Search

Premium Membership ♕

Limited Time Offer: Save 15% on PRO Plan with discount code: LRN15 and study specialized LV/MV/HV technical articles and studies.

Home / Technical Articles / How solar collectors works?
Solar collector
Typical sollar collector installed on the roof

Solar energy (solar radiation) is collected by the solar collector’s absorber plates. Selective coatings are often applied to the absorber plates to improve the overall collection efficiency.

A thermal fluid absorbs the energy collected. There are several types of solar collectors to heat liquids. Selection of a solar collector type will depend on the temperature of the application being considered and the intended season of use (or climate).

The most common solar collector types are: unglazed liquid flatplate collectors; glazed liquid flat-plate collectors; and evacuated tube solar collectors.


Unglazed liquid flat-plate collectors

Unglazed liquid flat-plate collectors, as depicted in Figure 8, are usually made of a black polymer. They do not normally have a selective coating and do not include a frame and insulation at the back; they are usually simply laid on a roof or on a wooden support. These low-cost collectors are good at capturing the energy from the sun, but thermal losses to the environment increase rapidly with water temperature particularly in windy locations.

As a result, unglazed collectors are commonly used for applications requiring energy delivery at low temperatures (pool heating, make-up water in fish farms, process heating applications, etc.); in colder climates they are typically only operated in the summer season due to the high thermal losses of the collector.

Figure 8: System Schematic for Unglazed Flat-Plate Solar Collector.
Figure 8: System Schematic for Unglazed Flat-Plate Solar Collector.

Glazed liquid flat-plate collectors

Figure 9: System Schematic for Glazed Flat-Plate Solar Collector.
Figure 9: System Schematic for Glazed Flat-Plate Solar Collector.

In glazed liquid flat-plate collectors, as depicted in Figure 9, a flat-plate absorber (which often has a selective coating) is fixed in a frame between a single or double layer of glass and an insulation panel at the back.

Much of the sunlight (solar energy) is prevented from escaping due to the glazing (the “greenhouse effect”).

These collectors are commonly used in moderate temperature applications (e.g. domestic hot water, space heating, year-round indoor pools and process heating applications).


Evacuated tube solar collectors

Evacuated tube solar collectors, as depicted in Figure 10, have an absorber with a selective coating enclosed in a sealed glass vacuum tube.

They are good at capturing the energy from the sun; their thermal losses to the environment are extremely low. Systems presently on the market use a sealed heat-pipe on each tube to extract heat from the absorber (a liquid is vaporised while in contact with the heated absorber, heat is recovered at the top of the tube while the vapour condenses, and condensate returns by gravity to the absorber).

Figure 10: System Schematic for Evacuated Tube Solar Collector
Figure 10: System Schematic for Evacuated Tube Solar Collector

Evacuated collectors are good for applications requiring energy delivery at moderate to high temperatures (domestic hot water, space heating and process heating applications typically at 60°C to 80°C depending on outside temperature), particularly in cold climates.

SOURCE: Clean Energy Project Analysis – RETScreen Engineering & Cases Textbook

Premium Membership

Get access to premium HV/MV/LV technical articles, electrical engineering guides, research studies and much more! It helps you to shape up your technical skills in your everyday life as an electrical engineer.
More Information
author-pic

Edvard Csanyi

Electrical engineer, programmer and founder of EEP. Highly specialized for design of LV/MV switchgears and LV high power busbar trunking (<6300A) in power substations, commercial buildings and industry facilities. Professional in AutoCAD programming.

7 Comments


  1. kailash kathat
    Sep 16, 2013

    I am kailash kathat
    Hi Can some one tell me any calculator of Solar Tubewell I need to Take out water from 400 Feet Depth so what type of DC/AC Motor and how much Solar Panels are required for 2.5 Inches Pipe Hoping for ur Positive response Thank’s
    Info at [email protected]


  2. Kakar Mahmood
    Aug 28, 2013

    Hi Can some one tell me any calculator of Solar Tubewell I need to Take out water from 100 Feet Depth so what type of DC Motor and how much Solar Panels are required for 2.0 Inches Pipe Hoping for ur Positive response Thanx


  3. boedyzoldik
    Jan 02, 2013

    hello mr. edvard, i will continuing my study in master degree on august, and i will take renewable energy topic, especially solar energy, i live in tropical country, Indonesia. I am beginner in solar energy, i need more detail explanation, from basic concept for sure. do you have any recommendation book?, thank you.


  4. Sat
    Jun 23, 2012

    Nice Information about solar Collectors…… Keep Continuing your good works…. EEP Rocks


  5. Solar Collector
    Oct 06, 2011

    Some really fantastic work on behalf of the owner of this internet site, absolutely great subject material.


    • Edvard
      Oct 06, 2011

      Thank you very much for kind words! Great efforts have been made to EEP’s content.

      BR

Leave a Comment

Tell us what you're thinking. We care about your opinion! Please keep in mind that comments are moderated and rel="nofollow" is in use. So, please do not use a spammy keyword or a domain as your name, or it will be deleted. Let's have a professional and meaningful conversation instead. Thanks for dropping by!

ninety four  ⁄  47  =  

Learn How to Design Power Systems

Learn to design LV/MV/HV power systems through professional video courses. Lifetime access. Enjoy learning!

Subscribe to Weekly Newsletter

Subscribe to our Weekly Digest newsletter and receive free updates on new technical articles, video courses and guides (PDF).
EEP Academy Courses - A hand crafted cutting-edge electrical engineering knowledge