Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate a solar water heating system for using on residences, using a solar collector with conical concentrator. The principle of light concentration in a solar collector with conical concentrator is the capture and reflection of solar radiation in the center of a tapered concentrator with internal reflective faces. The area of concentration of solar energy is occupied by a receiver with material of high thermal conductivity, properly isolated by transparent surfaces, to form the greenhouse effect, where the thermal energy is transferred to a working fluid. The characterization of the system was done through field tests to determine the efficiency in the water heating. The tests were performed considering different scenarios, which varied according to the heating system (passive and active with different water flow) and solar tracking (manual adjustment and stationary). The results showed that the scenarios with solar tracking presented an average efficiency of 12.63%, which was more efficient than those presented by the fixed orientation, which was 11.44%. Besides that, it was verified that the active solar heating systems were more efficient than the passive ones.

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