Development of a Polymer-carbon Nanotubes based Economic Solar Collector

摘要

A low cost solar collector was developed by using polymeric components as opposed to metal and glassrncomponents of traditional solar collectors. In order to utilize polymers for the absorber of the solar collector,rnCarbon Nanotubes (CNT) has been added as a filler to improve the thermal conductivity and the solarrnabsorptivity of polymers. The solar collector was designed as a multi-layer construction with considering therneconomic manufacturing. Through the mathematical heat transfer analysis, the performance andrncharacteristics of the designed solar collector have been estimated. Furthermore, the prototypes of thernproposed system were built and tested at a state-of-the-art solar simulator facility to evaluate the actualrnperformance of the developed solar collector. The cost-effective polymer-CNT solar collector, whichrnachieved efficiency as much as that of a conventional glazed flat plate solar panel, has been successfullyrndeveloped.