THERMAL PERFORMANCE TEST OF THE PARABOLIC SOLAR COLLECTOR

An experimental solar water heater was designed, built and in­stalled on the roof of the Ag. Eng. Research Institute, Power and Energy department in order to study, test and evaluate its thermal performance for the parabolic solar collector. It was employed to focus the direct so­lar radiation on the absorber plate which was fixed on a parabolic dish. having a surface area 2.1 m² and the solar heater box dimensions were (1.25 X 1.25 m). Solar water heater was mounted on a movable frame which could be adjusted so that at any time the angle of solar incidence on the surface of the absorber plate can be set at zero. The operating fluid (water) was continually cycled through the solar heater using a wa­ter pump. After passing through the heater, the heated water was stored in an insulated storage tank. The daily heat removal factor, useful heat gain, heat transfer efficiency, heat losses, overall thermal efficien­cy, energy stored, and storage system efficiency of the solar water heat­er throughout the experimental work were found to be 98.60%, 9.271 kWh/day, 89.71%, 1.063 kWh/day, 74.29%, 8.217 kWh/day, and 88.63% respectively.