An Improved Design and Analysis of a Solar Receiver

Abstract

In this study, a solar cavity heat receiver for a 36 m² two-axis parabolic dish collector has been designed, analyzed by employing computational fluid dynamics (CFD), manufactured in a local workshop and then tested experimentally on site. The receiver is an open type with a diameter of 624mm and a depth of 665mm and has a steel pipe spiral tubing with a helical tubing at the bottom. The diameter of the concentrated sunlight at the focal point was found to be 200 mm as a result of optical analysis with perfect mirror surface approach. The CFD model of the receiver, assuming the actual boundary conditions such as volumetric flow rate, input temperature of circulating water and line pressure showed that analyses approached the actual process, and also the process indicated that the analyses can be improved by taking into account the thermal radiation. Since for a period of approximately 30 minutes the system showed a steady-state characteristic during the daytime, a set of experimental measurements were carried out. It was found that the analytical outlet temperature was 1.07% higher than the experimentally measured outlet temperature and the numerical temperature was 0.15% higher than the experimental result.

ANFIS Based Real-Time Power Reference Generator for PV Applications

“…Renewable energy sources offer alternative solutions to the current energy crisis and the most popular of these sources is solar energy [1][2][3][4]. It can be directly converted into electrical energy thanks to PV cells using the photovoltaic effect [5].…”