Performance analysis of a novel and cost effective CPC system

Compound Parabolic Collectors (CPCs) allow large acceptance angle which concentrating the incident radiation and need only occasional tilt adjustments instead of continuous solar tracking. They have, therefore, been found useful in many low concentration applications, where ease of operation, and low cost are important criteria. In addition, researchers have recently shown that in conjunction with other concentrators, CPC can do value addition to Fresnel or heliostat technologies. Also, their usefulness in solar reactors for water disinfection or hydrogen production has been reported. One major limitation of CPC is its height which increases rapidly with an increase in the aperture, rendering the supporting structure bulky and costly. Truncation reduces height, however also reduces the concentration. An improvement in the CPC design has been suggested in this paper, which brings down its height, without much compromise on the concentration ratio. A prototype of this modified CPC design was constructed and tested for thermal efficiencies and achievable temperatures. Results show that the modified CPC design can harness the solar energy to provide low cost Industrial Process Heat. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.