AN Experimental Study of the Performance of a Solar Flat Plate Collector with Triangular Geometry

The flat plate collector is the most famous and simplest type of solar collectors that is used as a water heater. In this study, a solar flat plate collector with triangular geometry and with zigzag and non-riser tubes was experimentally examined. To assess the collector, the ASHRAE standard was used in hot and dry climate conditions. The test site was located in southwestern Iran and was tested in the early months from March to June 2020. The measured parameters include the environmental and thermal parameters of the collector and the fluid, and the best data have been selected and presented. The results of the study showed that the collector had a suitable efficiency; the lowest recorded value was 32% and the highest was 58.9 %. Hence, It could be used as a solar water heating system in both domestic and industrial sectors. In the pressure drop testing, the results showed that in all flow rates used, the pressure drop in the collector was less than 0.1 bar. Also, the performance of the collector was presented based on environmental variables such as temperature and radiation, as well as fluid variables such as input temperature and flow rate.