Performances of Solar Thermal Collectors in Different Climatic Conditions

The chapter presents the fundamentals for performance evaluation of different types of solar thermal collectors (STC): flat thermal collectors (FTC), evacuated thermal collectors (ETC) and concentrated thermal collectors (CTC). All the STC can be integrated in the built environment. The chapter presents the mathematical modelling of the solar geometry and of the thermal efficiency of STC. The mathematical model was implemented in Excel and proved its capability to provide accurate results. The performance parameters of the collectors that were evaluated are the thermal efficiency and the specific thermal energy production (W/m2). The mentioned parameters of performance were evaluated in the different climatic conditions specific to multiple locations worldwide (Europe, USA and Africa), available from the data provided by the typical meteorological year (TMY). The input data of solar radiation and of ambient temperature were considered based on hourly variation. Real technical data and characteristics of each solar collector were made available by independent testing laboratories and by technical leaflets were considered in the investigation.