Theoretical and Experimental Study of a Solar Thermal Collector with Curved Geometry
Abstract
The main objective of this work is to develope a theoretical model of a solar collector specifically designed for architectural integration. The main charasteristic of the solar collector is its curved absorber. As a previous work [1], a curved prototype collector performance was compared with a conventional collector in order to prove that the curved geometry thermal losses were acceptable in cases of architectural integration. That work demonstrated the possibilities of using a curved collector in facades and roofs in certain positions, achieving big architectural integration possibilities. As a different topology of solar collector, it would be useful to find a theoretical model that allow technicians to know the theoretical performance of the collector in order to find the most interesting architectural integration positions in their buildings. In this way, a mathematical model that analyses the ratio between the energy received by the curved solar collector and the energy received by a conventional one, is developed and compared with experimental measurements. Once the model is implemented, the geometry of the curved collector can be optimized, looking for the highest thermal performance of the curved collector.