Results and Discussion

Abstract

As a final test, the performance of the tracking solar concentrator in the open field was evaluated. Before jumping to the solar concentrator’s efficacy, the validity of the solar tracker’s motion was investigated and was in accordance with the actual sun position. Although the parabolic dish was constructed outside a laboratory, the high heat flux at the focussing aperture favoured the ignition/melting of several materials within a few seconds. In an effort to determine the power production of our solar concentrator, a water load, suspended at the focus, was allowed to be heated up rapidly and the power output was computed using various algorithms from the laws of thermodynamics. A constructed model based on the simplified Newton’s Law of Cooling could predict the rise in temperature whereby the kinetics of heat transfer are limited by convective cooling. The empirical power output of the 0.6 m$^2$ tracking solar concentrator was found to be 176 W.