Experimental Investigation And Analysis On A Concentrating Solar Collector Using Linear Fresnel Lens

Abstract

Solar energy is used as an alternative source of energy for several domestic and industrial applications. Solar energy can be used in industries for quick and efficient water heating purpose or to generate low-pressure steam by concentrating more solar energy on a smaller area. This can be done by using concentrating solar thermal collectors. Concentrating collector technologies offer a favorable technique for the enormous use of solar energy. It gives a higher efficiency compared to the non-concentrating collector at high temperature due to its higher concentration ratio and a smaller amount of heat losses. Solar energy concentrating technology with linear Fresnel lens is a one of the effective way to utilize solar energy for water heating. The objective of the present work is to investigate and analyze the performance of con-centrating linear Fresnel lens solar water collector. In the present work, polymethyl methacrylate sheet was used as Fresnel lens. A heat loss calculation was carried out at various mass flow rates, with and without the Fresnel lens. To study the effects of Fresnel lens on the performance of evacuated tube collector experiments were performed in the wide range of mass flow rates. The system efficiency was increased by 10 –17% due to the presence of Fresnel lens at different flow rates.