Solar Collector and Advantages of Concentrating Collector
Q. What is solar collector? Give any three advantages of concentrating collector over flat type collector.
Solar collector : A solar thermal collector collects heat by absorbing sunlight. A collector is a device for capturing solar radiation. The solar collectors transform solar radiation into heat and transfer that heat to a medium (water, solar fluid or air). Then solar heat can be used for heating water.
Advantages of concentrating collector :
- They can achieve higher temperatures than a flat type collector of the same surface area.
- It is possible with a concentrating collector to achieve a thermodynamic match between temperature level and task.
- Thermal efficiency is greater because of smaller area.
- Reflective surfaces require less material and are structurally simpler than flat type collector’s smaller area.
- Relatively small area receiver per unit of collector, solar energy improves collection efficiency and economic viability.