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Solar Energy 117 (2015) 192–202
www.elsevier.com/locate/solener

Numerical simulation for structural parameters of flat-plate

solar collector
Zhang Jiandong a, Tao Hanzhong a,b,⇑, Chen Susu a
a
The College of Energy, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China
b
The Solar Corporation of SOLAREAST, LianYunGang 222000, China

Received 26 November 2014; received in revised form 28 March 2015; accepted 21 April 2015
Available online 16 May 2015

Communicated by: Associate Editor Brian Norton

Abstract

Based on finite volume method, the steady-state thermal performances of the flat-plate solar collector are studied by taking account of
absorber plate thickness, collector tube spacing, collector tube length, collector tube diameter and insulating layer thickness. A physical
model of gilled flat-plate solar collector is built, then the numerical simulation of the model is carried out and the numerical simulation
results are compared and analyzed with experimental results. The results show that: Either increasing the absorber plate thickness or
reducing the collector tube spacing can significantly improve the instantaneous efficiency of the collector. Setting the solar radiation
intensity of 700 W/m2 and the environmental speed of 4 m/s, when the absorber plate thickness increases from 0.1 mm to 2.1 mm,
the collector instantaneous efficiency increases from 46.57% to 64.03%. When the collector tube spacing decreases from 170 mm to
50 mm, the collector instantaneous efficiency increases from 52.81% to 66.01%. Reducing the collector tube length and increasing col-
lector tube diameter are both conducive to improve the instantaneous efficiency of the collector. When the collector tube length decreases
from 2800 mm to 1200 mm, the collector instantaneous efficiency increases from 57.50% to 60.12%. When the collector tube diameters
increases from 8 mm to 20 mm, the collector instantaneous efficiency increases from 56.18% to 63.97%. When the thickness of insulating
layer is 30 mm or more, increasing its thickness has no significant effect on improving the instantaneous efficiency of the collector. The
research results are helpful to optimize the design parameters of the flat-plate solar collector.
Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Solar; Collector; Flat-plate; Numerical simulation

1. Introduction gas and other fossil fuels. The characteristics of unrenew-

With the economic and social developing and popula-
tion increasing, energy demand continues to increase and
global energy consumption is huge. Therefore, the future
energy supply will become quite nervous. Currently, our
energy supply consists mostly of coal, petroleum, natural
⇑ Corresponding author at: The College of Energy, Nanjing Tech
University, Nanjing 211816, China. Tel.: +86 13776668774.
E-mail address: taohanzhong@njtech.edu.cn (T. Hanzhong).
able and environmental polluting of fossil energy is con-
trary to the global sustainable development strategy. So
it is an important approach to develop renewable energy
and clean energy. It is considered that solar energy could
replace coal, oil and natural gas as a clean energy in the
future, because it is inexhaustible, clean and safe (Banos
et al., 2011). The exploitation of solar energy has mainly
forms of photoelectric transition and photothermal conver-
sion, among which the photothermal conversion of solar
energy heater is undoubtedly more mature. So far, many

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2015.04.027
0038-092X/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 Z. Jiandong et al. / Solar Energy 117 (2015) 192–202 193

