A review on Flat Plate

Solar Thermal Collector

Group: B6

Abrar Sobhan Chowdhury

ID: 170011068

Sadatuzzaman Saagoto
ID: 170011056
Abstract:
Thermal applications and power generation from solar radiation are emerging vary rapidly as
the world continues to thrive for energy sources of future, other than the conventional
sources. Solar thermal collector is one of the basic needs to convert sun’s energy to our
useable forms. Broadly, these collectors are divided into two groups, non-concentrating solar
thermal collectors and concentrating solar thermal collectors. This report aims to review the
‘Solar Flat Plate Thermal Collector’ which falls under the non-concentrating thermal
collectors. It achieves the target by walking through a brief history of the solar thermal
collectors, brief descriptions of various collector types, details construction and thermal
performance, with pointing out the areas where improvement can be done.

Introduction:
The fundamental source of energy on the Earth’s surface is the sun. The sun radiates huge
amount of energy which incidents on the Earth surface. This energy received by the sun is the
solar energy. Despite being an enormous energy radiator, the low density and intermittency
of solar energy calls for the storage and collection of this energy. As this radiant energy needs
to be harnessed and stored, several devices have been invented and studied upon. (Kalogirou,
2004)
One of such devices which converts the radiation of the sun into usable form is the solar
collector. Figure shows a solar collector. A solar collector absorbs sun’s radiant energy and
converts it to thermal energy for diversified use. This thermal or heat energy is then
transferred to the working substance either air or fluid. [CITATION Duf06 \l 2057 ] A solar
collector varies according to its design. A flat plate solar collector has the same intercepting
area as its absorbing area whereas a concentrated or curved surface collector has a smaller
receiver area compared to the interceptor area.(Chowdhury and Salam, 2019) A solar
collector works on the greenhouse effect principle. It absorbs the radiation of shorter
wavelength and keeps it trapped to heat the collector plate. The long wave radiation is usually
reflected back or remains unabsorbed. (Zondag, 2008; Tian and Zhao, 2013)
The present world energy condition focuses on the development of various renewable energy.
The most easily and readily available energy on the Earth is the radiation energy of the sun.
This radiant energy is harnessed by solar collectors and used for various domestic or
household purposes, even for a few industrial sectors. The use of solar energy not only puts
less pressure on the current sources of energy present but also shows a light of hope in
solving the current energy crisis. Solar water heating or solar energy usage is on rise mainly
for three reasons- firstly, the increase of price of available fossil fuels like oil, gas etc.
secondly, the world is getting concerned over the fact that fossil fuel is gradually being
replenished from the Earth and thirdly, the use of renewable energy reduces pollution as well
as demand on electricity.(Kalogirou, 2004; Luo et al., 2018)
In this report, a review of the solar flat plate collector is provided which is organised as
follows:
 A brief introduction about the types of solar collectors’ present.
 The construction, working procedure and application of a flat plate solar collector.
 Thermal analysis and performance improvement of flat plate collector.

1
 Figure: A typical solar flat plate collector (complet, 2019)

History of Solar Collector:

The use of solar energy or solar radiation was evident since the beginning of mankind.
The primary uses were related to drying clothes or other household items, but with the
progress of time major breakthroughs came since 1700s.
In 1767, Swiss scientist Horace-Benedict de Saussure created the first solar collector. He
used an insulated box which was covered with three glass layers to absorb sun’s
energy. William J. Baileys, in 1908, built a copper collector using copper coils and boxes. In
the 1950's, he first accurate model of flat plate solar collectors was developed by Hottel and
Willier. From then, people have been working for improvement and development of the solar
collectors. Recent studies show much improvement of efficiency of solar collectors. Further
researches and studies are in progress for more development in this sector. (Kalogirou, 2004;
Zondag, 2008)

Types of Collectors:
A solar collector’s main purpose is to absorb solar radiation of the sun and convert it
into heat energy by transferring heat to the working fluid. There are mainly two types of solar
collectors: -
1. Non-concentrating solar collectors
2. Concentrating solar collectors (Kalogirou, 2004)

1. Non-concentrating Solar Collectors: Non-concentrating solar collectors are usually

used for low temperature applications. These collectors consist of flat surface which
absorbs heat from the sun. The efficiency of non-concentrating collectors is
comparatively less but in terms of cost and maintenance these are much feasible.
There are a few types non-concentrating solar collectors. (Kalogirou, 2004; Tian and
Zhao, 2013)

