Thermal performance testing and theory study of small parabolic trough collector system

Abstract

To broaden the application field of solar energy, a small solar parabolic trough collector system has been developed. In this paper, with the concept of equivalent aperture area for the collector system defined, a mathematical model for heat absorption and heat loss of the system is established. The variation tendency of solar incident angle and beam radiation availability is summarized for the collector system rotated about a horizontal east-west axis in Guangzhou at a typical date. With the mathematical model, the variation of the collector system heat loss is analyzed, and a method validated against test for improving its thermal performance is presented. The experiment shows that the collector system has high thermal efficiency in mid-temperature ranges, and at 150℃, the system thermal efficiency reaches about 50%.