
angle, but in this paper we take for simplicity a single value
for hNi, averaged over all rays within the eld of view
(straight line in Fig. 5). This is also shown in Fig. 5 from
the variation diagrams of hNi as function of the incident
angle y, which is calculated from the results of the RTM.
The optical efciency no is nally determined by Eq. (9)
using the values of the total transmissivity t of the
considered glazing and the reectivity rr of the reector
surfaces. In general, in each experimental model (ICS A,
ICS B, ICS C, ICS D) the optical efciency obtained
from the ANR method concurs to the optical efciency
calculated by the RTM model in case of jyjpa=2 45
(Fig. 5). In particular, the results of the optical efciency no
calculated from RTM method are very close to the results
from ANR method in case of ICS A (LTLR) and ICS C
(HTLR) congurations. Moreover, in case of experimental models ICS B (LTHR) and ICS D (HTHR) the
results are almost identical. These results indicate that the
ANR method is more accurate for the case of rr-1 (in ICS

Based on the experience of the testing procedure on

similar solar devices [5,7,913], we experimentally tested
throughout the year the ICS B model (LT glazing, HR
reector), recording the water temperature inside the
storage tank, the ambient temperature, the incoming solar
radiation and the wind speed. We used T-type (Cu-CuNi)
thermocouples (TCs), a Kipp & Zonen pyranometer and
an A100R anemometer for the measurements of the
temperature, the solar radiation intensity and the wind
speed, respectively. All data were collected by a CR10X
data logger of Campbell Scientic, Inc. The experiments
were performed with the 24 h monitoring of the system
operation without water drainage.
The 24 h operation of the ICS B model was monitored in
order to examine the time dependence of the temperature
variation and stratication of the stored water. During the
day the water temperature variation and stratication is
strongly related to the distribution of the absorbed solar
radiation on the cylindrical tank, while on the other hand,
the temperature prole during the night is attributed to the
thermal losses of the storage tank. The water temperature
stratication can be satisfactorily observed by measuring
the temperatures with three thermocouples (TCs) placed
inside the storage tank. In Fig. 7 we indicate the three
positions (in cross section) of the TCs we placed inside the
storage tank. The TCs were placed at a distance of about
20 cm from the one side of the cylindrical tank. Therefore,
TD, TM and TU (in 1C) correspond to the temperature
at the bottom (Down), middle (Middle) and top (Up)
part of the stored water, respectively. The mean water
temperature Tm (in 1C) during the 24 h operation of the
device can be adequately approximated by the relation
T m T D T M T U =3 [13]. In the study we also used
the ambient temperature Ta (1), the intensity of the
incoming solar radiation G (W m2) on the aperture of
ICS and the wind speed Vw (m s1).
In Fig. 7, we also indicate an imaginable separation of
the total absorbing surface in two parts (Upper Part and
Lower Part). Although this separation is arbitrary, it
can be considered sufcient for a qualitative correlation
between the distribution of the absorbed solar radiation

ARTICLE IN PRESS
854

M. Souliotis, Y. Tripanagnostopoulos / Renewable Energy 33 (2008) 846858

Fig. 7. Separation of the cylindrical tank surface area of ICS model in two parts regarding systems slope. Positions of the thermocouples placed
inside the storage tank.

Total

Diffuse

WINTER
 = - 15.2

ICS B : no = 0.6976

TD

Upper Part

45

Lower Part

90
135
180
225
270
Absorber (Degrees from bottom)
TM

TU

Tm

T

55

315

G
Winter

50

360

Vw
1000
900
800

45

700

40

600

35

500

30

400

25

300

20

200

15

100

10
6:30

9:30 12:30 15:30 18:30 21:30 0:30

Time (Hours)

3:30

G (Wm-2) - Vw (ms-1) x 10-1

13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Lower Par t

Absorbed Radiation n (%)

Beam

Temperature (C)

with the water temperature stratication inside the

cylindrical tank. According to Figs. 7 and 2 (where angle
j is indicated), each surface part 
is dened as