2
 i. Flat Plate Solar Collector: Flat plate solar collector is a very basic type of solar
collector. It has a flat rectangular surface as an absorber. It is very efficient and
convenient for temperatures up to 100°C.[CITATION Duf06 \l 2057 ] These collectors
are classified as liquid type and air type based on their heating application. Flat
plate collector is usually set up in the top of a building or a structure or in an open
field and it uses both beam and diffused solar radiation for heating up. Figure (a)
shows a flat plate collector. Several types of flat plate collectors have been
designed since the 1900s by using different types of materials for improvement of
performance as well as making it cheaper and more long-lasting. In the later
section of this report detailed discussion about flat plate collectors is done.
(Kalogirou, 2004; Jesko, 2008; Amrutkar, 2012; Tian and Zhao, 2013;
Chowdhury and Salam, 2019; Fudholi and Sopian, 2019)

ii. Evacuated Tube Collector: Evacuated tube collector differs from the flat plate
collector in construction and operation. Figure (b) shows a flat plate collector.
Evacuated collectors are used in climates with high temperature or where the
temperature is too high for flat plate collector to work efficiently. Evacuated tube
collectors consist of a heat pipe inside a vacuum sealed tube. The heat pipe is
made of copper for high heat absorbance. In these collectors, liquid-vapour phase
change materials are used for high efficiency heat transfer. [ CITATION Yog00 \l 2057
] Another type of collector is present which consists of two concentric annealed
glass tube with vacuum between the layers. The glass tubes are usually made of
borosilicate glass. The inner tube works as the absorber of the solar radiation
which is coated with selective absorber coating. The vacuum, by creating isolation
between the tubes helps to reduce the heat losses by convection and conduction
and hence increases the efficiency of the collector. It acts by the principle of a
thermos flask. Evacuated tube collector can absorb both beam and diffused
radiation.(Kalogirou, 2004; Jesko, 2008; Tian and Zhao, 2013)

iii. Solar Pool Collector: Solar pool collectors are the collectors used for heating the
water directly using sun’s radiation. These collectors work in a similar way as that
of flat plate collectors but are unglazed, not covered with glass. Figure (c) shows a
flat plate collector. Solar pool collectors cannot work in freezing temperature.
They are mostly used for heating swimming pool water to 20°-25°C.(Jesko, 2008)

iv. Tank-type Collector: Tank-type collectors are similar to flat plate collectors in
working. They are used for heating water in a tank for domestic and household
purposes. Figure (d) shows a flat plate collector. These collectors are set in the
tank where water is to be heated and heats the water to a temperature near 50°-
60°C.(Jesko, 2008)

3
(a)

(b)

(c)

4
 (d)

Figure: (a) Flat plate solar [ CITATION Alt20 \l 2057 ], (b) Evacuated tube collector
[ CITATION Alt20 \l 2057 ] (c) Solar pool heaters (Solar Swimming Pool Heaters, 2020)
and (d) Tank type collector [ CITATION Alt20 \l 2057 ]

2. Concentrating Solar Collectors: Concentrating solar collectors are usually used for
high temperature applications more than 100°C. Concentrating collectors may be
reflectors or refractors. Wide variation is present in their design-parabolic, circular,
cylindrical, convex or concave etc. Concentrating collectors focuses sunlight using
lens and mirrors. The collectors maybe glazed or unglazed depending on the
requirement. There are both sun tracking system as the sun’s position changes with
time as well as non-tracking system. It is also divided in two types as line focusing
and point focusing. A few types of concentrating collectors are present.(Kalogirou,
2004; Jesko, 2008; Tian and Zhao, 2013)

i. Parabolic Trough Collector: Parabolic trough collector is a line focusing type of

solar collector where the radiation of the sun is focused along the focus of the
parabolic trough. Parabolic collectors are made by bending a reflective sheet into
parabolic shape. An absorber pipe covered with glass tube to protect it from dust
and moisture which reduces reflectivity is placed along the focal line and working
fluid usually water flows through it. The sun rays are reflected and falls on the
absorber tube which heats the working fluid [CITATION Duf06 \l 2057 ]. The
absorber or receiver tube is coated with material of high solar radiation
absorptance and the glass layer helps in reduction of thermal losses by convection
and radiation. By the use of one-axis tracking device, which tracks the sun
position in one direction only, either east-west or north-south, the position and
focus of the solar radiation changes with the elevation of the sun. The collector
pipe or the trough are rotated along the axis of the absorber pipe continuously.
Temperature up to 400°C can be obtained using this collector. Parabolic trough
collectors are the most advanced solar collector technologies and mainly used for

5
 solar thermal electricity generation.(Kalogirou, 2004; Zondag, 2008; Tian and
Zhao, 2013)[ CITATION Kre91 \l 2057 ]

Figure: Parabolic Trough Collector [ CITATION MUH17 \l 2057 ]

ii. Parabolic Dish Collector: It is a point focusing type of solar collector. The
receiver is placed at the focus of the concentrator or dish. The sun’s radiation is
collected at the receiver. [CITATION RWi74 \l 2057 ] It uses two axis sun tracking
system. It is used for high temperature works above 1500°C. Working fluid
circulates through the receiver. Dish collector is mainly used for small electricity
generation using sunlight. It is the most efficient among all collectors.(Kalogirou,
2004; Tian and Zhao, 2013)

Figure: Parabolic Dish Collector [ CITATION Man17 \l 2057 ]

iii. Heliostat Field Collector: It consists of a number of flat mirrors called heliostats
spread over a large region. Altazimuth mounts are used for setting up the mirrors.