Nomenclature

A collector plate area, m2 U phase function

b glass cover thickness, mm P hydrostatic pressure, Pa
c distance glass cover to absorber plate, mm Pout outlet pressure, Pout = 0
cl empirical constant, cl ¼ 0:09 Q solar radiant energy incident on the collector
c1 empirical constant, c1 = 1.44 plate area in per unit time, W
c2 empirical constant, c2 = 1.92 Qu the working fluid absorbed useful energy in per
Cb thermal resistance of junction of tube plate, unit time, kJ/h
W=ðm2  CÞ ~
r position vector
Cp specific heat capacity of fluid, J=ðkg KÞ s collector tube wall thickness, mm
D outside tube diameter, m S/ generalized source term
Di inside tube diameter, m t absorber plate thickness, mm
e insulation thickness, mm T temperature, °C
f on-way length T0 local temperature, °C
fx mass force u velocity of x direction, m/s
~
f direction vector U vector of fluid velocity
~
f0 scattering direction vector UL the collector total heat loss coefficient,
F fin efficiency W=ðm2  CÞ
FR collector heat transfer factor Ut top heat loss coefficient, Wðm2  CÞ
F0 collector efficiency factor v velocity of y direction, m/s
g acceleration of gravity, m/s2 v0 ambient wind speed, m/s
hf,i heat transfer coefficient between heat transfer w velocity of z direction, m/s
working fluid and the pipe wall, W=ðm2  CÞ W collector tube spacing, m
hw convective heat transfer coefficient between x cartesian coordinate system
ambient air and the glass cover, W=ðm2  CÞ
I solar radiation intensity, W/m2 Greek symbols
k turbulent kinetic energy a absorber plate absorption rate, %
L collector tube length, mm a0 absorption coefficient
n refraction coefficient b coefficient of thermal expansion
N glass cover layers bf scattering coefficient
m total mass flow of the working fluid, m = ms  z, e turbulent dissipation rate
where ms is the working fluid mass flow rate in eg transparent cover emissivity, %
the single collector tube, kg/s; z is the number ep absorber plate emissivity, %
of collector tube / universal variable
l dynamic viscosity, kg/(m s) g collector instantaneous efficiency
lt turbulent viscosity, kg/(m s) k thermal conductivity, W=ðm kÞ
q density of fluid, kg/m3 C/ generalized diffusion coefficient
r Stephen–Boltzmann constant, and its value is: X solid angle of space
5:67  108 W=ðm2  C4 Þ
rk turbulent kinetic energy corresponding to Subscripts, superscripts
Prandtl number, rk = 1.0 a ambient
re turbulent dissipation rate corresponding to f, i work fluid inlet
Prandtl number, re ¼ 1:3 p absorber plate
s glass cover transmittance, % o constant
w instantaneous efficiency deviation, % in inlet

