Development and Testing of Parabolic Solar Collector

Abstract

The need of solar energy for daily applications like cooking and heating of water has become vital in today’s life. For this purpose mainly two types of collectors are used: Flat Plate Collector and Concentrating Collectors. The limitation with flat plate collectors is the maximum temperature and the collection efficiency. Both these problems can be overcome by the use of Concentrating Collectors. In this paper, the design, development and testing of Parabolic Collector having concentration ratio of 18 is presented. Anodized Aluminium sheets were used as reflecting surface. By providing the support from backside in the form of parabolic bars, the number of reflecting sheets can be reduced. The venture is to make such collectors cost effective. The stagnation temperature of 216 °C is obtained using the parabolic collector with a maximum instantaneous efficiency of 35 %. Boiling point of water is achieved within 20 minutes.