Solar thermal Systems

Thermal energy storage

Sensible heat storage :- thermal energy is stored by
the virtue of heat capacity. On the basis of heat
storage media it can be classified as liquid media
storage, solid media storage and dual media storage.
Liquid media storage:- most suitable liquid media
storage below 100 C.
Water has the following advantages.
1. Abundant and inexpensive
2. It is easy to handle , non toxic and non combustible
3. It has high density , high specific heat , good thermal
conductivity and low viscosity.
Disadvantages with water as storage media.
Limited temperature range, corrosive medium.

Solar collectors
Solar power has a low density per unit area.
Hence it is collected by covering a large
ground area by solar thermal collectors. The
solar collector is the main part of a solar
thermal system, that transforms solar radiant
energy into heat that can be used for heating
swimming pools, hot water preparation, space
heating and even as heat for industrial
processes.
The classification of solar collectors is based
on the way they collect solar energy.

Classification of solar
collectors
Solar
collectors

Non
concentrating
type (flat plate
collector)

Liquid flat
plate collector

Concentrating
type

Flat plate air

heating
collector

Focus type

Line focus
type

Non focus type

Point focus
type

 Concentrating Collectors. Concentrating collectors are utilized to

achieve temperatures in the range of 100-200 C for industrial and
commercial application where steam, district heating or cooling,
and power may be required. The collectors are usually parabolic
troughs that use reflective/mirrored surfaces to concentrate the
sun's energy on an absorber tube containing heat-transfer fluid,
or the water. Most concentrating collectors require mechanical
equipment that constantly orients the collectors toward the sun
and keeps the absorber at the point of focus.
Flat-plate collectors are the most common collector for waterheating and space-heating installations. A typical flat-plate
collector is an insulated metal box with a glass or plastic cover
called the glazingand a dark-colored absorber plate. The
glazing can be transparent, low-iron glass is a common glazing
material for flat-plate collectors because low-iron glass transmits
a high percentage of the total available solar energy. The glazing
allows the light to strike the absorber plate but reduces the
amount of heat that can escape. The sides and bottom of the
collector are usually insulated, further minimizing heat loss.

Performance indices
Collector efficiency :- ratio of energy
actually absorbed and transferred to the
heat transport fluid by the collector to the
energy incident on the collector
Concentration ratio:- it is defined as the
ratio of the area of aperture of the system
to the area of the receiver. The aperture
of the system is the projected area of the
collector facing normal to the beam.
Temperature range is the range of
temperature to which the heat transport
fluid s heated up by the collector.

Flat plate collector (non concentrating type)

Basic components
Transparent cover :- on or two sheets
of glass or plastic. Is transparent to
solar radiation but opaque to the infra
red radiation emitted from the
absorber plate.
Absorber
plate:-usually
copper
aluminum or steel. Thickness is 0.2 to
1 mm.
Tubes :- these should be in thermal
contact with the absorber plates.
Water (most commonly used) flows
inside the tubes . Heat is transferred
to it from the absorber and therefore
used as the heat transport medium
from the collector to the next stage of
the system. Diameter range 1 to 1.5
cm. Soldered, brazed, welded to the
absorber plated.

Evacuated tube solar flat plate

collector

The evacuated tube comprises of a smaller glass tube suspended

within a larger glass tube. The air is then pumped out of the space
between the small inner tube and the larger outer tube creating a
vacuum thermal insulationlayer.
The inside of the inner glass tube is coated with a selective light
absorber such as aluminium nitrate or titanium nitride oxide,
which helps maximise the absorption of solar radiation over a
large range of wavelengths.
An absorber plate (normally made from copper) then runs the
length of the inner glass tube, which absorbs the heat and
transfers it to a heat transfer fluid. Convection drives the
movement of the heating fluid around the solar collector, when
the transfer liquid gets heated it evaporates and turns to steam.
This rises to the top of the evacuated tube solar collector the heat
is transferred via a heat exchanger to another liquid typically the
potable water that is then stored in the hot water storage tank.

Evacuated tube contd

The transfer liquid, having given up its heat to the heat

exchanger then condenses and falls back down the
evacuated tube where the process can start again.

Concentrated type of solar collectors non focus type

Modified flat plate collector

Concentrated type of solar thermal collector

Cylindrical parabolic Concentrator (Line focus Type)

The curve of a parabola is such that light

travelling parallel to the axis of a
parabolic mirror will be reflected to a
single focal point from any place along
the curve.
Because the sun is so far away, all direct
solar beams (i.e., excluding diffuse) are
essentially parallel so if the parabola is
facing the sun, the sunlight is
concentrated at the focal point. A
parabolic trough extends the parabolic
shape to three dimensions along a single
direction, creating a focal line along
which the absorber tube is run.
The troughs concentrate sunlight onto a
receiver tube that is positioned along
the focal line of the trough.
The receiver tube is blackened at the
outside surface to increase absorption. It
is rotated on one axis to track the sun.

Concentrated type of solar collectors

point focus type
paraboloid dish collector