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Experimental and numerical analysis of an efficiently optimized evacuated flat plate solar collector under medium temperature

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  • Gao, Datong
  • Gao, Guangtao
  • Cao, Jingyu
  • Zhong, Shuai
  • Ren, Xiao
  • Dabwan, Yousef N.
  • Hu, Maobin
  • Jiao, Dongsheng
  • Kwan, Trevor Hocksun
  • Pei, Gang

Abstract

Medium temperature solar thermal systems have a great prospect to be an efficient energy source for practical industrial applications. Although the evacuated flat solar collector is a potential non-concentrating collector for this application, current designs have not fully demonstrated its superiority. In this paper, a medium-scale (50.96 m2) solar thermal system based on an efficiently optimized evacuated flat plate solar collector structure is designed. A systematic four months long real-time experiment under the natural environment is conducted for medium solar thermal applications in a region with four distinct seasons. An annual performance analysis is then conducted in four different locations through a validated numerical model. Experimental results demonstrate that, when the inlet temperature is 123.0 °C, the ambient temperature is 35.7 °C and the solar irradiation is 835.2 W/m2, the thermal efficiency and exergy efficiency can reach 59.67% and 14.35%, respectively. The efficiently optimized evacuated flat plate solar collector can also achieve a stable annual average thermal efficiency at the four studied locations with values reaching up to 50%. Therefore, the superiority of this efficiently optimized evacuated flat plate solar collector design over previous ones is demonstrated.

Suggested Citation

  • Gao, Datong & Gao, Guangtao & Cao, Jingyu & Zhong, Shuai & Ren, Xiao & Dabwan, Yousef N. & Hu, Maobin & Jiao, Dongsheng & Kwan, Trevor Hocksun & Pei, Gang, 2020. "Experimental and numerical analysis of an efficiently optimized evacuated flat plate solar collector under medium temperature," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:269:y:2020:i:c:s0306261920306413
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115129
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