standards (ANSI/ASHRAE, 2003; EN 12975-2, 2006) and
articles (Norton, 1992; Garg, 1985) about solar thermal
application have been published.
Flat-plate and vacuum tube solar collectors are the most
widely used heaters among the solar collector systems.
Although vacuum tube solar collector enjoys advantages
of vacuum insulation and mature technology, it is made
from glass which is easy to burst of tube, fouling and
unable to building integration of solar energy systems.
The flat-plate solar collectors have the advantages of sim-
ple structure, high pressure bearing, durable, low mainte-
nance rate, high heat efficiency and low production costs.
It will become the main trend in the future for the high
demand of building integration of solar energy systems
194 Z. Jiandong et al. / Solar Energy 117 (2015) 192–202
Fig. 1. Sketch of a flat-plate solar collector.
(Yang et al., 2013; Hestnes, 1999; Zhai et al., 2007). The
flat-plate solar collectors are the non-focusing-light compo-
nents which receive the solar radiation and transfer heat to
the heat transfer fluid in the solar collector system. The
structure of absorber is form of flat (Dhariwal and
Mirdha, 2005), which is shown in Fig. 1. Its working prin-
ciple is as follows: the sunlight through the glass cover to
the absorber which transforms solar into heat and transfers
heat to the heat transfer fluid, which finish the process of
solar-thermal conversion. At the same time, during the
process of heat transfer, the collector will lose part of heat
because of conduction, convection and radiation. The pre-
sent study on the flat-plate solar collector is mainly focus
on its thermal performances. In order to get flat-plate solar
collectors with more compact structure, lighter weight, and
higher heat efficiency, many researchers have made many
experiments (Saito et al., 1984; Rojas et al., 2008;
Zambolin and Del Col, 2010; Osorio and Carvalho,
2014) and theory studies (Akhtar and Mullick, 2007;
Khoukhi and Maruyama, 2006) in the past decades.
There are researchers who have studied thermal effi-
ciency of the flat-plate solar collectors based on numerical
simulation methods. Bei et al. (2011) has analyzed the work
condition of the flat-plate solar collectors in the fixed tem-
perature supplying water type direct current system based
on the numerical simulation methods and discussed the
effects of solar collector tube spacing and solar collector
tube diameter on thermal efficiency and water yield per unit
area of the collectors under the unsteady heat transfer con-
dition. Kong et al. (2013) have analyzed the thermal perfor-
mances of the flat-plate solar collectors and achieved its
optimal design through building the steady-state perfor-
mance mathematical model of the flat-plate solar collectors
and programming thermal performance simulation as well
as analyzing the properties of environmental parameters,
operating parameters and structural parameters on collec-
tor instantaneous efficiency. Lu et al. (2003) have intro-
duced efficiency factor and constructed the flat-plate
collector mathematical model and made computer simula-
tion program according to the theoretical derivation, the
data of which concluded the effects of the absorber plate
geometry and the absorber plate material on the perfor-
mances of flat-plate solar collectors. (Alvarez et al., 2010)
has studied the new bellows-type flat-plate solar collectors
by building mathematical model with finite element
method and verified the conclusion by experiments.
Dagdougui et al. (2011) have simulated and analyzed the
effects of glass cover layers and glass cover types on the
thermal performance parameters of heat loss at the top
of collector and made optimal design of collectors areas,
collector tubes diameter, collector tubes spacing and the
working fluid mass flow with the collector efficiency and
outlet temperature as the objective function. Molero
Villar et al. (2009) have made simulation research on solar
collectors based on numerical simulation methods and ver-
ified the numerical simulation results with experimental
data and analyzed the thermal performances of parallel
pipe flat-plate solar collectors under the condition of
non-uniform flow. Selmi et al. (2008) have made simulation
research and experiment research on solar collectors based
on numerical simulation methods, compared the numerical
simulation results with experiment results and concluded
the similarity of the two kinds of results. It shows that
numerical simulation methods can be applied in more com-
plicated study of solar collectors.
The thermal performances of the flat-plate solar collec-
tors based on numerical simulation methods is stated in this
paper. And the effects of absorber plate thickness, collector
tube spacing, collector tube length, collector tube diameter
and insulation thickness on the thermal performances of the
flat-plate solar collectors are deeply analyzed, which can be
served as references for practical production.
2. Construction and validation of the computational model
2.1. Geometric model
Numerical simulation of this paper is carried out in a
three-dimensional channel which is composed of fin, collec-
tor tube, glass cover and insulation layers. The structure
diagram of flat plate solar collector is shown in Fig. 1,
which is linked by the absorber plate and collector tube
by welding on both sides of the collector tube, the sides
and bottom of the absorber plate with rockwool for insula-
tion. A layer of glass cover is put 30 mm above the absor-
ber plate. Establish a horizontal flat-plate solar collectors,
whose length is 1860 mm and thickness is 64.9 mm. Its
width changes depends on the number of tube collector.
Size of the collector is shown in Table 1.
Table 1
Dimensions of the collector (unit: mm).
Name of parameter Symbol Value
Collector tube length L 1800
Collector tube spacing W 110
Collector tube diameter D 12
Collector tube wall thickness s 1
Absorber plate thickness t 0.9
Insulation thickness e 30
Glass cover thickness b 4
Distance glass cover to absorber plate c 30
 Z. Jiandong et al. / Solar Energy 117 (2015) 192–202 195

Table 2
Physical parameters of the materials.
Aluminum Copper Rockwool Glass cover
3
Density (kg m ) 2700 8920 140 2220
Specific heat capacity J kg1 °C1) 900 385 1220 830
Thermal conductivity (W m1 k1) 120 398 0.039 0.76
Transmissivity 0 0 0 0.9
Emissivity 0.1 0.1 – 0.9
Absorptivity 0.9 0.9 – 0.1

2.2. Physical model

The collector tube simulated in this paper is made of

copper, the absorber plate is made of aluminum, and the
insulation is made of rockwool, and single glass cover is
used in the simulation. Physical parameters of the materials
are shown in Table 2. The working fluid within collector
tube is water, the inlet temperature of the working fluid
is 20 °C, the ambient temperature is 15 °C, and the mass
flow rate of working fluid within the single collector tube
is 0.005 kg/s. The average solar radiation intensity is
700 W/m2, and the velocity of ambient wind is 4 m/s. In
this paper, the values of the mass flow rate of working
fluid, the solar radiation intensity and the velocity of ambi-
ent wind are selected based on the China Standards (GB/T
4271, 2007), besides, we also refer to the European
Standards (EN 12975-2, 2006).
Ignoring the contact resistance of the absorber plate and
the collector tube in the numerical simulation process. The
flow and heat transfer is steady-state within the computing
area, and the thermal conductivity of absorber plate and
collector tube is constant. Considering the symmetry of
the flat plate solar collector structure, this paper select
the flat plate solar collectors in a minimal repeating unit
to start the numerical simulation study. As shown in Fig. 2.

