Chapter three
Solar Energy Collectors
Solar energy collectors are special kinds of heat exchangers that transform solar radiation energy to internal energy of the transport medium. The major component of any solar system is the solar collector. This is a device that absorbs the incoming solar radiation, converts it into heat, and transfers the heat to a fluid (usually air, water, or oil) flowing through the collector. The solar energy collected is carried from the circulating fluid either directly to the hot water or space conditioning equipment or to a thermal energy storage tank, from which it can be drawn for use at night or on cloudy days.
There are basically two types of solar collectors: non-concentrating or stationary and concentrating. ...
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