Indoor Test for Thermal Performance Evaluation on the Northrup Concentrating Solar Collector

摘要

This report describes the test procedure used and the results obtained from an evaluation test program conducted to obtain thermal performance data on a Northrup concentrating solar collector under simulated conditions. These tests were made using the Marshall Space Flight Center's solar simulator. A time constant test and incident angle modifier test were also conducted to determine the transient effect and the incident angle effect on the collector.nThe Northrup concentrating solar collector is a water/glycol/working fluid type, dipped galvanized steel housing, transparent acrylic Fresnel lens cover, copper absorber tube, fiber glass insulation and weighs approximately 98 pounds. The gross collector area is about 29.4 ft2 per collector. A collector assembly includes four collector units within a tracking mount array.