6
 The heliostats focus the sun’s radiation to a common tower usually 500m long.
The collector or receiver is placed in the central tower which consist of vertical
tubes of flowing water. Up to 1500°C temperature is achievable using this
collector. The heliostats are controlled by automated tracking device to change
position with respect to the sun. Heliostat collectors are used for power generation
using high temperature steam generated from heating the working fluid.
(Kalogirou, 2004; Tian and Zhao, 2013)[CITATION Kal91 \l 2057 ]

Figure: Heliostat Field Collector (Kalogirou, 2004)

iv. Fresnel Lens Concentrating Collector: In this collector Fresnel lens is used.
Fresnel lens is flat on one side and provided with linear grooves on the other side.
The grooves possess optical quality for which the behave like a common lens. The
absorber tube is oriented in such a way that the radiation after refraction through
the lens is focused at the tube. [ CITATION Lor86 \l 2057 ] Another type of collector is
the linear Fresnel reflector which consists of a linear arrangement of flat or curved
elastic mirrors focusing light on a receiver mounted on the top a linear tower.
(Kalogirou, 2004; Tian and Zhao, 2013)

(a)

7
 (b)

Figure: (a) Linear Fresnel Reflector, (b) Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector
(Kalogirou, 2004)

Construction:
A typical flat plate solar collector consists of a glazed absorber plate, tubes, thermal
insulation, cover strip, insulated casing. Flat plate collectors are usually permanently fixed on
a roof top or an open field and doesn’t require any sun tracking system. The collectors are to
be oriented directly towards the equator, facing south in the northern hemisphere and north in
the southern. The optimum tilt angle of the collector must be equal to the latitude of the
location with angle variations of 10–15° more or less depending on the application. A short
description of the parts of a typical flat plate collector is given here. [ CITATION Yog00 \l 2057 ]
[CITATION Duf06 \l 2057 ] (Kalogirou, 2004)

a) Absorber Plate: The absorber plate is a rectangular sheet made of high heat
conducting material, especially copper or aluminium because of their high heat
conductivity. It is usually painted in black and coated with absorptive material to
get the maximum absorption of solar radiation. [CITATION Duf06 \l 2057 ] This thin
layer is highly absorbent to shortwave solar radiation but comparatively
translucent to long wave radiation. Another thin layer is provided below the
coating with high reflectance to long wave radiation. The absorber plate absorbs
the sun’s heat energy and transfer that to the working fluid with minimum heat
loss.(Kalogirou, 2004; Ibrahim et al., 2011; Amrutkar, 2012; Tian and Zhao,
2013) [ CITATION Joh15 \l 2057 ]

b) Headers: Tubes of large diameter are placed at the top and bottom of the absorber
plate for the entrance and discharge of fluid. The header pipes are made of copper
for maximum heat conduction from the absorber plate. [CITATION Duf06 \l 2057 ]
These header pipes are connected to the copper tubes by welding.(Kalogirou,
2004; Ibrahim et al., 2011; Amrutkar, 2012; Michael, S and Goic, 2015)

c) Tubes: Several tubes made of copper are placed on the absorber plate. The
working fluid flows through the tubes where they are heated. The copper tubes are
positioned parallelly on the absorber plate. [ CITATION Joh15 \l 2057 ] The liquid
tubes are connected at both ends by large diameter header tubes. These are
soldered and brazed to the absorber plate so that smooth heat transfer takes place

8
 between them by getting maximum surface contact. [CITATION Duf06 \l 2057 ]
(Kalogirou, 2004; Ibrahim et al., 2011; Amrutkar, 2012; Tian and Zhao, 2013)

Figure: Parts of a Flat Plate Collector

d) Glazing: Glazing refers to covering with glass or plastic having radiative

properties. A flat plate collector has single, double or multiple layers of glazing
above the blackened absorber plate. Low iron glass is mainly used for glazing
having high transmissivity of short-wave radiation and low or zero transmissivity
of long-wave radiation. [CITATION Duf06 \l 2057 ] The main purpose of glazing is to
allow as much as solar radiation possible and create an insulation of the absorber
plate with the environment by entrapping radiation to reduce convective losses as
well as radiative losses. Transmission of short-wave radiation can also be
increased by antireflective coating and surface texture. The glazing materials
doesn’t absorb heat like absorber plate.(Kalogirou, 2004; Amrutkar, 2012; Tian
and Zhao, 2013)

e) Insulation: Insulation is provided to the sides and bottom of the flat plate
collector to reduce heat loss. Different insulating materials like rubber, cotton,
wool is used for this purpose. Insulating substances decrease heat loss from the

