4.2.

Collector ducts

Heat absorbed by the collector can be removed by the heat transfer fluid through the internal
pipes. Their sections and materials need to be accurately designed for achieving the best heat
transfer, limiting the production costs. Pipes are characterized by small diameters (5 ÷ 15 mm) and
they are generally made of copper. The influence of the distances among riser pipes on the
performance of a flat-plate collector was studied by Bello and Sambot In their study, they used a
simulation approach. Several configurations were analyzed, considering 2, 4, and 8 riser pipes,
with distances equal to 12.5 cm, 6.25 cm and 25 cm, respectively. Later, the influence of the
diameter of riser and header pipes was investigated by Kalogirou using simulations for optimizing
the flat plate collectors' thermal performance. Riser and header pipes diameters varied from 6 mm
to 35 mm, observing that the best system could be obtained with riser and header pipes’
diameters equal to 8 mm and 22 mm, respectively (with 20 riser pipes). Fig. 12 shows the obtained
results, considering the effect of the pipe diameter and the space among pipes. In flat-plate liquid
collectors the absorber and riser pipes are usually made of copper or aluminium, fused together.
Nevertheless, if the absorber and risers are not firmly coupled, and the absorber's temperature
distribution is not regular, the thermal resistance between the absorber and the working fluid can
be high. Therefore, the use of mini or microchannels represents a viable solution as they are part
of the absorber (without external flaps) and the heat transfer area is also extended [83]. Usually,
the hydraulic diameters of these channels are generally equal to 0.01–0.2 mm (micro-channels),
0.2–3 mm (mini-channels) and greater than 3 mm (conventional channels), respectively. The mini-
channel shape has become a research focus because of the costeffective production and the leak-
proof performance. A square-shaped flat solar collector, characterized by mini-channels, Fig. 12.
(a) Effect of spaces among riser pipes obtained by Bello and Sambot [81]; (b) Performance of the
collector obtained by Kalogirou. L. Evangelisti, et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
114 (2019) 109318 9 was designed by Mansour. The author studied the heat exchange inside the
channels, showing an improved heat removal factor of 16.1%. A mini-channel based evacuated
tube collector was simulated by Sharma and Diaz, demonstrating that the performance was
higher, and the new collector was more efficient. Mahian et al. evaluated the performance of a
flat solar collector consisting of mini-channels with four different nanofluids. The use of mini-
channels and microchannels is less attractive in practical applications, since blockages of the
channels and high load losses can occur. For this reason, Del Col et al. designed a flat-plate
collector characterized by roll-bond aluminium absorber. The authors proved that this solution
was characterized by a higher thermal performance than the standard copper collector, with the
same paint. Considering heat pipe solar collector, Rybár et al. modified the internal shape of the
collector header, inserting structural elements made of metal foam (see Fig. 13). Tests
demonstrated that the improved assembly allowed to obtain a higher collector's thermal power
from about 85 W/m2 to about 202 W/m2 , increasing the performance improvement factor from
1.14 to 3.20. In the PV/T research field, Farshchimonfared et al. investigated Photovoltaic/Thermal
air collectors, aiming at optimizing the depth of the ducts, the air mass flow rate and the diameter
of the air distribution channel, taking into account the performance of the whole system. The
authors found that the finest value of the air mass flow per unit collector's area was equal to 0.021
kg/sm2 and the best channel depth ranged from 0.09 m to 0.026 m. Moreover, the finest
diameters of the ducts varied between 0.3 and 0.5 mm. Zhou et al. analyzed the performance of a
hybrid PV/T system characterized by mini-channels. The cross section characterized by a small
area, the high fluid velocity and the fast heat transfer between the fluid and the panel allowed to
optimize both the thermal and electrical performances. The authors affirmed that the mini-
channel PV/T panels showed an average efficiency equal to 45% during tests conducted
throughout the typical-day. Wu et al. examined the effects of the mass flow rate and the height of
the cooling channel by means of a 3D numerical model of a PV/T system. The device was cooled
through water, with cooling channel located below the photovoltaic panel. The authors found that
the global exergy efficiency reached the maximum value when the mass flow rate was equal 0.003
kg/s and the cooling channel height was equal to 5 mm. A PV/T system parameter optimization
approach was proposed by Kuo et al. also in terms of channels number. The authors affirmed that
the control parameters for Photovoltaic/Thermal design counting the collector azimuth, the
material of the collector plate, the mass flow rate, the pipes number, the collector angle and the
storage tank volume can influence the performance of the system. The optimization control
parameters combination with 12 collector tubes and a mass flow rate equal to 0.01 kg/sm2
allowed to obtain an electrical efficiency equal to 14.29% and a thermal efficiency equal to
44.96%, enhanced than traditional PV/T system, characterized by an electrical efficiency equal to
12.7% and a thermal efficiency equal to 34.0%.

