Experimental analysis of concrete absorber solar water heating systems

Abstract

In the present work, three different types of solar water heaters with concrete absorber have been fabricated with different collector design, experiments were conducted simultaneously and comparative performance study has been made. First collector has been fabricated with concrete embedded with aluminium pipes for water flow while in second design, thermal conductive material has been added with concrete. In third heater, instead of aluminium pipe, PVC pipes are used. Metallic scrap and wire mesh have been used as a thermal conductivity materials to increase the thermal conductivity of the absorber plate. The collectors were tested at the insolation levels from 300 to 900W/m during the month of March 2013–May 2013. Experiments were also conducted at different inclination angles of 0°, 18°, and 30°. Possibilities of using open terrace of the concrete buildings as solar waters has been explored.