Optical analysis of low concentration evacuated tube solar collector

The continuous increase of emission rates of green house gases and the effects on global warming added a new dimension to the problem of substituting the petroleum and its derivatives by environment friendly and sustainable energy sources for the world. Solar and wind energy appear at the top of the list of renewable of high potential, widely available, of dominated technology and well accepted. Brazil is one of the few countries in the world that receives number hours of sunshine exceeding 3,000 hours per year with a daily average of 4.5 to 6 kWh. However, this potential is largely unexplored and poorly tapped. The number of renewable systems implanted in Brazil has grown in recent years, but still insignificant when compared, for example, with Germany and Spain among others. This paper presents the results of an optical study on small concentration solar collector with evacuated tube enveloping the absorber and internal reflective surface fixed on the bottom part of the evacuated tube. The designed collector has a 2D geometrical concentration ratio between 2.455 and 4.91. The orientation of the solar collector, the ratio of the radius of the receiver to the radius of the absorber, the incidence angle for each period of the year, the collector inclination angle, the aperture angle of the reflective surface, concentration and optical efficiency were determined. The ray traces and flux distribution on the absorber of the evacuated tube solar collector were determined by using the program Ray Optics Simulation. The optical efficiency varies during the year according to the solar declination. For the periods were the solar declination is close to zero the efficiencies are maximum, and the variation during the day is around 25.88% and 99.9%. For the periods were the solar declination is maximum the efficiencies are minimum, and the variation during the day is around 23.78% and 91.79%.