Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Determining Energy Output In Manual And Automated Solar Arrays, James K. Ayres

Honors Theses

The scope for the project was to design and construct a system that could be used to both manually and automatically track the sun using solar panels to demonstrate engineering principles for classroom and laboratory experiments at both the primary and secondary education levels. For ease of demonstration, a manual and automatic tracker was designed for the experiment. Using a standard camera tripod, the solar panels were attached to fabricated mounts to allow for omnidirectional movement. For the automated, or active tracker, an Ardunio Uno microcontroller was used in conjunction with two 180˚ servos to adjust the active tracker solar …

Coupled Thermal Fluid Modelling Of A Low Embedded Energy Solar Thermal Collector, Myrrha Corcoran

Theses

Flat-plate collectors are the most economical and are popular in solar domestic heating water system since they are usually permanently fixed in position, have simple construction, and require little maintenance. The design of a solar energy system is generally concerned with obtaining maximum efficiency at minimum cost. The aim of this thesis was to develop a mathematical model, for a forced convection solar heated water system. The solar collector in this study incorporated a honeycombed extruded polycarbonate structure, for both the cover and water channels.

A very detailed thermal analysis of the flat-plate solar collector was carried out to predict …

A Cavity Absorber For A Focusing Solar Collector, Andrew W. Crapo

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The concept of a cavity absorber for use with a focusing parabolic trough is developed in this paper. A mathematical model is formulated and used to compare different absorber geometries. Limitations of the model are discussed and within the range of materials and fabrication methods available, the choice of a cylindrical cavity is substantiated. Relative sizes of the gap and cylinder are chosen for a given mirror arc length, focal length, and alignment error. The model is used to optimize these parameters and predict absorber and collector efficiency. The processes of building and testing the absorber are detailed, and test …