Does anybody know a simplified methodology or equation to estimate the temperature of a solar collector/absorber? I want to calculate the energy performance and the energy yield. I have Data for a typical year with 1 hour intervals. Thanks a lot!
Most solar collectons available on the market are tested according to ISO standard ISO 9806:2013 Solar energy -- Solar thermal collectors -- Test methods. Such tests provide thermal characteristics of the colector, namely its absorption coefficient a or efficiency at ambient temperature, a heat loss coefficient U and a non-linearity coefficient. Neglecting the latest, the heat flow rate delivered by the collector is the absorbed solar energy a·I (I being the irradiance) minus the heat losses U*(temperature difference between absorber and ambient).
On the other end, this heat flow rate delivered by the collector is the fluid flow rate multiplied by its heat capacity and the temperature difference between input and output. Assuming that the absorber temperature is the average of input and output temperatures, equating the two expression of the heat flow rate delivered by the collector allows getting the absorber temperature, providing that ambient and input temperatures are known, in addition to solar irradiance and collector characteristics.
I also recommend the book of Duffie and Beckman : "Solar energy, thermal processes" edited by John Wiley in 1974, but still valid!