A standardized Empirical Method of Testing Solar Simulator Coupled with Solar Tube and Concentrator Collectors

摘要

This paper describes a novel an empirical method for testing a solar simulator testing facility based on an experimental performance. A uniform geometrical configuration design for solar simulator was preliminary evaluated by illuminance distribution to optimize the maximum source-to-target transfer efficiency of irradiative power. A number of experimental tests were carried out for various distances from the simulator surface. It was determined that the optimal distance between the light surface simulator and solar collector is about 23 cm at different solar irradiance. The unevenness difference of solar radiation values were investigated at different points under the simulator facility where the maximum unevenness error percentages was about 9.1% which is in a good agreement within the allowable limits of 15% provided by the British Standards for testing the solar simulator . The performance of solar concentrator and an evacuated solar collector with an aperture area of 1.73 m~2 for real solar insolation during spring in the Middle East region have been investigated and it was proved that the calculated efficiency of solar collector was closely correlated within the efficiency provided by the manufacture. Similarly the thermal efficiency of the combined system (both solar concentrator and water tank) was found to be 38%. The design of such solar simulator associated with the development of standardized test procedure can be utilized as a reliable and efficient experimental platform to investigate various solar collectors and materials.