Abstract
This paper reports the development and application of a new practical photovoltaic (PV) cells based device to measure the solar radiation flux produced by non-imaging Compound Parabolic Concentrators (CPCs) on cylindrical absorbers. The flexible experimental device comprises 12 discrete miniature PV panels that measure solar radiation on the surface of a cylindrical absorber. The device has been used to evaluate the performance of an asymmetric CPC system and results validated with a computer-based Ray Tracing Model. The study attained significant agreement between outdoor results of the experimental device and results of the ray tracing simulation with a difference of <9% in optical efficiencies. The non-imaging reflector illuminates a targeted section of the absorber of a horizontal east-west thermal diode Integrated Collector Storage Solar Water Heater. During outdoor testing, the experiments indicated a local concentration ratio reaching 1.4 suns on the targeted section of the absorber vessel surface for incidence angles -30 °≤θ i≤30 °, confirming technical suitability of the asymmetric CPC for deployment in locations at equatorial latitudes.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 36-52 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | Solar Energy |
| Volume | 198 |
| Early online date | 23 Jan 2020 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Mar 2020 |
Keywords
- Solar cogeneration
- Flux distribution
- CPC
- optical efficiency
- PV cells
- ray tracing
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Profiles
Jayanta Mondol
- Belfast School of Architecture & the Be - Reader
- Faculty Of Computing, Eng. & Built Env. - Research Director (Architecture, Built Environment and Planning)
Person: Academic