SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY

SOLAR THERMAL TECHNOLOGY USES THE

SUNS ENERGY, RATHER THAN FOSSIL
FUELS, TO GENERATE LOW-COST,
ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY THERMAL
ENERGY. THIS ENERGY IS USED TO HEAT
WATER OR OTHER FLUIDS,AND CAN
ALSOPOWER SOLAR COOLING
SYSTEMS.
BASIC PRINCIPLE
COMPONENTS OF SOLAR
THERMAL SYSTEM:
 COLLECTOR
A collector is a device for capturing solar
radiation. This is a device which absorbs
the incoming solar radiation, converts it
into heat, and transfers this heat to a
fluid (usually air, water, or oil) flowing
through the collector.
THERE ARE BASICALLY TWO TYPES OF
COLLECTORS:

NON CONCENTRATING
for low heat
example: flat plate collector
CONCENTRATING
for high heat
fore regions with more than
2500w/m2 annual sunshine
 TYPES OF SOLAR COLLECTOR
( CLASSI FI CATI ON BY TH E UNI TED STATESEN ERGY
I NFORMAT ION ADMIN IS TRATI ON)

Low temperature collectors

Medium temperature collectors

High temperature collectors

LOW TEMPERATURE
COLLECTORS
Glazed solar collectors are designed primarily for heating of
swimming pools, or other places where the temperature
demand is quite low .

Heating, cooling and ventilation (HVAC) is another excellent

use of low-temperature solar thermal collectors.

Of the 21,000,000 square feet (2,000,000m 2) of solar

thermal collectors produced in the United States in 2007,
16,000,000 square feet (1,500,000m2) were of the low-
temperature variety.
BASIC FLAT PLATE SOLAR
HEAT
COLLECTOR
 HEAT STORAGE IN LOW-
TEMPERATURE SOLAR
THERMAL SYSTEMS
Interseasonal storage- Solar heat (or heat from other sources) can
be effectively stored between opposing seasons aquifers,
underground geological strata, large specially constructed pits, and
large tanks that are insulated and covered with earth.

Short-term storage- Thermal mass materials store solar energy

during the day and release this energy during cooler periods.
Common thermal mass materials include stone, concrete, and water.
The proportion and placement of thermal mass should consider
several factors such as climate, daylighting, and shading conditions.
When properly incorporated, thermal mass can passively maintain
comfortable temperatures while reducing energy consumption.
MEDIUM TEMPERATURE
COLLECTORS
These solar thermal collectors are slightly more complex,
but are able to supply a higher temperature.

They are used to sustain a comfortable room temperature.

As with low-temperature, medium-temperature solar
thermal collectors are usually based on flat plate panels.

Medium-temperature collectors are usually used

for heating water or air for residential and
commercial use.
USES OF MEDIUM
TEMPERATURE
COLLECTORSSOLAR COOKING-
Solar cookers use sunlight for cooking,
drying and pasteurization.
The simplest type of solar cooker is the
box cooker first built by
Horace de Saussure in 1767. A basic box
cooker consists of an insulated container
with a transparent lid. These cookers can be
used effectively with partially overcast
skies and will typically reach temperatures of
50100C.
WORKING OF A BASIC
SOLAR
COOKER
 SOLAR DRYING-

Solar thermal energy can be useful for drying wood for

construction and wood fuels such as wood chips for
combustion.

Solar DRYING is also used for food products such as

fruits, grains, and fish. Crop drying by solar means is
environmentally friendly as well as cost effective while
improving the quality.
HIGH TEMPERATURE
COLLECTORS
It is based on Concentrating collector Type.
Also called Concentrating collectors, these help
to attain Temperature in the range 750-1000F.
These use Mirrors and Lenses and the
Technique is called Concentrated Solar Power
(CSP).
Using CSP means we are reducing the Plant
Collector Size and also the Total Land use.
Efficiency as high as 41% can be attained.
Liquid fluoride salts can be used to achieve 50%
or more thermal efficiencies.
Usually used to turn Steam Turbines.
The worlds largest solar thermal power plants
are now both located in the Mojave Desert of
California:
the 370MW Ivanpah Solar Power Facility,
commissioned in 2014,
the 354MW Solar Energy Generating Systems
(SEGS) CSP installation
DESIGN OF HIGH
TEMPERATURE THERMAL
COLLECTORS
PARABOLIC TROUGH DESIGN
Parabolic trough power plants use a curved, mirrored trough
which reflects the direct solar radiation onto a glass tube
containing a fluid (also called a receiver, absorber or
collector) running the length of the trough, positioned at the
focal point of the reflectors.
The trough is parabolic along one axis and linear
in the orthogonal axis.
A fluid (also called heat transfer fluid) passes
through the receiver and becomes very hot.
Common fluids are synthetic oil, molten salt and
pressurized steam. The fluid containing the heat
is transported to a heat engine where about a
third of the heat is converted to electricity
As simple as:
Sunlight falls on the Glass Tube containing Absorber Fluid.

