Solar Flat Plate Collectors

Solar Flat Plate Collector (FPC) is basically a solar thermal energy collector in which solar
energy is collected by absorbing radiation in an absorber and then transferring to a fluid. The
liquid flat plate collector is the most widely used solar collector because it is simple in design,
has no moving parts and requires little maintenance. It can be used for a variety of applications
in which temperatures ranging from 40 degree Celsius to about 100 degree Celsius are required.
Flat plate collectors have no optical concentrator and the collector area as well as the absorber
area is numerically the same. A flat plate collector is placed at a location in a position such that
its length aligns with the line of longitude and is suitably tilted towards south if located in a
northern hemisphere to have maximum collection.

The basic parts that make up a liquid flat plate collector are:

• The absorber plate

• The tubes fixed to the absorber plate through which the liquid to be heated flows
• The transparent cover
• The collector box

The main advantage of a flat plate collector is that the beam and diffuse components of the
solar radiation. In addition because of its simple stationary design, its construction is easy.
Moreover it does not require sun tracking and therefore it can be properly secured in a rigid
platform, and thus becomes mechanically stronger than those requiring flexibility for tracking
purpose. As the collector is installed outdoors and exposed to atmospheric disturbances like
rain, storm etc., the flat plate collector is more likely to withstand harsh outdoor conditions.

The principal disadvantage of a flat plate collector is that because of the absence of optical
concentration, the area from which heat is lost is large. Also due to the same reason high
temperatures cannot be attained and as a result the collection efficiency is generally low.

The solar radiations after passing through the transparent cover usually made of glass, falls on
the absorber plate. The absorbed radiations partly get transferred to a liquid flowing through
tubes which are fixed to the absorber plate or are integral with it. This energy transfer is the
useful gain. The remaining part of the radiation absorbed in the absorber plate is lost by
convection and re-radiation to the surroundings from the top surface and by conduction through
the back and the edges. The transparent cover helps in reducing the losses by convection and
re-radiation, while thermal insulation on the back and the edges helps in reducing the
conduction heat loss. The liquid most commonly used is water. In order to reduce the heat lost
by re-radiation from the top of the absorber plate of a flat plate collector, it is usual to put a
selective coating on the plate. The selective coating exhibits the characteristic of a high value
of absorptivity for incoming solar radiation and a low value of emissivity for outgoing re-
radiation. As a result, the collection efficiency of the flat plate collector is improved. Further
improvement in the collection efficiency or in the operating temperature can be obtained by
evacuating the space above the absorber plate and lads to the design of an evacuated tube
collector.

Construction Details

Eventhough the liquid generally used is water; sometimes a mixture of water and ethylene
glycol is used if ambient temperature below zero degree celsuis is likely to be encountered.
The absorber plate is usually made from thin metal sheet ranging in thickness from 0.2 to 0.7
mm, while the tubes which are also metal range in diameter from 1 to 1.5 cm. They are soldered,
brazed or pressure bonded to the bottom of the absorber plate with the pitch ranging from 5 to
12 cm. In some designs the tubes are bonded to the top or are in line and integral with the
absorber plate. The metal most commonly used both for the absorber plate and the tube is
copper. The header pipes which lead the liquid in and out of the collector and distribute it to
the tubes are made of the same metal as the tubes and have slightly larger diameters of about 2
to 2.5 cm.

The cover should be made of a material which is highly transparent to incoming solar
radiation and at the same time, opaque to long wavelength re-radiation emitted by the absorber
plate. The usual practice is to have one cover with a spacing ranging from 1.5 to 3 cm between
the cover and the absorber plate. The bottom and sides are usually insulated by mineral wool,
rock wool or glass wool with a covering of aluminum foil and has a thickness ranging from 2.5
to 8 cm. The whole assembly is contained within a box which is tilted at a suitable angle. The
collector box is usually made of aluminium with an epoxy coating on the outside for protection.
The face areas of most commercially available collectors are around 2 m2 with the length along
the sloping direction being usually larger than the width.

In the last few years, the use of plastic materials for the absorber plate, the tubes as well as the
cover has increased. This is particularly true for applications involving lower temperature up
to 60 degree celsuis or 70 degree Celsius. Initially plastics were not used because they degraded
on exposure to sunlight. They also have low thermal conductivities and high coefficients of
expansion compared with that of metals. However advances in polymer technology have
resulted in the development of suitable plastic materials which can withstand long exposures
to sunlight. Plastics have the advantage of being light in weight and easy to manufacture. There
cost is less and require less energy for their manufacturing than metals like copper and
aluminum. However it has to be remembered that they are generally originate from fossil
fuels. The factors of energy input and raw material origin would become increasingly
important, when the volume of production of flat plate collectors increases.

