Influence of Cavity Materials and Selective Surface Coatings on the Performance of SCC

Abstract

It is evident that the future energy demand can be compensated by using solar energy. The technological improvements are needed to trap the sunlight and have to be utilized in an efficient way. It mainly depends on the type of material which is to be used for this purpose. Solar energy can be effectively captured and utilized to heat the heat transfer fluids. Therefore the usage of solar energy is a right choice as it has the ample availability in countries like India.Solar cavity collector [SCC] is a kind of improvised, modified and redesigned construction of a solar Flat Plate Collector (FPC). In short, SCC is an upgraded and advanced version of FPC. A Copper pipe has been positioned concentrically fitted to a radius (outer) of 16 mm and placed into a metal box like structure having a size of 50 mm. In a similar way, five numbers of such cavities are formed. It has a provision for inlet and outlet water pipes. It has been designed, fabricated and experimented for its optimized level of performance. This paper explains about the usage of materials and solar selective surface coatings that are applicable to Solar Cavity Collector (SCC). The following experimental modifications are carried out in the SCC which are 1.Reciever materials of the SCC have been changed as aluminum and copper. 2. Cavity materials as Galvanized Iron (G.I) material and Mild Steel (M.S) material, both are experimented. 3. Solar selective coatings (SSC) of Black nickel have been used in SCC for the heat transfer improvement.