Solar Thermal Systems — Collectors, Geometry & Storage

Thermodynamics

Advanced 120 minutes 2 lessons

PhD-level solar thermal engineering: the Hottel–Whillier–Bliss (HWB) equation for flat-plate and evacuated-tube collector performance, stagnation temperature and instantaneous efficiency, solar geometry (declination, hour angle, altitude, azimuth), irradiation models (clear-sky beam + diffuse + reflected), and thermal storage sizing using the f-chart method.

Learning Objectives

Apply the HWB equation to compute useful heat gain and collector efficiency as a function of irradiance and inlet temperature
Derive the stagnation temperature and explain its implications for collector design and safety relief
Calculate solar declination, hour angle, altitude and azimuth angles for any location, day and time
Decompose global horizontal irradiance into beam, diffuse and reflected components on a tilted surface
Size a solar water heating system using the f-chart dimensionless correlation method