Lower Part: arc (BAD) with j 2 0 ; 45 [ 225 ; 360 ,
Upper Part: arc (BCD) with j 2 45 ; 225 .
In the upper side diagrams of Figs. 811, we present
snapshots at noon (12:30) of the spatial distributions of the
absorbed solar radiation (Beam, Diffuse and Total) on
the cross section of the cylindrical storage tank surface.
These snapshots were plotted by using the results of the
developed ray-tracing model and they are taken for
specic days in each season during the annual operation
of the ICS B model. In these diagrams we also indicate by
dashed lines the borders of the lower and the upper
part of the absorbing surface in order to realize the
amount of the absorbed solar radiation that is distributed
on each surface part. According to these diagrams in
all seasons the upper part of the absorbing surface
collects over the double amount of the total absorbed
solar radiation compared to the amount of the solar
radiation that the lower surface part is collected. Especially
in winter (Fig. 8) the percentage of the absorbed solar
radiation that is collected by the upper part is greater
compared to the other three seasons. During summer
(Fig. 10) the lower surface part collects a greater amount
of the total absorbed solar radiation compared to the
corresponding amounts of the absorbed solar radiation
during the rest of the seasons. In Table 1 the percentage of
the absorbed solar radiation on each surface part for the
corresponding congurations A, B, C and D of the ICS
system at noon for the specic days in each season are
presented. All data have been taken from the ray-tracing
model results, while the underlined values of these refer to

0
6:30

Fig. 8. Snapshot at noon (12:30) of the spatial distribution of the

absorbed solar radiation on the cylindrical storage tank and water
temperature variation diagrams during 24 h operation of the ICS B system
for specic days in the Winter.

ARTICLE IN PRESS
M. Souliotis, Y. Tripanagnostopoulos / Renewable Energy 33 (2008) 846858

TD

90
135
180
225
270
Absorber (Degrees from bottom)
TM

TU

Tm

T

55

Spring

900
700

40

600

35

500

30

400

25

300

20

200

15

100
3:30

Absorbed Radiation n (%)

Lower Part
45

TD

Vw
1000
800

9:30 12:30 15:30 18:30 21:30 0:30

Time (Hours)

SUMMER
 = + 27.9

Upper Part

360

45

10
6:30

STS B : no = 0.6992

90

135

Lower Part

180

225

270

315

360

Absorber (Degrees from bottom)

50
Temperature (C)

315

TM

TU

Tm

T

0
6:30

G
Summer

55
Temperature (C)

45

Lower Part

G ( Wm-2) - Vw (ms-1) x 10-1

Upper Part

13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Total

Diffuse

Beam

SPRING
 = + 16.5

STS B : no = 0.6993

Lower Par t

Absorbed Radiation n (%)

Total

50

Vw
1000
900
800

45

700

40

600

35

500

30

400

25

300

20

200

15

100

10
6:30

9:30 12:30 15:30 18:30 21:30 0:30

Time (Hours)

3:30

G (Wm-2) - Vw (ms-1) x 10-1

Diffuse

Beam
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

855

0
6:30

Fig. 9. Snapshot at noon (12:30) of the spatial distribution of the

absorbed solar radiation on the cylindrical storage tank and water
temperature variation diagrams during 24 h operation of the ICS B system
for specic days in Spring.

Fig. 10. Snapshot at noon (12:30) of the spatial distribution of the

absorbed solar radiation on the cylindrical storage tank and water
temperature variation diagrams during 24 h operation of the ICS B system
for specic days in the Summer.

the results for the ICS B model and correspond to the

upper side diagrams of Figs. 811.
In the lower side diagrams of Figs. 811, the variation of
the stored water temperature during 24 h operation for the
specic days in each season are presented. In each diagram
TD, TM and TU are the temperature at the bottom, middle
and upper position of the cylindrical tank, Tm is the mean
water temperature, Ta is the ambient temperature, G is the
intensity of the incoming solar radiation on the systems
aperture plane and Vw is the wind speed. The water
temperature at the initial time (6:30) of the 24 h experimental operation for all seasons is low and varies between
16 and 24 1C. Considering the elevation of the sun (due to
the seasons), the water temperature stratication is more
pronounced in winter (Fig. 8) compared to the other
seasons. This fact can be considered that is strongly related
to the distribution of the absorbed solar radian as it was
shown in these diagrams. Since in winter months the
ambient temperature is low and the illumination of the
storage tank is time limited, the observed stratication
allows the temperature of a signicant portion of the stored
water to vary within an acceptable range. As a result, the
operation of the ICS models may be considered effective

