Design, Modification, and Performance Study of a Serpentine Tube Solar Water Collector

Abstract

Interest in various renewable energy technologies has increased due to factors such as rising costs for conventional fuels, rising energy demand, concerns about climate change, and pollutants produced by burning fossil fuels. For various industries, air-conditioning has a substantial energy cost. Both residential and commercial water and air heating have been accomplished with the help of renewable energy. In this project, the design modification and performance study of a solar water collector, which uses thermal energy from solar radiation to heat water are presented. Design modification has been done with the collector. A double-glazing cover is placed at the top to reduce the heat loss. A two flank reflectors on both side occupying an area of 8.4 m² have been integrated to capture more radiation reflected to collector with the aim to improve system performance. The amount of solar energy absorbed by the absorber, the amount of heat transferred to the heat transfer fluid (HTF), and the length of fluid residence time in the collectorall affect a flat plate solar water collector's (FPSWC) thermal performance. This real- time experimental study compares the modified serpentine channeled FPSWC's thermal efficiency to that of a traditional collector without reflectors. The project is a modification of the previously fabricated serpentine tube solar water collector. After the design and modification, the serpentine tube solar water collector was tested to determine its performance. The setup exhibits a notable improvement in its thermal performance after more components were added. It shows the temperature rise of 23˚C, which reach a new maximum water temperature of 80 ˚C from 57 ˚C, which was the previous setup's temperature. Additionally, the thermal efficiency has been increased to 41% for the new setup. It is evident the design modification has improved the performance of a traditional serpentine tube solar water collector.