9
 absorber plate and helps in heating the tubes as well as the plate.(Kalogirou, 2004;
Amrutkar, 2012)

f) Casing: A steel or wooden casing is used to hold the parts together. In the casing
a layer of insulation is provided at the bottom. The absorber plate is placed after
that with copper tubes incorporated in it. The sides are also insulated for the
reduction of heat loss through convection.[CITATION Duf06 \l 2057 ] Finally, the
glazing is done with glass to provide air gap between absorber and the
atmosphere. All the parts are soldered, brazed or welded properly to get maximum
surface contact and high heat transfer. Casing protects the parts from
environmental influences like dust particles, rainfall, moisture etc.(Amrutkar,
2012; Tian and Zhao, 2013)

Working:
A solar collector works as a water heater and is based on the transformation of the
absorbed solar radiation to thermal energy. In general, solar collector works by absorbing
solar radiation which incidents on the collector plate passing through the glazed glass. The
absorbed heat is then transferred to the working fluid flowing through the connected copper
tubes with minimum heat loss. The heated fluid is then moved to the place of its use or to a
storage tank for later use.[ CITATION Duf06 \l 2057 ]
A solar collector heating system is two types- active or direct and passive or indirect.
Active or direct solar collector is basically an open-loop system. In this system, a differential
temperature sensor is used to compare the temperature of the water to be heated. The heat
collected by the collector is transferred to the working fluid which goes directly to the storage
tank and then supplied to the household needs. A heat pump is used which draws cold water
from the bottom of the storage tank and circulates it through the solar collector. As a result,
the heated water is circulated through the tanks directly from the collector (Kalogirou, 2004;
Tian and Zhao, 2013; Jamar et al., 2016).
Open-loop system is of two types- drain-down system and the recirculating system.
In the drain-down system a valve is used to allow the solar collector to fill with water when
the collector reaches a certain temperature.
 
In the recirculating system water is pumped through the collector when the temperature in the
storage tank reaches a certain critical value.

Passive or indirect system is a closed-loop system. In this system, a heat transfer fluid called
glycol is used to circulate through the solar collector. Glycol after absorbing radiant heat
from the collector is passed to a heat exchanger where it heats the working fluid through heat
transfer. Glycol works as anti-freezing substance and can operate efficiently at freezing
temperature. The working fluid after being heated from the heat exchanger is transferred to a
storage tank for after use. (Bhowmik and Amin, 2017; Pandey and Chaurasiya, 2017)

10
Thermo-siphon system is a kind of passive system which consists of an insulated storage tank
set above the collectors. The heated fluid moves to the storage tank by convective process
and stored there. In response, the cold fluid circulates to the collector and gets heated up. In
this system, flow of fluid is slow. This system is simple and uses no energy and requires
comparatively low maintenance.(Zondag, 2008; Luo et al., 2018)
Air flat plate collectors works on the same principle but is used for conditioning of household
or commercial premises. It works by natural or forced convection of depending on absorbed
heat. In air heating systems, boiler is used to heat the air before using for space heating.
Blower or fan may also be used for forced flow of air in other applications. (Gordon, 2001)

Applications:
Solar collectors are primarily used for heating water for household purposes to reduce
the usage and of energy and fossil fuel. Typical application of flat plate solar collector
includes the following: [ CITATION Fla17 \l 2057 ] [CITATION Duf06 \l 2057 ][ CITATION Joh15 \l
2057 ] (Kalogirou, 2004)

 Water heating for household and residential use like washing clothes, bathing,
washing other equipment as well as drinking warm water is done by solar
collectors
 Industrial application of solar water heating includes the use of warm water in
leather industry, textile industry, food and beverage industry etc.
 Laundry shops use warm water for washing clothes by using either active or
passive collector
 Water of swimming pool is heated using solar collector
 Solar collectors are used in desalination plants for evaporation of water by
heating it to high temperature
 Solar concentrators are used for solar distillation by heating copper boilers
filled with water
 Solar powered electricity is generated from the radiant energy of the sun using
solar collectors
 Air heater is used for space heating in household and commercial zones
 Crop drying for agriculture industry is done by forced flow of air using air
heaters

