Engineering analysis and testing of water-trickle solar collector, report No. 2. Annual progress report, June 1975--May 1976

Technical Report · Tue Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1976

OSTI ID:7136267

Beard, J T

An outdoor solar collector facility has been developed at the University of Virginia for the purpose of conducting a thermal performance evaluation of the Thomason ''SOLARIS'' water-trickle solar collector panels. The facility has been used for simultaneously testing four ''SOLARIS'' collector panels under different operational conditions of inlet water temperatures and flow rates with the same atmospheric exposure. Results demonstrate the performance of the Thomason ''SOLARIS'' collector with efficiencies ranging from 25 percent up to approximately 75 percent. A near linear relationship of efficiency is displayed as a function of the difference between inlet water temperature and the ambient temperature, divided by the incident solar energy. The significant scatter in the data results from other variables which are analyzed and include glazing cleanliness, angle of incidence, water evaporation and condensation, wind condition, and the influence of condensate droplets on the overall solar energy transmitted to the absorbing surface. The performance of the ''SOLARIS'' water-trickle collector is compared with published results for conventional single and double flat-plate collectors.

• Research Organization: Virginia Univ., Charlottesville (USA). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
• OSTI ID: 7136267
• Report Number(s): ORO-4927-76/2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
141000* -- Solar Collectors & Concentrators
COVERINGS
EFFICIENCY
FLAT PLATE COLLECTORS
PERFORMANCE TESTING
SOLAR COLLECTORS
SURFACES
TESTING