even in unfavorable weather conditions. During spring

(Fig. 9) the mean water temperature rise is increased but
the water temperature stratication is decreased compared
to the corresponding one during winter (Fig. 8). During the
summer period (Fig. 10) the ICS model behaves better than
every other season because of the favorable weather
conditions and the extended time of the storage tank
illumination. But even if the mean water temperature varies
at higher ranges, the stratication is lower compared to
that in winter. During autumn (Fig. 11) the temperature
prole of the ICS model is closed to that during the
summer period and differs only on the water temperature
level. A clearer gure from the aforementioned is presented
in Fig. 12 where variation diagrams of the temperature
difference TUTD (in 1C) during the 24 h operation of the
ICS B for the same specic days, indicated in Figs. 811 are
presented. The greater temperature difference is appeared
in winter (E20 1C) and follows in summer (E12 1C), in
spring and in autumn (E11 1C).
From the above experimental results it can be noticed
that the thermal performance of the ICS experimental
model depends on the design of the reector trough. The
large acceptance angle (a 901) in combination with the

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M. Souliotis, Y. Tripanagnostopoulos / Renewable Energy 33 (2008) 846858
Diffuse

45

TD

Lower Part

90
135
180
225
270
Absorber (Degrees from bottom)
TM

TU

315

T

Tm

Autumn

55
50
Temperature (C)

Temperature Difference TU - TD (C)

AUTUMN
 = - 6

Upper Part

20

Total

STS B : no = 0.6932

Lower Part

Absorbed Radiation n (%)

Beam
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Vw
1000
900
800

45

700

40

600

35

500

30

400

25

300

20

200

15

100

10
6:30

9:30 12:30 15:30 18:30 21:30 0:30

Time (Hours)

3:30

0
6:30

Fig. 11. Snapshot at noon (12:30) of the spatial distribution of the

absorbed solar radiation on the cylindrical storage tank and water
temperature variation diagrams during 24 h operation of the ICS B system
for specic days in Autumn.

Table 1
Percentage of the absorbed solar radiation on each surface part (lower
part and upper part) of the cylindrical tank for the congurations A, B, C
and D of the ICS system at noon (12:30) for specic days in each season
Season

Lower surface part (%)

Upper surface part (%)

ICS A ICS B ICS C ICS D ICS A ICS B ICS C ICS D

Winter
Spring
Summer
Autumn

30.84
35.77
36.16
32.33

32.21
38.65
39.95
34.38

30.84
35.76
36.15
32.32

32.21
38.65
39.94
34.39

69.16
64.23
63.84
67.67

67.79
61.35
60.05
65.62

Winter

18

Spring

16
14

Summer

12

Autumn

10
8
6
4
2
0
6:30

9:30

360

G (Wm-2) - Vw (ms-1) x 10-1

856

69.16
64.24
63.85
67.67

67.79
61.35
60.06
65.61

deep truncation (E46%) of the reector trough allows a

signicant fraction of the diffuse solar radiation to be
collected. Both the absorption of the diffuse solar radiation
and the used transparent covers and reecting surfaces play
an important role for the effective heating of the stored
water. The temperature rise during day and also the
stratication of it is due to the weather conditions (solar
radiation intensity, ambient temperature, wind speed) and
the geometry of the reector trough. The latter, affects the

12:30 15:30 18:30 21:30

Time (Hours)

0:30

3:30

6:30

Fig. 12. Variation diagrams of the temperature difference (TUTD) during

24 h operation of the ICS B model without water drainage for specic days
in each season.

