Thermal Performance Analysis of a CPC Solar Collector Array with Series Connection to the Flat Plate Solar Collector Field in a Solar Heating Plant
Abstract
A novel Compound Parabolic Collector (CPC) was developed and specially designed for operating in solar heating plants at the temperature range of 60 °C - 120 ºC. The CPC collector was tested at a university laboratory. Four of the CPC collectors were then installed in series and connected to the flat plate solar collector field in a solar heating plant. The thermal performance model was developed for both the CPC collectors and the flat plate collectors by using the QDT model and the tested collector parameters. The predicted annual thermal performance of both the CPC collector and the flat plate collector was calculated at different operating fluid temperatures. The conclusion is that the annual thermal performance of the new CPC collector will be higher than the annual thermal performance of the flat plate collector if the operating mean fluid temperature is higher than 78 °C in theory, in practice if the temperature is higher than 55 °C.