4.3.1. Water

Among heat transfer fluids, water can be considered the favorite one in solar systems, and it is due
to its inexpensiveness, non-toxicity and abundance. Solar hot-water systems are generally used for
domestic and industrial purposes and for swimming pool heating. Nevertheless, the use of water is
characterized by limitations related to its freezing point and boiling point, and to its mineral
content with consequent corrosions and mineral deposits.

4.3.2. Glycol wáter

A mixture made of glycol and water can be adopted in a closed solar system when the problem of
thermal fluid freezing can affect the system operation. This mixture flows from the solar thermal
collector through a heat exchanger inside a storage tank, for heating water. These fluids are
typically used in low-medium-temperature panels. Though, it is worthy to notice that glycol starts
to degrade when temperature is higher than 120 °C.

4.3.3. Molten salts

In concentrating solar collectors, potassium or sodium in liquid phase can be adopted as heat
transfer fluid or heat storage medium. Molten salts are easily available, inexpensive and
environmentally friendly, characterized by non-toxicity. These working fluids can work at high-
temperatures (higher than 500 °C). Nevertheless, molten salts show some weaknesses related to
their high freezing point, needing high supplementary power to maintain them in liquid phase.
Additionally, they are corrosive and consequently, they need expensive system engineering for
efficient operation

4.3.4. Hydrocarbon oils

In solar collector systems, hydrocarbon oils can be based on petroleum or synthesized in the
artificial way. Artificial oils show great heat transfer capability at high working temperatures, due
to their excellent thermophysical properties. Comparing synthetic oils to their petroleum
counterparts, the former is more suitable and safer because of their lower maintenance level and
their moderately non-toxicity. Making a comparison with water, hydrocarbon oils are
characterized by a minor specific heat capacity and a higher viscosity. So, these oils involve higher
pumping power.