2.3. Mathematical model Fig. 2. Unit structure diagram of a flat-plate solar collector (a and b are
an enlarged view of a dashed box in Fig. 1).
Based on the above assumptions, the mathematical
models required in solving equations include:

(1) flow and heat transfer equations for general control Which Gk represents the average velocity gradient gener-
(Patankar, 1980): ated due to entry of the turbulent kinetic energy caused by
k, the calculation formula:
divðqU /Þ ¼ divðC/ grad/Þ þ S / ð1Þ ( " 
2  2  2 #  2
(2) The solid heat conduction equations (Tao, 2001): @u @v @w @u @v
Gk ¼ lt 2 þ þ þ þ
@x @y @z @y @x
@2T @2T @2T
þ þ ¼0 ð2Þ  2  2 )
@x2 @y 2 @z2 @u @w @v @w
þ þ þ þ ð5Þ
(3) k equation and e equations were (Tao, 2001): @z @x @z @y
  
@ @ l @k k2
ðqkui Þ ¼ lþ t þ Gk  qe ð3Þ lt ¼ qcl ð6Þ
@xi @xj rk @xj e
(4) Boussinesq assumption equation (FLUENT Inc,
   2003):
@ @ lt @e e e2
ðqkui Þ ¼ lþ þ c1 Gk  c2 q ð4Þ
@xi @xj re @xj k k ðq  q0 Þg  q0 bðT  T 0 Þg ð7Þ
196 Z. Jiandong et al. / Solar Energy 117 (2015) 192–202

(5) For a scattering, absorption and emission properties method. For partitions solving boundary coupling calcula-
of the medium, at the position ~ r in the ~
f direction tion method, the speed of the iterative process of conver-
at the radiation transfer equation (Tao, 2001) is: gence is depends on the information transfer of the
coupling boundary. For the entire solution method is an
r; ~
r  ðIð~ f Þ~ r; ~
f Þ þ ða0 þ bf ÞIð~ fÞ effective way to solve the coupled problem, it also can sig-
04 Z 4p nificantly reduce the computation time.
rT bf ! !
¼ a0 n2 þ r; f 0 ÞUð~
Ið~ f  f 0 ÞdX ð8Þ At the state of turbulence entrance, using the standard
p 4p 0
k–e two-equation model calculations. Select Discrete
Ordinates radiation model to calculate. In the solving pro-
cess, when the variables residuals of continuity equation,
2.4. Numerical model momentum equation, k equation, e equation is less than
103 and the variables residual of energy equations and
Velocity inlet boundary conditions are adopted in radiation equation is less than 107 that it is considered
numerical calculations. The velocity value of water inlet convergence of calculation.
and air inlet for each boundary node is specified, namely:
u ¼ uin ; v ¼ 0; w¼0 2.5. Grid independence test
Outlet is pressure outlet boundary conditions, namely:
In this paper, it is divided of using the hexahedron struc-
P ¼ P out ture grid. Take model parameters in Table 3 for example,
Wall using no-slip boundary condition, namely close to the ambient temperature Ta is 15 °C, the working fluid inlet
the wall of the fluid: temperature is 20 °C, the solar radiation intensity I is
700 W/m2, computing results under different numbers of
u¼v¼w¼0 grids are shown in Table 4. The increasing number of grids
The symmetry boundary conditions are set to both sides will have little impact on the calculation results when the
of the model (as shown in Fig. 2(b)). grids are 2.983 million, the calculation results are shown
During the simulation, using the Boussinesq hypothesis, in Table 4. The instantaneous efficiency of error between
which can help reduce the computation amount under con- the calculation results of the grid number of 3.681 million
dition of small temperature difference and natural convec- and the grid number of 2.983 million is only 0.084% by
tion, thus accelerating the convergence. Using finite volume the Eq. (9). Therefore, it was found that when the number
method for discrete control equations, discrete equations is of grids are 2.983 million, it can satisfy the requirement of
selected the second-order upwind scheme, and SIMPLE accuracy, in other words, the solution of grid independence
algorithm to deal with the coupling of pressure and has been acquired. As a result, the grid is divided in the
velocity. same way in the following calculations. Similar indepen-
Flow-solid and solid–solid contact surface is set to cou- dence analysis will also be applied to the models with dif-
pling wall boundary. In this paper, thermal boundary con- ferent absorber plate thickness, collector tube diameter,
ditions cannot be predetermined for the flow and heat tube collector spacing and so on. Meanwhile, the process
transfer problems of the glass cover in contact surface with will not be explained further (see Fig. 3).
air, absorber plate in contact surface with air, collector jgMþ1  gM j
tube in contact surface with air, collector tube in contact w¼ ; ðM ¼ 1; 2; 3;   Þ ð9Þ
gMþ1
surface with water and the insulation layer in contact sur-
face with the air, and the heat conduction problem of the
absorber plate in contact surface with collector tube, the Table 3
absorber plate in contact surface with the insulation layer, Model parameters (unit: mm).
the collector tubes in contact surface with the insulation L W D s t e b c
layer, whereas they are constrained by the interaction 1800 110 12 1 0.9 30 4 30
between the fluid or solid with the wall. At this point,
regardless of the temperature or heat flux density on the
interface should be either seen as part of the calculation Table 4
result, rather than the known conditions. The problem of Diagram of instantaneous efficiency changes with the grid number.
the thermal boundary conditions have to be dynamically M Grid number (million) g (%) Deviation w (%)
decided by the heat exchange process instead of being pre-
1 49.8 70.85 –
determined, known as coupled heat transfer problems. For 2 113.6 68.43 3.54
most meaningful coupling problems are unable to obtain 3 175.3 63.29 8.12
analytical solutions, while the use of numerical solution. 4 232.7 61.30 3.25
Numerical solution can be divided into partitions solving 5 298.3 59.84 2.44
6 368.1 59.79 0.084
boundary coupling methods and the entire field solving
 Z. Jiandong et al. / Solar Energy 117 (2015) 192–202 197

