Standard analyses of solar collector thermal performance are based upon an energy balance in which the environments adjoining the front and rear of the collector are assumed to be at the same temperature. This assumption is inappropriate for some collector designs, particularly building-integrated collectors. An approach for analyzing such situations is presented based upon a new conceptual temperature termed the “equivalent ambient temperature.” The concept is explained, the new temperature is defined, and the approach is applied to a typical collector geometry. The approach retains the convenience of the standard analysis while accounting for the unequal front/rear ambient temperatures and permits collector characterization in terms of the conventional parameters: plate efficiency factor, heat removal factor, overall heat loss coefficient, and effective transmittance–absorptance product,
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August 2002
Technical Papers
New Approach for Analyzing Solar Collectors Subjected to Unequal Front/Rear Ambient Temperatures: The Equivalent Ambient Temperature Concept, Part 1: Modeling
Kam T. K. Ho,
Kam T. K. Ho
Department of Civil and Building Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, United Kingdom
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Dennis L. Loveday
e-mail: d.l.loveday@lboro.ac.uk
Dennis L. Loveday
Department of Civil and Building Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, United Kingdom
Search for other works by this author on:
Kam T. K. Ho
Department of Civil and Building Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, United Kingdom
Dennis L. Loveday
Department of Civil and Building Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, United Kingdom
e-mail: d.l.loveday@lboro.ac.uk
Contributed by the Solar Energy Division of the THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS for publication in the ASME JOURNAL OF SOLAR ENERGY ENGINEERING. Manuscript received by the ASME Solar Energy Division, August 1999; final revision, February 2002. Associate Editor: R. Hogan.
J. Sol. Energy Eng. Aug 2002, 124(3): 262-267 (6 pages)
Published Online: August 1, 2002
Article history
Received:
August 1, 1999
Revised:
February 1, 2002
Online:
August 1, 2002
Citation
Ho , K. T. K., and Loveday, D. L. (August 1, 2002). "New Approach for Analyzing Solar Collectors Subjected to Unequal Front/Rear Ambient Temperatures: The Equivalent Ambient Temperature Concept, Part 1: Modeling ." ASME. J. Sol. Energy Eng. August 2002; 124(3): 262–267. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.1488165
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