Thermal Analysis:
Classical analysis on the basis of thermodynamic principles of a flat plate collector are
discussed in this section. The basic aspect of thermal analysis of a flat plate collector is the
thermal efficiency of the collector. (Özil and Yaşar, 1987; Kalogirou, 2004; Farahat, Sarhaddi
and Ajam, 2009; Amrutkar, 2012; Luo et al., 2018; Fudholi and Sopian, 2019) [ CITATION
Duf06 \l 2057 ][ CITATION Joh15 \l 2057 ][ CITATION Yog00 \l 2057 ]

I. Energy balance for a flat plate collector: Thermal efficiency is defined as the
ratio of the delivered useful energy in the working fluid to the incident solar energy

11
 on per unit collector or absorber area in a specific time period. Under steady
conditions, the useful energy delivered by the collector is given by [ CITATION
Duf06 \l 2057 ][ CITATION Joh15 \l 2057 ] (Özil and Yaşar, 1987)

Q u=I t Ac (τα) eff −Q l (0)

or, Qu=S A c −Ql (0)

where,
It = incident solar radiation on a collector surface
Ac = area of the absorber or collector
(τα)eff = effective solar cover(s) transmittance and absorber plate surface
absorptance product.
S = the difference between the incident solar radiation and the optical losses
Ql = heat loss to the surroundings from the collector plate
If the conditions remain constant, the instantaneous efficiency of a flat plate collector
is given by
Qu Qu (0)
η= =
Qa I t A c

Where,
Qu = useful thermal energy provided by the collector
Qa = the total absorbed solar energy by the collector

II. Overall Heat Loss Coefficient (UL): The efficiency of a flat plate collector can be
fully explained and studied if we know all the terms of the equation. For that, we
need to know the overall heat loss coefficient (U L) which is the collector heat loss
conductance. If the overall heat loss coefficient (UL) is known then by knowing the
average collector plate temperature (TP), the total heat loss by the collector to the
surroundings (Ql) can be found. This loss of thermal energy per unit area from the
collector to the surroundings by conduction, convection and infrared radiation can
be represented as the product of overall heat loss coefficient (UL) times the
difference between the average absorber plate temperature (TP) and the ambient
temperature of the surroundings (T∞).

Ql=U L A c (T P −T ∞) (0)

The overall heat loss coefficient (UL) can be calculated if we know the design
parameters of a flat plate collector. Let us consider the thermal network of a two-
cover system as shown in figure. At any location the plate temperature is (T P) and

12
the absorbed solar radiation compensating the optical losses is (S). This absorbed
energy (S) is distributed to thermal losses through the top, bottom and side and to
useful energy gain.[ CITATION Duf06 \l 2057 ] (Özil and Yaşar, 1987; Amrutkar,
2012)

a) Top loss coefficient (Ut): Since the top portion of a flat plate collector
remains covered with glass, the energy loss from this portion is mainly due to
convection and radiation between the parallel plates. The steady-state energy
transfer between the plate at TP and the first cover at Tc1 is the same as
between any other two adjacent covers and is also equal to the energy lost to
the surroundings from the top cover. [ CITATION Aga81 \l 2057 ] (Özil and
Yaşar, 1987)

Figure : Solar Resistance [ CITATION Duf06 \l 2057 ]

The loss through the top per unit area is then equal to the heat transfer from
absorber plate to the first cover:

σ (T 4P −T 4c1 ) (0)
q loss=h c, p−c 1 ( T P −T c 1 ) +
1 1
+ −1
ε P ε c1

13
 where hc,p-c1 is the convection heat transfer coefficient between two inclined
parallel plates. If the radiation heat transfer coefficient is used then the heat
loss becomes
q loss=(h ¿ ¿ c , p−c 1+ hr , p−c1 ) ( T P−T c1 ) ¿ (0)

where

σ (T P +T c 1)(T 2P +T 2c 1) (0)
hr , p−c 1=
1 1
+ −1
ε P ε c1

So, the resistance R3 can be expressed as

1 (0)
R 3=
h c, p−c1 +h r , p −c1

For the resistance R2, similar expression of equation (8) can be as mentioned
earlier, the heat transfer being equal. Thus, theoretically there can be as many
covers as desired but practical limit is two and the most used is a single cover
collector.
The resistance from the top cover to the surroundings has the same form as
equation (8) but there is the effect of wind induced convection heat transfer
coefficient (hw). The radiation resistance from the top cover accounts for
radiation exchange with the sky at temperature (Ts). For convenience, we
reference this resistance to the ambient temperature (T ∞), so that the radiation
heat transfer coefficient can be written as

σ ε c ( T c2 +T s ) (T 2c 2+ T 2s )(T c 2−T s ) (0)

hr ,c 2−∞=
(T c 2−T ∞)

The resistance to the surrounding R1 is then written as

1 (0)
R 1=
h w + hr .c 2−∞

For this two-cover system, the top loss coefficient (Ut) from the collector plate
to the environment is [ CITATION Duf06 \l 2057 ]
1 (0)
Ut=
R 1+ R 2+ R 3