72 56

70 52

68
48

66

T / °C
44
η/%

64 Tin
40
62 Tout, exp[22]
36 Tout, sim
60
Tout, sim[22]
32
58
9 10 11 12 13
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 Time / hr
The number of grid / unit: ten thousand Fig. 4. Comparison chart of simulation and experimental values of the
working fluid outlet temperature.
Fig. 3. Grid independence analysis.

the Eq. (16), we can calculate the relative deviation between

2.6. Parameter definition
the present simulation values and experimental and
Simulated values in Ref. (Selmi et al., 2008).
When the flat-plate solar collectors run under steady-
state conditions, the amount of useful energy absorbed jT f ;o  T 0f ;o j
by working fluid per unit time is (Kong et al., 2013): n¼  100% ð16Þ
T 0f ;o
 
Qu ¼ AF R IðsaÞ  U L ðT f ;i  T a Þ ð10Þ
In the above equation, n is the relative deviation
Heat transfer factor is calculated as follows: between the present simulation values and experimental
   and Simulated values in Ref. (Selmi et al., 2008). T f ;o is
mC p F 0U LA
FR ¼ 1  exp  ð11Þ the simulation values of the collector outlet temperature
AU L mC p in this paper. T 0f ;o is the experimental values and simulation
Efficiency factor is calculated as follows: values of the collector outlet temperature in Ref. (Selmi
1=U L et al., 2008). The calculations show that the maximum devi-
F0 ¼ h i ð12Þ ation between simulation values in this paper and experi-
1
W U L ½DþðW DÞF 
þ C1b þ pD1i hf ;i mental data in Ref. (Selmi et al., 2008) is 3.40%, and the
maximum deviation between simulation values in this
The solar radiant energy falls on the collector plate area paper and simulation values in Ref. (Selmi et al., 2008) is
per unit time is: 1.29%. It can be seen from the Table 4: such comparison
Q¼I A ð13Þ indicates good agreement between the present simulation
values and the experimental or Simulated results in Ref.
The instantaneous efficiency of flat-plate solar collector
(Selmi et al., 2008). Hence, it shows that the present model
is defined as:
is correct and it can be used for numerical simulation
Qu Q research on flat-plate solar collectors. T in is the collector
g¼ ¼ u ð14Þ
Q I A inlet temperature in Fig. 4, T out;exp½22 is the experimental
Combining Eq. (10), the collector instantaneous effi- values of the collector outlet temperature in Ref. (Selmi
ciency at steady-state conditions can be expressed as, et al., 2008), T out;sim½22 is the simulation values of the collec-
tor outlet temperature in Ref. (Selmi et al., 2008), T out;sim is
ðT f ;i  T a Þ the simulation values of the collector outlet temperature in
g ¼ F R ðsaÞ  F R U L ð15Þ
I this paper.

