PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF PARABOLIC CONCENTRATOR WITH THERMAL STORAGE SYSTEM FOR DOMESTIC APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Solar energy is a free natural resource but its harvesting requires a high capital investment which
prohibits its maximum exploitation. A Parabolic Dish Solar Collector (PDSC) with a thermal
storage system was been constructed and developed to harness solar beam radiation. The thermal
storage system and PDSC were constructed using locally and less cost materials such as
galvanized metal sheet and steel rods curved to obey the equation of a parabola then welded
together with circular support rings which was then lined with stainless steel reflector pasted for
the construction of PDSC. The receiver was made of blackened aluminium material incorporated
with coiled copper tube carrying water as the heat transfer fluid. A parabolic dish which acts of a
heat collector is used to track and reflects solar radiation at a single point (focus) on a receiver
absorber. Heat transfer from the solar collector to the storage tank was done by using
thermosyphonic principle to circulate the water (heat transfer fluid) between storage tank and
heating system (receiver). The evaluation of thermal storage and analyzing the efficiency of
tracking and non-tracking parabolic dish solar collector was carried out during month of June,
2020 for the composite climate of Sokoto. According to the finding, the efficiency of tracking
PDSC with thermal storage system and non- tracking PDSC with thermal storage tank were
determined and obtained to be 52.9% and 50% respectively.