14
 [ CITATION Hot42 \l 2057 ] and [CITATION Kle75 \l 2057 ] have developed the
following correlation for an FPC with all-glass covers:

1 σ (T P−T ∞ )(T 2P−T 2∞ ) (0)

Ut= +
N 1 1 2+ f −1
+ + −1
T P −T ∞ hc 2 ε p+ 0.0425(1−ε p) εg

where
f = (1 - 0.04 hc,∞ - 0.0005 h2c,∞) (1 – 0.058 N)
N = number of covers
εp, εg = infrared emittance of absorber plate and cover respectively.
When the collector inclination angle is not 45°, a correction for (Ut) is needed:
(Özil and Yaşar, 1987)

U t (φ) (0)
=1−(φ−45)(0.00259−0.00144 ε p)
U t (45 °)

Where,
Ut (φ) = the angle at which collector is inclined

b) Bottom loss coefficient (Ub): In order to find the energy loss through the
bottom, there are two series resistance R4 and R5, where R4 represents the heat
loss through the insulation and R5 represents the heat loss by convection and
radiation to the environment. It can be assumed that R5 is zero because all heat
loss takes place through the insulation. The coefficient of heat loss through
the bottom (Ub) can be approximated as: [ CITATION Duf06 \l 2057 ] (Özil and
Yaşar, 1987)

1 k (0)
U b= =
R4 L
Where,
k = thermal conductivity of the insulating material
L = thickness of the insulation

15
 c) Side loss coefficient (Us): The evaluation of the heat loss through the edges
and sides of the collector is usually complicated. But the side loss being small
it is unnecessary to calculate it will good accuracy in a well-designed system.
If the edges have the same insulation thickness as that of the bottom, the side
loss can be estimated as one-dimensional sideways heat flow across the
perimeter of the collector plate. (Özil and Yaşar, 1987)
If the edge loss coefficient-area product is (U/A) edge, then the side loss
coefficient based on the collector area (Ac) is

(UA )edge (0)

U s=
Ac

In any case, the overall heat loss coefficient of a collector is expressed as the of the
losses in top, bottom and sides, [ CITATION Duf06 \l 2057 ] (Özil and Yaşar, 1987)

U L =U t +U b +U s (0)

III. Absorber Plate Efficiency: Let us consider a finned tube collector shown in figure.
The factors influencing the amount of heat transferred from the absorber plate to the
transport fluid under the steady state conditions are:
• the absorber plate temperature
• the transport fluid bulk temperature
• the overall heat transfer coefficient between the plate and the fluid.

16
 Figure : Plate temperature distribution in a typical finned tube collector (Özil and
Yaşar, 1987)

Making use of the heat transfer relationships for the finned surfaces and assuming
a fin of length (ω) with the tube being the base at a temperature T b, we can write
the following equation: (Özil and Yaşar, 1987)

UL (0)
m=
√( k pt )
1 (0)
ηp= tanh(m¿¿ ω) ¿
mω

Where,
kp = the absorber plate's thermal conductivity
t = thickness respectively
np = the absorber plate efficiency

17
IV. Collector Efficiency Factor (F'): The collector absorbs solar energy which is
transferred to the working fluid flowing through the tubes. The thermal energy is
removed by conduction process to the working fluid which is the useful energy
gain. The heat energy which is transferred mainly depends on two factors: [ CITATION
Duf06 \l 2057 ] (Cruz-Peragon et al., 2012)
 convective heat transfer coefficient between the tube wall and the fluid (hf)
 thermal resistance (bond conductance) between the tube wall and the fin
(Cb).
The overall heat gain to the working fluid is expressed as:

T b −T f (0)
Q '=
1 1
+
hf πD C b

Where,
Tf = local temperature of the working fluid
D = internal diameter of the tube
Cb = bond conductance
For better performance of collector, the bond conductance needs to be of a minimum
value. [ CITATION Whi63 \l 2057 ] concluded that good metal to metal contact is needed
so that bond conductance is greater than 30W/m°C or else there would be a
significant loss of performance of the collector. [ CITATION Duf06 \l 2057 ] The bond
conductance is defined by bond thermal conductivity (k b), average bond thickness (γ)
and bond width (b).

kb b (0)
C b=
γ

Now, eliminating Tb from equation (19), we get,

Q '=WF ' [ S−U L (T f −T ∞ ) ] (0)

The term F' in the equation is the collector efficiency factor.

18
 1 (0)
UL
F '=
1 1 1
W
[ U L [D+ W −D F]
( )
+ +
C b h f πD
]
Where,
W = the distance between the tubes
D = the diameter of the tube
F = fin efficiency parameter
At a particular location, F' represents the ratio of the actual useful energy gain to the
useful gain that would result if the collector surface had been at the local fluid
temperature. F' physically represents the ratio of thermal resistance between the
collector surface and ambient air to the thermal resistance between the working fluid
and surroundings. Thus, F' is the ratio of two heat transfer coefficients.

