Analysis of the top heat loss factor of flat plate solar collectors with single and double glazing

Abstract

The dependence of the top heat loss factor of flat plate solar collectors with single and double glazing on the basic parameters was studied. An improved technique for calculation of the top heat loss factor of flat plate collectors with single glazing has recently been proposed by the authors. The present work, covering the flat plate collectors with single as well as double glazing, carefully examines the impact of the glass cover temperature(s) estimated by simple empirical relation(s) on the individual heat transfer coefficients and hence on the top heat loss factor. An analysis of the capability of the new method to accurately compute the top heat loss factor over an extensive number of combinations of the basic parameters has been carried out.