2.7. The verification of the computational models 3. Results and analysis

In order to verify the accuracy of the calculation result,
the simulation value is compared with experimental and
simulated values from the Ref. (Selmi et al., 2008), as
shown in Fig. 4. It can be seen that the outlet temperature
of working fluid tends to increase with the increase of inlet
temperature of working fluid and vice versa. According to
3.1. Flow characteristics and heat transfer performance
analysis of flat-plate solar collectors
Fig. 5 shows the internal air speed field of a solar collec-
tor, for which the ambient temperature is 15 °C, working
fluid inlet temperature is 20 °C, collector tube spacing of
198 Z. Jiandong et al. / Solar Energy 117 (2015) 192–202
(a) Velocity contours diagram
Fig. 5. Velocity field of air in the cross-section inside the solar collector which is 1700 mm away from the inlet of working fluid.
110 mm, collector tube diameter of 12 mm, and it is
1700 mm from the cross-section of the working fluid inlet.
What we can see from Fig. 5 is that: a swirl movement in
the opposite direction started in the air on both sides of the
collector tube, because the temperature of the absorber
plate in the middle of the two adjacent collector tubes is
higher, and the surrounding temperature close to the col-
lector tube is lower. It makes the air near the middle of
the two adjacent collector tubes move upward. After the
air experiencing the glass cover, its movement converts to
both side of the glass cover. The air cools down when it
moves above the collector tube, and then moves down to
the absorber plate. Later the re-heated air continues such
movements, eventually the vortex is produced as shown
in Fig. 5.
Also from the Fig. 5, we can see the air flow rate reach-
ing the maximum occurs about 25 mm away from collector
tube in the horizontal direction and close to the surface of
absorber plate and the glass cover. The maximum air flow
rate is close to 3:25  104 m=s. And a strong vortex is
formed, which indicates strong air convection in the inter-
nal collector and increasing heat loss at the top of collector.
From the above analysis: in order to reduce the heat loss of
the top of collector, some certain measures need to be
taken to suppress the natural convection of air inside the
collector.
Fig. 6 is the internal temperature distribution in the
cross-section of the collector along length of the collector
tube when L is 200 mm, 700 mm, 1200 mm and 1700 mm,
for which the ambient temperature is 15 °C, the inlet tem-
perature of working fluid is 20 °C, the collector tube spac-
ing is 110 mm, and the collector tube diameter is 12 mm.
It can be seen from Fig. 6 that the maximum tempera-
ture inside the collector occurs in the absorber plate in
the middle of two adjacent collector tubes. The minimum
temperature inside the collector occurs just above the
collector tube and close to the inner surface of glass cover.
The closer to the collector tube, the lower temperature of
the absorber plate is, because the heat of absorber plate
closer to the collector tube is more easily be transmitted
to the working fluid in the collector tube. The temperature
of air interlayer in the middle of two adjacent collector
tubes is significantly higher than that right above the collec-
tor tube. It can also be seen from the Fig. 6 that the internal
(b) Velocity vector diagram
temperature of the collector is increased gradually along
the flow direction of working fluid. From the cross-section
where L is 200 mm away from the entrance of working
fluid to the cross-section where L is 1700 mm away from
the entrance of working fluid, the maximum temperature
of absorber plate increases from about 299 K to about
302 K, the working fluid temperature increases from about
294 K to 297.4 K and the inner surface temperature of the
glass cover increases from about 293 K to about 295 K.
3.2. Effect of the absorber plate thickness t on the
instantaneous efficiency g of flat-plate solar collector
Fig. 7 shows how the collector instantaneous efficiency g
changes with the absorber plate thickness t under different
solar radiation intensities I. As can be seen from the figure,
when the solar radiation intensity I keeps constant, the col-
lector instantaneous efficiency g increases with the increase
of the absorber plate thickness t. This is duo to the increase
of the absorber plate thickness increasing the contact area
between the absorber plate and collector tubes, and then
reducing the thermal-conduction resistance, so that the
heat of the absorber plate becomes easier to be transferred
to the working fluid within the collector tubes, and then the
collector instantaneous efficiency g is improved. When the
absorber plate is relatively thin (t < 0.9 mm), increasing the
absorber plate thickness can significantly improve the col-
lector instantaneous efficiency. When the absorber plate
is relatively thick (t > 0.9 mm), increasing the absorber
plate thickness cannot improve the collector instantaneous
efficiency significantly. When the solar radiation intensity I
equals to 700 W/m2, the absorber plate thickness t
increases from 0.1 mm to 0.9 mm, the collector instanta-
neous efficiency g is increased by 13.27%. When the absor-
ber plate thickness t increases from 0.9 mm to 2.1 mm, the
collector instantaneous efficiency g is increased by 4.19%.
Therefore, it is reasonable to select the absorber plate
thickness of about 0.9 mm.
When the absorber plate thickness t increases from
0.1 mm to 2.1 mm, the collector instantaneous efficiency g
under different solar radiation intensities I (I equals to
400 W/m2, 700 W/m2, 1000 W/m2 respectively) increases
from 40.07% to 59.13%, from 46.57% to 64.03%, from
52.67% to 67.58% respectively.
 Z. Jiandong et al. / Solar Energy 117 (2015) 192–202 199