A Fluid called Heat Transfer Fluid is passed which absorbs heat from the
Absorber Fluid

This very hot Fluid is transferred to a heat engine where heat is

converted to electricity.
 DISH DESIGN
A dish Stirling system uses a
large, reflective, parabolic dish
(similar in shape to a satellite
television dish). It focuses all
the sunlight that strikes the
dish up onto a single point
above the dish, where a
receiver captures the heat and
transforms it into a useful form.
Typically the dish is coupled
with a Stirling engine in a Dish-
Stirling System, but also
sometimes a steam engine is
used. These create rotational
kinetic energy that can be
converted to electricity using an
electric generator.
 Power tower design
Power towers (also known as
'central tower' power plants or
'heliostat' power plants) capture
and focus the sun's thermal energy
with thousands of tracking mirrors
(called heliostats) in roughly a two
square mile field. A tower resides
in the center of the heliostat field.
The heliostats focus concentrated
sunlight on a receiver which sits on
top of the tower. Within the
receiver the concentrated sunlight
heats molten salt to over 1,000F
(538C). The heated molten salt
then flows into a thermal storage
tank where it is stored,
maintaining 98% thermal
efficiency, and eventually pumped
to a steam generator. The steam
drives a standard turbine to
generate electricity. This process,
 SOLAR CONTROLLER

Solar thermal systems are operated by a solar controller.

Once the temperature at the collector rises several degrees
above the temperature in the storage tank, the solar
controller switches on the circulation pump and the heat-
transfer fluid transports the heat accumulated in the
collector to the hot water tank.
HOT WATER TANK

There are two basic kinds of tanks. Drinking water storage tanks
are used for heating drinking water and consist of steel tanks that
are filled with drinking water and equipped with two heat
exchangers.
Combination storage tanks are used for both drinking water and
supplying heating systems. They have two internal tanks to keep
the water separated. The solar thermal circuit is connected to the
lower heat exchanger. The boiler connects to the upper heat
exchanger.
ADVANTAGES OF SOLAR
THERMAL ENERGY
1) No Fuel Cost-Free, Free, Free- Solar Thermal Energy does not
require any fuel like most other sources of renewable energy. This is
a huge advantage over other fossil fuels whose costs are increasing
at a drastic rate every year.
2) Predictable, 24/7 Power-Solar Thermal Energy can generate
power 24 hours a day. This is made possible as solar thermal power
plants store the energy in the form of molten salts etc. Other forms
of Renewable Energy like Solar PV and Wind Energy are intermittent
in nature. The electricity supply is much more uniform and reliable.
3) No Pollutionand Global Warming Effects Solar Thermal Energy
does not cause pollution which is one of the biggest advantages.
Note there are costs associated with the equipment used to build
and transport Solar Thermal Energy Equipment.
4) Using Existing Industrial Base- Solar Thermal Energy uses
equipment like solar thermal mirrors and turbines which is made in
large scale at low cost by the existing Industrial Base and requires
no major changes in equipment and materials unlike new
technologies such as CIGs Panels.
ADVANTAGES CONTD
6)Environmental Friendliness of Solar Thermal Power Plants
Solar thermal power plants have several other advantages over their fossil-
fuel competitors. Solar thermal plants dont require a lot of space and can
make use of unproductive land. Built using recyclable materials such as glass,
steel and concrete. Best of all, no fossil fuels need be consumed during the
power production process, resulting in zero harmful carbon dioxide emissions.
7)No transport costs for energy input. Avoids variability of energy input
prices.
8) Green power can be sold at premium prices. Avoids any carbon
pollution based taxes or fees.
9) Solar thermal is much cheaper than diesel generation in the outback.
DISADVANTAGES
1)High Costs Solar Thermal Energy costs at least Euro 3.5/watt and has
not declined too much in the last 3-4 years. However these costs are too
high as Solar PV already costs Euro 2.5/watt and even on a conservative
basis will have its costs reduced by 5% in the next 10 years making it attain
half the cost of Solar Thermal Technology by 2020.
2) Ecological and Cultural Issues The Usage of Massive Arrays of Mirrors
is noted to heavily impact the Desert Wildlife endangering the endangered
species.
3) Limited Locations and Size Limitations Solar Thermal Energy can
only be built in places which have the high amount of solar radiation. They
can be built in deserts mostly and require a large land area. This means its
not possible to build them in populated areas.
4)Build time could be longer than other forms of energy generation.
 PRESENTED BY:-
1.ANKUSH DHADWAL CM14204
2.AYUSH PAL CM14208
3.B.PURSHOTTAM CM14209
4.YOGESH MITHARWAL CM14234