UO (0)
F '=
UL

For any collector design and fluid flow, the collector efficiency factor (F') remains
constant. It is a function of overall heat loss coefficient (U L) and hf. Both parameters
are dependent on temperature but not a strong function of temperature. Another factor
on which F' depends is the fin efficiency factor F which has a strong dependence on
temperature. F' varies inversely with the overall heat loss coefficient. [ CITATION
Duf06 \l 2057 ] (Özil and Yaşar, 1987; Luo et al., 2018)

V. Collector Heat Removal Factor (FR): The expressions for ηp and F' were both
derived with the basic assumption that the transport fluid temperature T f remained
constant within the collector. But practically Tf increases along the length of the
tube. The quantity which relates the useful energy gain by the collector to the
energy gain if the collector surface were at the fluid inlet temperature is the
collector heat removal factor FR. [ CITATION Duf06 \l 2057 ] (Özil and Yaşar, 1987)

ṁC P (T fo −T fl ) (0)
FR=
A c [S−U L ( T fl −T ∞ ) ]

Now, removing the Tf from the equation and using F', we obtain:

19
 ṁC P − Ac U L F ' (0)
FR=
Ac U L [ (
1−exp
ṁC P )]
Where,
m = the mass flow rate of the working fluid
Cp = the heat capacity of the fluid

VI. Collector Flow Factor (F''): The collector flow factor F'' is the ratio of the FR to F'.
The collector flow factor is a function single variable dimensionless quantity, the
collector capacitance rate. [ CITATION Duf06 \l 2057 ] (Özil and Yaşar, 1987; Cruz-
Peragon et al., 2012)

FR ṁ C P −A c U L F ' (0)
F ' '= =
F ' Ac U L F ' [ (
1−exp
ṁ C P )]
The quantity FR is the ratio of the actual heat transfer to the maximum possible heat transfer.
The maximum rate of heat transfer from a collector occurs when the collector surface remains
at the temperature of the inlet fluid. The loss to the surrounding becomes minimum then. The
actual useful energy obtained is then given as the product of the collector heat removal factor
(FR) and the maximum possible heat energy obtained. [ CITATION Duf06 \l 2057 ]

Qu= A c F R [S−U L ( T i−T ∞ ) ] (0)

Improvement of Performance:
Performance of solar flat plate collectors is always of the highest priority. Researchers
across the globe are working relentlessly to make the collectors more efficient and cost
effective. A significant amount of improvements of solar flat plate collector can be done but
the priority should be maximum increment of annual heat collection with minimum cost.
Before going into details of the performance analysis, first, we need to define some
parameters based on which we can discuss the improvements. Typically, a flat plate thermal
collector is made of glazing covers, plates for absorbing heat, insulating layers, pipes filled
with working fluid and other components as well. Every component has some very specific
tasks which contribute to the overall system efficiency. Improvement in the performance will
be discussed upon these factors with details examination of different materials to build the
components.
Glazing can be made of glass and can be of single layer or multiple layers. It can also be
made of other materials which behave transparent to short wave radiation but blocks the long
wave radiation. The task of a glazing is to reduce convection loss as well as to reduce

20
irradiation losses. Low-iron glass is a great candidate for the glazing material. It has a
transmittance of approximately 0.85-0.87 for solar radiation and a zero transmittance for
radiation between 5µm-50 µm.(Khoukhi and Maruyama, 2005) It is founded that Teflon film
or Teflon honeycomb structure used as a second glazing can increase the performance of the
thermal collector. An overall performance increase of 5.6% is observed at 50 ⁰C operating
temperature whereas a 12.1% increase is seen at the same operating temperature by using
Teflon honeycomb (reduces convection loss). Antireflection coating is another option to
increase overall performance. At 50⁰C operating temperature 6.5% increase in performance
can be achieved by using antireflection treatment.(Hellstrom et al., 2003).
Mostly, the absorber plate is coated with black surfaces so that maximum heat can be
absorbed. “Desirable selective surfaces usually consist of a thin upper layer, which is highly
absorbent to shortwave solar radiation but relatively transparent to long-wave thermal
radiation, and a thin lower layer that has a high reflectance and a low emittance for long-
wave radiation.” (Tian and Zhao, 2013). Different color coatings have also been proposed. In
the experiment blue and red-brown color absorbers are inspected. Efficiency of the collector
is close to that of using a black observer but color paints of black tone is a requirement. These
observers are efficient in variety range of operating temperature. The results are shown
below:

