Thermal performance testing of flat-plate collectors

Abstract

Existing standards for testing the performance of flat-plate solar collectors are documented in ASHRAE 93 [ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 93-2003, 2003. Methods of Testing to Determine Thermal Performance of Solar Collectors, ISSN: 1041-2336, ASHRAE, Inc., 1791 Tullie Circle, Ne, Atlanta, GA30329], ISO 9806-1 [ISO Standard 9806-1:1994(E), 1994. Test Methods for Solar Collectors – Part 1: Thermal Performance of Glazed Liquid Heating Collectors Including Pressure Drop, ISO, Case Postale 56, CH-1211 Geneve 20, Switzerland] and EN12975-2 [European Standard EN12975-2:2001, 2001. Thermal Solar Systems and Components – Solar Collectors – Part 2: Test Methods, CEN, Rue de Stasart, 36, B-1050, Brussels]. The ASHRAE 93 standard requires an experimental determination of the steady-state collector efficiency under prescribed environmental conditions for a range of collector fluid temperatures. Each test requires a minimum of 20 min and 22 tests are required to fully characterize a collector’s thermal performance. The ASHRAE 93 testing procedure is further complicated by the fact that the prescribed weather conditions do not often occur in some locations, which prolongs the time required to conduct the performance tests for a given collector. The EN12975-2 collector test procedure provides an alternative transient test method that can be conducted over a larger range of environmental conditions. This paper compares the results obtained by applying the EN12975-2 standard with results obtained from the ASHRAE 93 steady-state tests for a well-designed single-glazed selective surface flat-plate collector. The collector thermal parameters, F R ( τα) e and F R U L obtained by the two test methods show good agreement. The incident angle modifier coefficient determined in the ASHRAE method, which uses a separate test for this purpose, was found to be more accurate than that determined in the transient method according to the EN12975-2 standard, which obtains this value and all other collector parameters in the same step. This transient method, however, uses a refined collector model that includes specific terms for the wind speed dependence and the collector thermal capacitance, which are absent in the ASHRAE model. The long-term collector thermal performance as a part of a water heating system was simulated using the efficiency curves derived from each of the test methods. The solar fractions obtained by simulation are within 7% for both cases.