Thermal energy storage (TES) as an energy storage technology is beneficial in limiting heat loss from solar collectors by absorbing excess heat from the absorber plates during peak hours of solar radiation. Phase change material (PCM) and metal foam are used to enhance the performance of solar water heating systems. This study examines how well flat-plate collectors work in a solar water heating system that is coupled to PCM energy storage components and aluminum-foam. This research investigated the impact of using aluminum-foam and PCM with paraffin-wax as thermal storage on a solar water heater (SWH) collector efficiency through an experimental analysis using three collector types. The first experiment is carried out without the use of thermal storage, while the remaining tests make use of thermal storage materials with a flow rate of 36 L/h, taking into consideration inlet and outlet temperatures. The research results demonstrate a comparison of collector efficiency between regular collector plates and modifications with thermal storage. Conventional collector plates have an efficiency of 84.19%, collector plates with aluminum-foam have an efficiency of 86.72%, and collector plates with aluminum-foam added by paraffin-wax have an efficiency of 91.88%. TES materials like aluminum-foam and paraffin-wax help to store energy and boost the heat transfer rate of the collector.
Solar energy is an energy source whose availability is guaranteed, renewable energy which has enormous potential in the future. In addition to lowering environmental pollutants, solar energy can be used directly or indirectly for heating. A photovoltaic-based water heating system (PVWHS) is designed to utilize solar energy into electrical energy using photovoltaic cells, which are then connected to a DC heating element to heat the water in the tank. Testing this tool uses experimental methods to identify the optimal temperature of water, the energy needed to heat the water and thermal efficiency of the PVWHS. The test was carried-out using polycrystal photovoltaic cells and by varying the volume of the water tank, namely 10 liters, 15 liters and 25 liters. The results of this research show that a 10 liters water tank volume can increase the average water temperature by 10.7˚C. And a water tank volume of 15 liters can increase the average water temperature by 8.1˚C, and a water tank volume of 25 liters can increase the average water temperature by 5.6˚C. The efficiency of polycrystal photovoltaic cells was found to be an average efficiency of 7.34%. Meanwhile, the maximum heater efficiency was found to be 73.6% for all variations of water tanks. As for the maximum total efficiency value, the overall system efficiency is 5.35% for all water tank variations.
The solar water heating (SWH) technology is a cost-effective method of harnessing solar energy and widely used in various countries worldwide. Adding thermal storage to the flat-plate collector increases the performance of the SWH system. It contributes to reduce energy loss to the top and increases energy transfer to the water. A novel composite material as thermal storage integrated with a flat-plate collector is constructed to make it effective in absorbing and storing heat energy. This work aims to investigate the performance of SWH system by integrating Al + Al2O3 composite to the flat-plate collector at the bottom as thermal storage. The performances of two models of absorber plates including a standard flat-plate collector and with Al + Al2O3 composite as thermal storage are investigated experimentally. The Al + Al2O3 composites were also tested and characterized to obtain their thermal properties. The results show that adding Al + Al2O3 composite as the thermal storage to the absorber plate contributes to increase absorption of solar irradiation, heat storage, and thermal efficiency of the collector. Then, the collector model with Al + Al2O3 composite as the thermal storage provides higher thermal efficiency than that of the standard model. For example, the thermal efficiency of the collector model with composite thermal storage of alumina 35% and aluminum 65% at angle variation increase of 5.1 % (0◦), 7.5 % (10◦), and 2.5 % (30◦). Thermal properties of Al + Al2O3 composites as the thermal storage are also presented. It concludes that the greater percentage of alumina content, the lower value of the thermal properties of the composite obtained.
The use of solar energy for hot water supply through solar water heating (SWH) systems is gaining popularity due to its eco-friendly technology. Integrating heat storage in SWH systems under conditions of low solar radiation is one of the cutting-edge technical approaches in this field. The direct utilization of stored thermal energy has recently drawn attention to compact and integrated solar thermal storage-collector systems. The goal of this project is to look into how the thickness of storage changes the performance of flat-plate solar collectors. It is also looked into how thermal storage affects the system\'s thermal performance when the weather is unclear. Experiments and computer simulations are used to look into how well combined flat-plate solar collectors work with different thicknesses of thermal storage. To learn more about the features of thermal storage, numerical models were run to see how the thickness of the storage affected performance.