Experimental analysis of solar water heater with compound parabolic concentrator

Abstract

Among all the non-conventional energy sources, solar energy is one of the most promising and renewable alternative source. Solar water heater can be one of the medium to make best use of this renewable energy for human betterment. The current work is targeted to examine the performance of solar water heater with different absorber plates viz flat plate, VTrough and compound parabolic concentrator. The developed system is intended to supply hot water for a family at a low cost. This is regional study and illustrates how selecting a proper concentrator can increase the thermal efficiency of this solar based system. It was experimentally found that, the solar water heater with compound parabolic concentrator profile as absorber outshines over other two models giving 20.58% more efficient results than V Trough whereas V Trough gives us 20.37% more efficient results than Flat plate. Also, it is found that, less mass flow rate is required for obtaining higher degree of temperature in case of solar water heater with compound parabolic concentrator.