(a) L=200mm (b) L=700mm

(c) L=1200mm (d) L=1700mm

Fig. 6. The temperature distribution inside collector in the different cross-sections from the inlet of working fluid.

70
70 I=400W/m2
65 I=700W/m2
65 I=1000W/m2
60
η/%

60
55
η/%

50 55
I=400W/m 2
45 I=700W/m 2 50
I=1000W/m 2
40
45
40 60 80 100 120 14 0 16 0 180
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
t / mm W /mm

Fig. 7. Diagram of the collector instantaneous efficiency changes with the Fig. 8. Diagram of the collector instantaneous efficiency changes with the
absorber plate thickness. collector tube spacing.

the solar radiation intensity is high, increasing the collector

3.3. Effect of the collector tube spacing W on flat-plate solar
collector instantaneous efficiency g
Fig. 8 shows how the collector instantaneous efficiency g
changes with the collector tube spacing W under different
solar radiation intensities I. As can be seen from the figure,
when the solar radiation intensity I keeps constant, the col-
lector instantaneous efficiency g decreases with the increase
of the collector tube spacing W, and vice versa. This is due
to the increase of the collector tube spacing W leading to
reduce the effective heat transfer area and weaken the heat
transfer. And the useful energy gained by the working fluid
in tube takes less proportion of the total energy gained by
the absorber plate, so the collector instantaneous efficiency
is reduced. And from the Fig. 8, we can also see that when
tube spacing would be easier to reduce the collector instan-
taneous efficiency. When the collector tube spacing W
increases from 50 mm to 170 mm, the collector instanta-
neous efficiency g under different solar radiation intensities
I (I equals to 400 W/m2, 700 W/m2, 1000 W/m2 respec-
tively) is reduced by 10.19%, 13.2%, 14.31% respectively.
Thus, reducing the collector tube spacing W can effectively
improve the collector instantaneous efficiency g.
When collector tube spacing W increases from 50 mm to
170 mm, the collector instantaneous efficiency g under dif-
ferent solar radiation intensities I (I equals to 400 W/m2,
700 W/m2, 1000 W/m2 respectively) is reduced from
57.56% to 47.34%, 66.01% to 52.81%, 69.38% to 55.07%
respectively. In this case, reducing the collector tube spac-
ing infinitely, the collector will become a flat cartridge.
200 Z. Jiandong et al. / Solar Energy 117 (2015) 192–202

3.4. Effect of the collector tube length L on flat-plate solar 64

collector instantaneous efficiency g
62

Fig. 9 shows how the collector instantaneous efficiency g

60
changes with the collector tube length L under different
solar radiation intensities I. As can be seen from the figure, 58