4.3.5. Phase change materials

These materials are adopted to absorb heat in solar thermal collectors, releasing it in another
medium, (air or water). The use of phase change materials is widespread in the building sector,
where constructions can be equipped with solar collector systems. PCM allows to reduce the
temperature variations, increasing the collector working hours. Considering PCMs in flat-plate
solar collectors, it is possible to affirm that they can be intended as an integrated stack of latent
thermal energy (Fig. 14). As mentioned by Khan et al. analyzing solar collectors with PCM for
domestic water heating production, the different designs can be generally classified into three
types: below the absorber plate, concentric to the flow line or a detached thermal energy storage
unit. The PCM integration in flat-plate collectors was the oldest technique for improving thermal
performance, investigated since 1987. Moreover, PCMs are frequently used in solar collector for
preventing the water freezing, as demonstrated by Zhou et al. The authors studied a PCM flat-
plate solar collector system with antifreeze characteristics. They found that the phasechange
temperature value, for an ideal antifreeze performance, should be between 2 °C and 7 °C. A
practical choice to obtain a high utilization rate of the PCM consists in 15 mm thickness of the
module. Al-harahsheh et al. studied solar desalination setup by incorporating it with a layer of
sodium thiosulfate pentahydrate as PCM. Its main effect was on the energy stored by the PCM,
resulting in a huge improvement on unit productivity during night. The performance of a
transpired solar collector was studied by Poole et al, using 80 kg of salt-hydrate as PCM. The
authors specified that the system integrated with the PCM provided 34% of the total useful heat
during the night, for seven days in April. Paraffin has been the most adopted phase change
material, able to successfully increase the thermal stability and the heat transfer. Moreover, the
application of fins has been investigated, and 9 fins/m2 design allowed to achieve better thermal
output. Flat-plate solar air heaters integrated with PCM are characterized by a thermal efficiency
ranging from 22% to 96%. However, the efficiencies of these devices are not comparable with
those of collectors using water. This fact is related to the convective heat transfer phenomena,
with lower convective coefficients in the case of air, instead of water. Comparing several designs,
it is possible to notice that the highest efficiency was attained by Ali et al. but with a low
temperature difference. The highest outlet air temperatures were achieved by El Khadraoui et al.
and by Kabeel et al. equal to 340 K and 338 K, respectively. Considering evacuated tube solar
collectors, the first study related to PCM was conducted by Riffat et al. The PCM integration can be
realized following two ways: the first consists in adopting the PCM in the collector's manifold,
making a contact with part of the heat pipe (Fig. 15a); the second consists in keeping the PCM
inside the tubes of the collector (Fig. 15b). Another integrated method was presented by
Papadimitratos et al, with the heat pipe immersed in the phase change material contained in turn
in the internal glass tube of the collector, as shown in Fig. 15c. In their research, Essa et al.
provided an experimental study on the performance of evacuated tube collectors integrated with
PCM. The authors found that using low flow rates, complete phase change was achieved, resulting
in an energy storage inside the PCM. When the phase change process took place, the system was
characterized by maximum efficiency. On the contrary, the same results did not occur through
high flow rates, as the PCM remained in a solid state. Also Felinski and Sekret studied the
influence of PCM application inside an evacuated tube collector for a solar water heating system.
A use of latent heat storage in the collector allowed the delayed the heat release during the
evening. Phase change materials have been adopted also in PV/T devices. In 2010, Hasan et al.
studied, by means of experimental measurements, the use of several types of PCMs (RT20, Capric-
Palmitic acid, Capric-Lauric acid, calcium chloride and SP22) in different devices under different
insolation values. This approach was followed for investigating the improvement of the electrical
performance of a building integrated Photovolatic-PCM (PV-PCM) system. The authors concluded
that the salt hydrate CaCl2 reached the maximum temperature reduction at most of the insolation
values. In the same year, Jay et al. assessed the performance of a PV system integrated with PCM,
where the phase change material was encapsulated into aluminum honeycomb structure for
improving the heat conduction mechanism. The authors observed an increase in electrical
efficiency ranging from 15% to 23% as compared to common PV panel not integrated with PCM. In
2014, a PV/T system, characterized by petroleum jelly used as PCM for cooling photovoltaic panel,
was studied by Indartono et al. Making a comparison with a classic PV panel, the temperature of
PV-PCM device was lower. This happened by passing PCM through copper tubes fixed behind the
PV module. Through this technical solution, the electrical efficiency increases up to 21.2%, while
the common PV panel has a lower efficiency, equal to 7.3%. In 2015, Hasan et al. investigated the
influences of PCM in photovoltaic panels, under the different climatic conditions of Dublin and
Vehari (Pakistan). The photovoltaic panel with PCM (salt hydrates) dropped 21.5 °C as compared
to reference PV panel in Pakistan. Later, in 2017, Preet et al. studied three systems composed of a
PV panel, a water-based PV/T device with double absorber plate and, finally, a water-based PV/T
system with PCM (paraffin wax RT-30 was adopted). Making a comparison with a traditional PV
panel, the authors asserted that the electrical efficiencies of both PV/T cooled by means of water
and water-based PV/T with PCM are higher. A maximum increase in electrical efficiency, equal to
10.66, was obtained with waterbased PV/T and a value equal to 12.6 was obtained through the
phase change material PV/T panel. Making a comparison with the common PV panel, average
increases in electrical efficiency were around 230% (water-based PV/T) and 300% (PV/T with
PCM). During 2018, also Yang et al. made a comparison between a PV/T with PCM and a common
PV/T by means of an experimental investigation. From their study, the authors concluded that the
backplane temperature difference during the tests was 15.8 °C, with a higher PV/T-PCM output
power. The total solar energy conversion efficiencies of the modules were equal to 63.93% (PV/T)
and 76.87% (PV/T with PCM). For these reasons, the authors affirmed that the use of PCM is very
efficient for improving the solar thermal and power performances of PV/T devices.

