Abstract:
In our work, we studied the flat plate solar thermal collector, particularly on selective
materials and their effects on the collector's performance. To achieve this objective, we
developed the thermal balance for each component of the solar collector. We discretized the
resulting differential equations and formulated them into matrix form, then solved them using
the Gauss-Seidel method. We calculated the absorbed radiation power by the glazing and
absorber plate and temperatures of various elements of the solar thermal collector for a metallic
absorber plate coated either with a thin layer of black paint or with selective coatings such as
anodized aluminum, polished steel on copper or anodized aluminum, polished steel, and CuO
on aluminum. The results show that the radiation power absorbed at noon by a copper (or
aluminum) plate painted with black paint is 750 W/m2, followed by a plate coated with a CuO
selective layer on aluminum with an estimated power of 719 W/m2. The maximum temperature
obtained is 64.50°C for the absorber when CuO was used as a selective layer on aluminum,
which was superior to black paint and other selective coatings.
