Concrete Solar Collector- an Experimental Investigation in Solar Passive Energy

Abstract

The overall development of any country in the world depends on the demand and supply of energy. The energy demand has been increasing gradually and the supply is limited. With the increasing per capita power consumption, the depletion of conventional resources, an increase in the cost of power production and environmental pollution are emerging issues of concern in future. Seeking non-conventional energy resources and technologies will be solutions to these problems to a great extent. This paper aims at ascertaining the feasibility of using concrete for producing solar water heater and makes the heater more cost effective. This paper paves way for the possible meshing of concrete collector with roof slab to provide human comfort and hot water requirement. With these facts in mind concrete solar collector, of size 2 m 2 was developed, designed, fabricated and tested in Pune. Trials were conducted in both winter and summer season on the concrete collector for different mass flow rates from 20 to 45 liter/hr. The average outlet water temperature was found to be 58◦C. The average overall efficiency of concrete collector is found to be 34%. The optical efficiency of the concrete collector is found to be 42.75%. The overall heat loss coefficient of the concrete collector is found to be 11.2 W/m 2 K