On what factors do the collector efficiency of a solar flat plate collector depends and what are the factors which determine the efficiency of a solar cell?
The energy conversion efficiency depends on the collector optical and thermal losses. These losses are due to the conduction, convection and radiation heat transfer processes to the environment and also to the local irradiance conditions and the collector optical properties. Cloudy atmosphere decreases the efficiency of solar panels by allowing less amount of sunlight to fall on solar panels. Heat Build-up: Solar panels can't efficiently work on higher temperatures. Warm climate regions usually face the problem of heat build-up in solar panels.
Collector efficiency of a solar flat plate collector depends on several factors such as:
1. Insolation: The amount of solar radiation incident on the collector affects the efficiency of the collector.
2. Collector size and design: The size and design of the collector can affect the amount of solar radiation absorbed by the collector.
3. Absorber plate material: The material used for the absorber plate can affect the efficiency of the collector.
4. Glazing material: The type and quality of the glazing material used can affect the efficiency of the collector.
5. Thermal insulation: The quality of the insulation material used can affect the heat loss from the collector.
Factors which determine the efficiency of a solar cell are:
1. Material used: The type of material used to make the solar cell affects its efficiency.
2. Incident light: The amount and wavelength of incident light affect the efficiency of the solar cell.
3. Temperature: The temperature of the solar cell affects its efficiency.
4. Electrical load: The electrical load connected to the solar cell affects its efficiency.
5. Power output: The amount of power output from the solar cell affects its efficiency.
Cloudy atmosphere decreases the efficiency of solar panels by allowing less amount of sunlight to fall on solar panels. Heat Build-up: Solar panels can't efficiently work on higher temperatures. The energy conversion efficiency depends on the collector optical and thermal losses. These losses are due to the conduction, convection and radiation heat transfer processes to the environment and also to the local radiance conditions and the collector optical properties. The main parameters affecting the performance of solar collector are area, absorber absorptive and emissivity, emissivity of glass cover, temperature of absorber plate, collector tilt angle and number of glass covers. The key considerations in flat plate collector design are maximizing absorption, minimizing reflection and radiation losses, and effective heat transfer from the collector plate to the fluids. Conventional flat plate collector with a spectral selective absorber and single glazing has an efficiency of approximately 20 %only; whereas vacuum tube collectors reach about 50 %. Efficiency is the ratio of energy output from the solar cell to input energy from the sun. In addition to reflecting the performance of the solar cell itself, the efficiency depends on the spectrum and intensity of the incident sunlight and the temperature of the solar cell.
The efficiency of solar collector depends on many factors, but the major ones are site specific irradiation and temperature. With good design and installation, losses through wiring, shading, soiling can really be minimized.
while the efficiency of a solar cell depends on the cell technology (monocrystalline, polycrystalline, thin film) and feasible of the technology for the specific site and heat loss.
Rk Naresh
You wrote:
"Cloudy atmosphere decreases the efficiency of solar panels by allowing less amount of sunlight to fall on solar panels."
Efficiency is the ratio of energy absorbed/produced by a device
to the incident energy to which the device is exposed.
Does a flat plate collector become less efficient with less incident energy ?
or perhaps more efficient due to incrementally reduced thermal losses ?
I looked around a bit for efficiency vs incident energy charts for
flat plate and evacuated tube and heatpipe collectors.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Biological Science
- Bioecology
- Systems Ecology
- Landscape Ecology
- Connectivity