Theoretical and experimental investigation into incident radiation on solar conical collector

Abstract

The geometry of a collector is one of the important factors that can increase the incident radiation on the collector surface. In the present study, the incident radiation for a stationary collector with cone geometry, i.e. a conical collector, is theoretically and experimentally investigated. This type of collector is always stable and does not need a fixture to install. Moreover, it has a symmetric geometry, with all its sides facing the sun. The main advantage of this collector is its ability to receive beam, diffuse, and ground-reflected radiation throughout the day. The variation of the incident radiation is theoretically estimated by using an isotropic sky model based on the available data. The theoretical data are validated by an experimental test of a conical collector of a specific size. The results show that the conical solar collector is more operative in receiving total solar radiations than a horizontal plate such as a flat-plate collector and can be a suitable option for solar water heating. A calculation of the incident radiation shows that the incident radiation is maximized when the cone angle of the conical collector is equal to the latitude of the site test.