21
Figure: Comparison of coating of absorber plate using different color (Tripanagnostopoulos,
Souliotis and Nousia, 2000)
Another proposed and examined type of absorber plate is nickel pigmented aluminium-oxide.
By using this absorber net collective flux was increased highly when absorptivity goes high
with constant emissivity but the conversion efficiency increased a little. (Wazwaz et al.,
2002)
To get an optimal performance, not only thermal performance improvement is necessary but
also it is needed to reduce losses form absorber plates. A honeycomb structure made of
transparent material and inserted into the air gap between the glazing and the absorber is
beneficial to prevent heat loss form the absorber plate. (Francia G., 1961)
System overheating is one of the main problems of a solar flat plate collector which needs to
be addressed. One of the easiest ways to prevent system overheating is transferring of the
heat energy, absorbed by the absorber, rapidly to system’s work fluid (Slaman and Griessen,
2009). Good heat transfer is a must in solar receivers (Tian and Zhao, 2013). Introduction of
porous insertion significantly affect the heat transfer of solar receivers. With this insertion
heat transfer improves but it introduces a pressure drop as a penalty. “The heat transfer was
augmented in all receivers due to increase in heat transfer area, thermal conductivity and
turbulence. The maximum heat transfer coefficient is achieved in top half porous disc
receiver with H = 0.5di, w = di at h =30° with reasonable drag. The percentage increases in
Nusselt number for optimum receiver configuration is 64.2% compared to tubular receiver at
Reynolds number of 31,845 with the pressure drop of 457 Pa. There is a scope to optimize
the receiver configuration with other working fluids, materials different porosity values of the
receiver.” (Ravi Kumar and Reddy, 2009) The heat transfer from the solar collectors can be
improved significantly by introducing oscillating laminar flow of working fluid inside the
recuperating pipes. Oscillating flow increases the thermal diffusivity of the working fluid
which contributes to overall increase in thermal efficiency (Lambert, Cuevas and del Río,
2006). Another way of increasing efficiency is employing a recycle type double pass device
for solar receiver. This method works by increasing velocity of the working fluid. The system
takes advantages of premixing and recycle effects to increase the inlet temperature leading to
an improved thermal performance. Performance of solar collector is improved basically for
higher fluid velocity and higher heat transfer co-efficient. A penalty of this system is
decreasing of temperature difference based on which heat transfer takes place. (Ho, Yeh and
Wang, 2005).

22
Figure: Schematic of double passage solar collector with porous media in the second channel
(Sopian et al., 2009).
In the figure d1 is the upper channel depth and d2 is the lower one. This experiment
investigated the variable d1 and d2 in order to find an optimal one.(Tian and Zhao, 2013)
Sopian et al., (2009) proved if there is a porous media in the second channel then the outlet
temperature increases as a result overall thermal efficiency of the system improves. Another
study suggests that using different fins thermal performance can be increased. “The overall
panel heat transfer increases when the fin pitch (or the fin angle) is decreased, when the fin
thickness is increased, and when the thermal conductivity ratio is increased. The streamwise
pressure drop increases with decreasing fin pitch (or fin angle) and increasing fin thickness.
For a fixed fin thickness, the selection of a small fin pitch (or fin angle) over the range
studied results in a higher heat transfer enhancement per unit pumping power.” (Ackermann,
Ong and Lau, 1995) Polycarbonate honeycombs can be implemented to obtain better heat
transfer rate. CFD modelling was used to determine the effects and confirmed with the
theoretical results (Martinopoulos et al., 2010). Exergetic study shows that, “By increasing
the incident solar energy per unit area of the absorber plate, the exergy efficiency increases.
The exergy efficiency decreases rapidly when the ambient temperature and the wind speed
increase. Since these parameters change during the day, for having the maximum exergy
efficiency other parameters and the solar collector operating conditions should change during
the day and the design of solar collector should be based on the daily average of these
parameters. The design parameters such as pipes’ diameter have a little effect on the exergy
efficiency.” (Farahat, Sarhaddi and Ajam, 2009)
“In addition, Selmi et al. (2008) simu- lated heat transfer phenomena in flat-plate solar
collectors using commercial CFD codes by considering the mixed heat transfer modes of
conduction, convection and radiation between tube sur- face, glass cover, side walls and
insulating base of the collector, and their results achieved good agreement with test
data.”(Selmi, Al-Khawaja and Marafia, 2008) (Tian and Zhao, 2013).

23
Conclusion:
Details description of the solar flat plate collector is presented in this paper, including
mechanism of construction and working principle, mathematical background to evaluate its
performance, applications as well as a qualitative approach to find out the areas where
research can be done to enhance the performance. Improvement of performance are described
mostly based on thermal performance enhancement. Different materials are examined for
making the components like absorber plate, glazing etc. to maximize efficiency.

24
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