Abstract
An investigation is presented on the performance of a small-scale solar power and heating system with short parabolic trough collectors (PTCs). The steady-state model of the short PTCs is evaluated with outside experiments. The model mainly contains the heat loss of the receiver, the peak optical efficiency and the incident angle factor consisting of incident angle modifier and end loss. It is found that the end loss effect is essential in this model when the length of the PTCs is less than 48 m, especially in the winter. The standard deviation of the steady-state model is 1.4%. Moreover, the potential energy efficiency ratio of the solar power and heating system is considerably larger than the coefficient of performance (COP) of general air-source heat pumps, and increases with the decrease of the condensation temperature. An overall system efficiency of 49% can be reached. Lastly, the existence of a water storage tank improves the flexibility of heating the building, and the volume of the water storage tank decreases with the increase of the heating water temperature.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
CHOW T T. A review on photovoltaic/thermal hybrid solar technology [J]. Applied Energy, 2010, 87(2): 365–379.
RIFFAT S B, ZHAO X. A novel hybrid heat pipe solar collector/CHP system——Part 1: System design and construction [J]. Renewable Energy, 2004, 29(15): 2217–2233.
HO C K, IVERSON B D. Review of high-temperature central receiver designs for concentrating solar power [J]. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2014, 29: 835–846.
CALISE F, D’ACCADIA M D, VICIDOMINI M, et al. Design and simulation of a prototype of a smallscale solar CHP system based on evacuated flat-plate solar collectors and Organic Rankine Cycle [J]. Energy Conversion and Management, 2015, 90: 347–363.
YAGOUB W, DOHERTY P, RIFFAT S B. Solar energy-gas driven micro-CHP system for an office building [J]. Applied Thermal Engineering, 2006, 26(14/15): 1604–1610.
QUOILIN S, OROSZ M, HEMOND H, et al. Performance and design optimization of a low-cost solar organic Rankine cycle for remote power generation [J]. Solar Energy, 2011, 85(5): 955–966.
JEBASINGH V K, HERBERT G M J. A review of solar parabolic trough collector [J]. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2016, 54: 1085–1091.
LI Y Y, ZHOU L Y, XU G, et al. Thermodynamic analysis and optimization of a double reheat system in an ultra-supercritical power plant [J]. Energy, 2014, 74: 202–214.
XU G Q, SONG G, ZHU X X, et al. Performance evaluation of a direct vapor generation supercritical ORC system driven by linear Fresnel reflector solar concentrator [J]. Applied Thermal Engineering, 2015, 80: 196–204.
LEI D Q, LI Q, WANG Z F, et al. An experimental study of thermal characterization of parabolic trough receivers [J]. Energy Conversion and Management, 2013, 69: 107–115.
AL-SULAIMAN F A, HAMDULLAHPUR F, DINCER I. Performance assessment of a novel system using parabolic trough solar collectors for combined cooling, heating, and power production [J]. Renewable Energy, 2012, 48: 161–172.
VOCALE P, MORINI G L, SPIGA M. Influence of outdoor air conditions on the air source heat pumps performance [J]. Energy Procedia, 2014, 45: 653–662.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Foundation item: the Special Research Fund for the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2016YFB0901300)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, G., Li, Y. Performance Evaluation of Short Parabolic Trough Collectors Integrated with a Small-Scale Solar Power and Heating System. J. Shanghai Jiaotong Univ. (Sci.) 23 (Suppl 1), 41–49 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12204-018-2021-y
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12204-018-2021-y
Key words
- parabolic trough solar collector
- small-scale
- practical operating characteristics
- thermal performance
- testing method