distribution of the absorbed solar radiation on the receiver

surface on ICS model as it has been clearly shown in the
diagrams of the ray-tracing results (Figs. 3 and 4).
Therefore, all year round the mean water temperature Tm
varies between E20 1C up to E45 1C. For the specic ICS
B model (large value of Vt/Aa) in each season the maximum
mean water temperature Tm is as follows: in winter
E40 1C, in spring E50 1C, in summer E50 1C and in
autumn E45 1C. In addition, we observe that in each
season the maximum temperature TU of the upper water
storage volume varies at a higher level (5060 1C) as
follows: E50 1C in winter, E55 1C in spring, E60 1C in
summer and E50 1C in autumn. This means that almost
1/3 of the total stored water volume (E34 l) has maximum
temperature E55 1C, which is 15 1C over a supposed
minimum temperature level (E40 1C), determining the
practical use (domestic needs) of the ICS units of this type.
In commercial ICS systems the water temperature rise and
stratication can be greater in case of using lower values of
the ratio VT/Aa, where the mean water temperature can be
up to 60 1C and also the maximum one up to 80 1C, as it
was observed on previous work [13].
5. Conclusions
The present work has a strong connection with the
previous studies where several ICS systems of different
designs were experimentally tested throughout almost 4
years. Taking into account the experimental results, the
construction details, the cost and the moderate dimensions
of them, we concluded that the ICS system combined
with symmetric CPC-type reector trough presents the
most promising thermal performance regarding the water
temperature rise and heat preservation. Consequently, this
work deals with the exploitation of the distribution of the
absorbed solar radiation on cylindrical receivers combined
with CPC-type reectors and its effect to the thermal
performance of the ICS system we study.

ARTICLE IN PRESS
M. Souliotis, Y. Tripanagnostopoulos / Renewable Energy 33 (2008) 846858

Therefore, we studied a solar water heater of ICS type

regarding its optical performance by two methods, the Ray
Tracing Method (RTM) and the Average Number of
Reections (ANR) method. We presented diagrams of the
spatial distribution of the absorbed solar radiation on the
cylindrical receiver as function of the angle of incidence of
the solar radiation. The performed results showed that the
design of the ICS model drives to the non-uniform
distribution of the absorbed solar radiation on the
cylindrical surface. By the ANR method the optical
efciency of the ICS system was accurately calculated,
conrming that this method can be a stand-in for the RTM
method. The two applied methods for the optical study of
CPC-type ICS systems with large diameter cylindrical
absorbers can be also used to determine the optical
performance of systems with different reectorabsorber
geometry, as these of ICS systems with symmetric or
asymmetric CPC reectors, of one or two cylindrical
storage tanks or other types of low concentration ratio
solar collectors. The results that are obtained by these
methods can give the distribution of solar radiation on the
absorber of non-imaging concentrating solar collectors and
could be used for the design of efcient solar systems.
We also presented the results of the experimental study
of the ICS system focusing on the water temperature
variation diagrams during the 24 h operation without water
drainage. The experimental study was performed during
annual operation of the ICS system in order to correlate
the observed water temperature rise and stratication
inside the storage tank during its daily operation with the
non-uniform distribution of the absorbed solar radiation
on the cylindrical receiver. The results showed that the
exploitation of the non-uniform distribution of the
absorbed solar radiation on the cylindrical receiver can
signicantly improve the thermal performance of the ICS
system. Therefore, even if exist unfavorable weather
conditions (e.g. winter) the ICS system can operate
effectively as the temperature of a signicant portion of
the total water volume can be varied at acceptable levels.
The next step of our research on this issue is the
development of a more accurate opticalthermal model in
order to investigate the impact of the distribution of the
absorbed solar radiation on the thermal behavior of the
ICS system. From the very rst results of this analytical
approach we conclude that there is a complete identication with the presented results. Finally, the presented
results conrm the choice of this reector geometry, which
can be considered promising for the design of cost effective
and practical ICS solar water heaters.

Acknowledgments
We thank the European Social Fund (ESF), Operational
Program for Educational and Vocational Training II
(EPEAEK II), and particularly the Program PYTHAGORAS II, for funding the above work.

857

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