11/1/2012

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Solar Energy Basics
Lecture 3 Thermal Systems
Sergio Capareda
BAEN, TAMU
Available Solar Radiation
Solar or short wave radiation 0.3 3m range
Long wave radiation radiation originating from
sources at temperatures near ordinary ambient
temperatures (wavelengths > 3 um).
Instruments to measure solar radiation
Pyrheliometer measured direct solar radiation
Pyranometer measures global (direct + diffuse)
radiation
Pyranometer with shaded ring measures diffuse
solar radiation
Designing Flat Plate Collectors
Basic equation
where
Q
u
= useful energy (MJ) also q
u
=Q
u
/A
c
A
c
= collector area (m
2
)
S = incident solar radiation (MJ/m
2
h)
U
L
= overall heat loss coefficient (W/m
2
C)
T
pm
= mean plate temperature (
o
C)
T
a
= ambient temperature (
o
C)
)] ( [
a pm L c u
T T U S A Q =
Equation Development
An alternate equation is given by
where,
Tf = mean fluid temperature, and
F = is the collector efficiency factor (It is difficult to measure T
pm
)
Another simplified equation
where
T
in
= inlet water temperature
F= collector flow factor
F
R
= FF = collector heat removal factor
)] ( [
'
a f L c u
T T U S F A Q =
)] ( [
' ' '
a i L c u
T T U S F F A Q =
)] ( [
a i L R c u
T T U S F A Q =
(
(

|
|
.
|

\
|
=
p
L c
L c
p
R
C m
F U A
U A
C m
F

'
exp 1
(
(

|
|
.
|

\
|
= =
p
L c
L c
p R
C m
F U A
F U A
C m
F
F
F

'
' '
' '
exp 1
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Example. Calculate the daily useful gain and efficiency of an
array of 10 solar collector modules installed in Boulder, CO.
Other data: Ti = 40C; m = 0.03 kg/s; Cp = 4,190J/kgC; UL =
8 W/m
2
-h; F = 0.841
Time T
a
(
o
C) I
T
(MJ/m
2
h)
S
(MJ/m
2
h)
U
L
(T
i
-T
a
) q
u
(MJ/m
2
h)
Efficiency

7-8 -11 0.02 0.01 1.46 0.00 0.00

8-9 -8 0.43 0.35 1.38 0.00 0.00
9-10 -2 0.99 0.82 1.21 0.00 0.00
10-11 2 3.92 3.29 1.09 1.76 0.45
11-12 3 3.36 2.84 1.07 1.42 0.42
12-1 6 4.01 3.39 0.98 1.93 0.48
1-2 7 3.84 3.21 0.95 1.81 0.47
2-3 8 1.96 1.63 0.92 0.57 0.29
3-4 9 1.21 0.99 0.89 0.08 0.07
4-5 7 0.05 0.04 0.95 0.00 0.00
Sum 19.79 7.57
Solution
1. Dimensionless collector mass flow rate is
2. Flow factor
3. Heat removal factor
4. Average loss rate from 10-11 am
5. Useful energy gain per unit collector area
6. Collector efficiency for this hour and daylong efficiency
7. Daily useful gain for all collectors
35 . 9
841 . 0
1
8 2
190 , 4
sec
03 . 0
2
2
'
=

= x
J
W s
x
W x m
C m
x
kgC
J
x
kg
F U A
C m
L c
p

948 . 0
35 . 9
1
exp 1 35 . 9 exp 1
'
' '
' '
=
(

|
.
|

\
|
=
(
(

|
|
.
|

\
|
= =
p
L c
L c
p R
C m
F U A
F U A
C m
F
F
F

797 . 0 948 . 0 * 841 . 0 exp 1

'
= =
(
(

|
|
.
|

\
|
=
p
L c
L c
p
R
C m
F U A
U A
C m
F

h m MJ T T U
a i L
2
/ 09 . 1 3600 * ) 2 40 ( * 8 ) ( = =
h m MJ x
A
Q
q
c
u
u
2 6
/ 76 . 1 10 ) 09 . 1 29 . 3 ( 797 . 0 = = =
%) 45 ( 45 . 0
92 . 3
76 . 1
or
I
q
A I
Q
T
u
c T
u
= = = = q %) 38 ( 38 . 0
79 . 17
57 . 7
or
I
q
T
u
day
= =
E
E
= q
MJ x Q
u
150 10 57 . 7 * 2 * 10
6
= = E
Solar Dryer with Rockbed Heat Storage
Concentrating Collectors
Concentrating collectors deliver energy at
temperatures higher than those possible with
flat plate collectors
Collector configurations
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Area Concentration Ratio (ACR)
ACR the ratio of the area of aperture to
the area of receiver.
Equation for parabolic dish
The collector flow factor is
Calculations similar to flat plate collectors
with more solar radiation absorbed.
area receiver
area aperture
A
A
ACR
r
a
= =
(

= ) (
a i L
a
r
R a u
T T U
A
A
S F A Q
(
(

|
|
.
|

\
|
= =
p
L r
L r
p R
C m
F U A
F U A
C m
F
F
F

'
' '
' '
exp 1
Solar Distillation Systems
Processes
1. Evaporation, e
2. Condensation, c
3. Radiation, r
4. Convection, c,
5. Conduction, k
Governing equation:
b = basin, g = glass cover, and transmittance of cover
( )
dt
dT
mC q q q q G
b
b
p k g b c g b r e c
+ + + + =
, ,
o t
c
t
TAMU Solar Still Designs
2.9L/m
2
/day
2.2L/m
2
/day
1.2 L/m
2
/day
2.2L/m
2
/day
Electricity Generation Costs for
Renewables
Electricity Generation Cost (2008) Cents/kWh
Combined cycle gas turbine 3-5
Wind 4-7
Biomass gasification 7-9
Remote diesel generation 20-40
Solar PV central station 20-30
Solar PV distributed 20-50
Solar Thermal 15-20
Source: Solar Buzz, 2008 at http://www.solarbuzz.com