4.3.6. Nanofluids

Water or glycolate water are the commonly used heat transfer liquids in solar panels. In literature,
novel heat transfer fluids have been introduced for improving the efficiency of the energy systems,
based on nanofluids. Nanofluids are characterized by a mix of solid nanoparticles made of metal or
metal oxide with common heat transfer fluids, such as water, oil or ethylene glycol. Enhancements
in terms of thermal conductivity have been found by many researchers. An experimental study
related to the influence of nanofluid and water was conducted by Budak Ziyadanogullari et al. on
the thermal efficiency in systems characterized by flat-plate solar collectors. Nanofluids were
obtained using Al2O3, CuO, and TiO2 nanoparticles into distilled water, at 0.2, 0.4, and 0.8 vol%.
Moreover, the viscosity and the thermal conductivity of these nanofluids were examined. The
authors affirmed that the highest efficiency increase was obtained using the CuO/water nanofluid,
while the lowest one was observed for the TiO2/water. The cause may be correlated to the
variances in terms of nanoparticles’ thermal conductivity values. The influence of volume fraction
of Al2O3 nanofluid at different concentrations on heat pipe efficiency was investigated by Hung et
al. The maximum heat flux increased when the volume fraction of Al2O3 reached less than 1.0% by
weight. Afterward, further increase in the mass concentration produced its slow loss. Dehaj et al.
investigated as heat transfer fluid MgO nanofluid (considering different concentrations), making a
comparison with water. The efficiency of the heat pipe solar collector using MgO nanofluid was
higher than that obtained with only water because the convective heat transfer coefficient of the
working fluid increased with the concentration rise of nanofluid. Sadeghi et al. studied the
opportunity of enhancing the thermal efficiency of a solar water heating system by means of
nanofluids. They conducted tests for comprehending the effect of nanofluid copper oxide/distilled
water, obtaining that, using 0.08 vol fraction of the nanofluid, the energy and exergy efficiency of
the system was improved 10% and 12.7%. Also Sharafeldin and Grof examined the nanoparticles’
influence on solar thermal collector performance. They affirmed that nanoparticles allow to
improve the efficiency of the evacuated tube solar collector with a thermal-optical efficiency
enhancement equal to 19.3%. Comparing the use of nanoparticles (MWCNT, CuO and TiO2) with
water, Daghigh and Zandi observed that the collector's efficiency improved by 25%, 12% and 5%,
during August and by 25%, 15% and 7%, during October. Considering PV/T systems, an
experimental study was conducted by Ali et al. for studying the use of SiC nanofluid in these
devices. If compared to the photovoltaic system alone, the authors found that adding 3% SiC
nanofluid by weight allowed to increase the electrical efficiency by 24.1%. Sardarabadi et al. found
a global energy efficiency improvement related to the use of nanofluids. The authors observed
that, if compared to the case with only water, the global energy efficiency, for the cases with a
silica/water nanofluid of 1 wt% and 3 wt%, can be improved by 3.6% and 7.9%, respectively.
Aberoumand et al. aimed at investigating the electrical, thermal and exergy efficiencies of a PV/T
system cooled by Ag/water nanofluid. The authors affirmed that using nanofluids can significantly
improve both the energy and exergy efficiencies. They found that the positive influence of
nanofluids is more noticeable by increasing both the nanofluid's concentration and the flow rate.
Compared to the cases of no-cooling and water cooling, a 4 wt% nanofluid allowed to increase the
panel's power of about 35% and 10%, respectively. At the same time, also the exergy efficiency
was higher of 50% and 30%. The most important challenges on adopting nanofluids is related to
high costs, the instability, and the viscosity increase of nanoparticles, with the subsequent rise in
frictional pressure drop and pumping power. In the future, all these challenges could be solved by
the progresses in the field of nanotechnology.

4.4. Transparent screen

Several studies related to the performance of glass covers can be found in literature. For
improving the performance of transparent screens, it is possible to use low emissivity coatings. In
solar energy applications, glasses are excellent materials due to their high solar transmittance,
stability and low cost. Moreover, in order to reduce thermal losses, it is possible to apply spectrally
selective coatings able to reflect the radiation in the infrared wavelength range. Taking into
account the specific application, the materials, the coating structure and its technology are critical
for determining the glass optical properties. Rarely solar transmittance value is greater than 0.6.
Transmittances up to 0.75 can be reached by using thin layers of silver, developed in recent years
for triple glazing, or with metal oxides. However, Giovannetti et al. confirmed that the above-
mentioned values are not suitable for use in thermal collectors. Their study examined the
performance of glass characterized by a high transmittance and spectrally selective coatings,
based on transparent conductive oxides for the application in flat-plate panels, considering
uncovered, single-glazed and double-glazed designs. The authors found that in single-glazed
collectors with highly selective absorbers a spectrally selective cover does not lead to any
enhancement, slightly reducing the collector efficiency because of the additional optical losses of
the coating. In addition, a noteworthy performance growth can be obtained both in single-glazed
panels with low or non-selective absorbers and in double-glazed panels characterized by highly
selective absorbers. Double-glazing panels are characterized by a better efficiency than single
glazing. Starting from this, Alta et al. performed an experimental study comparing flat plate
collectors characterized by fins and one glazing with other collectors equipped with two screens
with attached fins. The authors stated that the two glazing with fins have great energy and exergy
performance, also showing higher inlet-outlet temperature difference. Debnath et al. assessed a
solar air collector performance, analysing the influence of single and double glazing. The results
showed that double glazing absorber plate allows to obtain higher performance under both
energy and exergy point of view, because of top losses reduction. Osorio and Rivera-Alvarez
studied the performance of parabolic trough collectors characterized by an envelope with double
glass. At high working temperatures, the thermal losses reduction obtained through the double
glass envelope allows to reach a higher efficiency. The authors found that an inner glass envelope
characterized by low emittances could be used to reduce heat losses and to substitute the vacuum
in common parabolic trough collectors. Finally, it is worthy to notice that most studies are related
to the performance enhancement of solar devices in clean conditions. Nevertheless, the effects of
dirt and dust heap are matter of concern, especially in regions with a high deposition of dust and
low frequency and less intensity of rain.