Technologies for Solar Thermal Energy

6.9. Design of thermal collector for power plant

Solar thermal collector is the device that absorbs thermal energy of the incident solar radiation into the surface of the collector. The collector is broadly classified as nontracking also known as fixed or stationary and tracking collectors. Fig. 6.20 shows classifications of solar thermal collectors.

6.9.1. Flat plate solar collectors

Flat plate solar collectors (FPSCs) are the widely used solar energy collectors that consist of glazing covers, absorber plates coated with high absorptive coatings (black coatings), tubes or channels to facilitate HTFs, insulation materials, and frames. To determine the thermal performance of FPSCs, steady-state condition is considered and energy balance equation ...