EFFECT OF PARABOLIC TROUGH SOLAR COLLECTOR ORIENTATION ON ITS COLLECTION EFFICIENCY

Authors: A. S. Hegazy ^a;  M. M. El-Kassaby ^b; M. A. Hassab ^b

Affiliations:	a Mechanical Power Engineering Department, Monoufia University, Egypt
	b Mechanical Power Engineering Department, Alexandria University, Egypt

DOI: 10.1080/01425919508914275

Publication Frequency: 4 issues per year

Published in: International Journal of Sustainable Energy, Volume 16, Issue 3 January 1995 , pages 173 - 183

Subjects: Alternative & Renewable Energy Industries; Alternative Fuels; Energy Conservation; Green Buildings; Power & Energy; Power Electronics; Renewable & Sustainable Energy; Solar Energy; Sustainable Engineering;

Formats available: PDF (English)

Previously published as: International Journal of Solar Energy (0142-5919) until 2003

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Abstract Parabolic trough solar collector PTC is often oriented with its axis horizontally in the North-South or East-West direction. However, it may be set in a position where its axis makes an angle Ψ with the south direction. The main objective of the present work is to study the effect of this angle on the collection efficiency. An algorithm for calculating the collection efficiency for any time period has been developed. The results obtained by using this algorithm by using this algorithm show that the maximum daily collection efficiencies ηc,d all over the year are obtained for the N-S orientation at sites having latitude angles Φ ≤ 15°. For latitude angles Φ > 15°, ηc,d are much higher in summer days than in winter ones for N-S orientation. In the case of orienting die collector with an angle 70° lt; Ψ ≤ 90°, ηc,d are higher in winter days than in summer ones This orientation is preferable to obtain almost constant output of PTC through the whole year. The results show also that a trough oriented with an angle of 70° from N-S direction has almost a constant daily collection efficiency all over the year in order of 82% when considering the reflectivity of the collector surface equal to unity. Also, the effect of orientation on yearly collection efficiency ηc,y are minor at latitude angle Φ between 30° and 40° while the effect of orientation becomes important outside this range.

Keywords: Parabolic trough collector; Collector orientation; Collection efficiency; Latitude angle; Incident angle