The present rate of production of liquid flat plate collectors in the world as well as in India is
low. However it is increasing rapidly. About 1000,000 m2 of collector area has been installed
in India up to 2004, the typical cost of a good quality collector being in the range of Rs 4000
to 4500 per m2.

Absorber Plate Designs

A variety of absorber plate designs are available. The absorber plate can be broadly divided
into three basic types depending on the extent of wetted area relative to the absorbing surface
area.
 1. Pipe and Fin type: Here the liquid flows only in the pipe and hence they have a
comparatively low wetted area and liquid capacity.
2. Rectangular or Cylindrical Full sandwich type: In this type both the wetted area and
water capacity are high.
3. Roll bond or Semi sandwich type: It is an intermediate between the above two types

The best choice of absorber plate depends on the particular application. For low temperature
requirements such as warming of a swimming pool, the plastic full water sandwich plate may
be the most appropriate. For domestic and industrial applications, high temperatures are
required and hence the pipe and fin type plate may be more suitable.

Effect of Various Parameters on the Performance of Flat Plate Collectors

A large number of parameters influence the performance of a liquid flat plate collector. These
parameters could be classified as design parameters, operational parameters, meteorological
parameters and environmental parameters. Some of the parameters are given below:

1. Selective Surface: Absorber plate surfaces which exhibit characteristics of a high

value of absorptivity for solar radiation incoming and low value emissivity for re-
radiation outgoing called selective surfaces. Such surfaces are desirable because
of the net energy collection. Some examples of selective surface layers are copper
oxide, nickel black and black chrome.
2. Number of covers: With the increase in the number of covers, the value of heat
loss from the absorber plate decreases. However the amount of decrease is not the
same in both cases. Maximum efficiency is obtained with one or two covers.
3. Spacing: Heat loss also varies with spacing between two covers and that between
the absorber plate and first cover. The spacing at which minimum loss occurs varies
with temperature and also with tilt. Since collectors are designed to operate at
different locations with varying tilts and under varying service conditions, an
optimum value of spacing is difficult to specify. Spacing in the range from 4 to 8
cm is normally suggested. Also large spacing reduces the collector area
requirements.
4. Effect of shading: The main problem associated with the use of larger spacings is
that shading of the absorber plate by the side walls of the collector casing increases.
Some shading always occurs in every collector and needs to be corrected for. In
 some collectors the inside of the side walls is lined with reflecting surface in order
to alleviate the effects of shading.
5. Collector tilt: Flat plate collectors are normally used in a fixed position and do not
track the sun. Therefore the tilt angle at which they are fixed is very important.
Optimum tilt depends on the application. The usual practice is to recommend a
value of (Φ+10?) or (Φ+15?) for winter applications and Φ-10?) or (Φ-15?) for
summer applications.
6. Dust on the top of the cover: When a collector is deployed in a practical system,
dust gets accumulated over it, reducing the transmitted flux through the cover. This
requires continuous cleaning of the cover, which is not possible in a practical
situation. Cleaning is generally done once in a few days. For this reason it is
recommended that the incident flux be multiplied by a correction factor which
accounts for the reduction in the intensity because of accumulation of dust.
7. Fluid inlet temperature: The efficiency of the collector decreases more or less
linearly with the increasing value of fluid inlet temperature. This decrease is
because of the higher temperature level at which the collector as a whole operates
when the fluid in let temperature increases.
8. Cover transmissivity: The transmissivity of the cover affects the performance of
a collector significantly. The higher the transmissivity, the better is the performance
of the collector.

Applications of Solar Flat Plate Collectors

• Water heating
• Space heating and cooling
• Low temperature cycles for power generation

Alternatives to the Conventional Flat Plate Collector

• Evacuated Tube Collectors: In order to reduce the heat loss by convection from
the top. This is done by having a vacuum above the absorber plate. As a
consequence, it becomes essential to use a glass tube as the cover because only a
tubular surface is able to withstand the stresses introduced by the pressure
difference.
• The BNL Collector: The collector got its name as it was developed in Brookhaven
National Laboratory (BNL) in USA. This is a light flat plate collector which is
simple in construction and has the potential of low cost because of the use of new
engineering plastics like polymer coatings, films and rigid foams.
• The Concrete Collector: A large amount of metal (copper, aluminium, galvanized
iron etc.) is used in conventional FPC systems. But the energy input needed for their
production is high when compared with conventional FPC.