η/%
when the solar radiation intensity I keeps constant, the col- I=400W/m2
lector instantaneous efficiency g decreases with the increase 56
I=700W/m2
of the collector tube length L. This is due to when the col-
54
I=1000W/m 2
lector tube is longer, the residence time of the working fluid
in the collector tube is longer, so the working fluid can
52
obtain more heat from the tube wall, resulting higher aver-
age temperature of the working fluid in the collector tube. 50
And the temperature difference between the working fluid 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3.0
and the absorber plate is smaller, which weakens the heat L/m
transfer. Thus, the collector instantaneous efficiency g is
Fig. 9. Diagram of the collector instantaneous efficiency changes with the
reduced. When the collector tube length L is relatively
collector tube length.
short (L < 2000 mm), increasing the collector tube length
has little effect on the collector instantaneous efficiency g.
When the collector tube length L is relatively long
66
(t > 2000 mm), increasing the collector tube length has
greater effect on the collector instantaneous efficiency g. 64

When solar radiation intensity I equals to 700 W/m2, col- 62

lector tube length L increases from 1200 mm to 2000 mm, 60
the collector instantaneous efficiency g is reduced by
58
η/%

0.51%. When collector tube length L increases from

2000 mm to 2800 mm, the collector instantaneous efficiency 56
g is reduced by 2.11%. Therefore, it is reasonable to select 54
the collector tube length of about 2000 mm. I=400W/m2
52
When the collector tube length L increases from I=700W/m2
1200 mm to 2800 mm, the collector instantaneous efficiency 50 I=1000W/m 2
g under different solar radiation intensities I (I equals to 48
400 W/m2, 700 W/m2, 1000 W/m2 respectively) is reduced 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
from 52.73% to 50.71%, from 60.12% to 57.50%, from D / mm
63.29% to 60.32% respectively. Fig. 10. Diagram of instantaneous efficiency changes with the collector
tube diameter.
3.5. Effect of the collector tube diameter D on flat-plate solar
collector instantaneous efficiency g
1000 W/m2 respectively) is increased by 10.07%, 7.79%,
Fig. 10 shows how the collector instantaneous efficiency 5.80% respectively. Thus, under low solar radiation inten-
g changes with the collector tube diameter D under differ- sity I, increasing the collector tube diameter D can more
ent solar radiation intensities I. As can be seen from the effectively improve the collector instantaneous efficiency g.
figure, when the solar radiation intensity I keeps constant, When collector tube diameter D increases from 8 mm to
the collector instantaneous efficiency g increases with the 20 mm, the collector instantaneous efficiency g under differ-
increase of the collector tube diameter D. This is due to ent solar radiation intensities I (I equals to 400 W/m2,
the increase of the collector tube diameter D, on one hand, 700 W/m2, 1000 W/m2 respectively) is increased from
increasing the contact area between the fluid and tube wall 49.16% to 59.28%, from 56.18% to 63.97%, from 60.10%
and then resulting in heat transfer enhancement, on the to 65.90% respectively.
other hand, increasing the external surface area of the tube
so as to increase the effective absorber area and then help- 3.6. Effect of the insulation thickness e on flat-plate solar
ing the fluid get more heat. The increase degree of the col- collector instantaneous efficiency g
lector instantaneous efficiency decreases with the increase
of the collector tube diameter. Under high solar radiation Fig. 11 shows how the collector instantaneous efficiency
intensity I, this phenomenon is more obvious. When collec- g changes with the insulation thickness e under different
tor tube diameter D increases from 8 mm to 20 mm, the solar radiation intensities I. As can be seen from the figure,
collector instantaneous efficiency g under different solar when the solar radiation intensity I keeps constant, the col-
radiation intensities I (I equals to 400 W/m2, 700 W/m2, lector instantaneous efficiency g increases with the increase
 Z. Jiandong et al. / Solar Energy 117 (2015) 192–202
64
62
60
58 I=400W/m2
I=700W/m2
η/%
56
I=1000W/m 2
54
52
50
48
10 20 30 40 50
e / mm
Fig. 11. Diagram of instantaneous efficiency changes with the insulation
thickness.
of the insulation thickness e. This is due to the increase of
insulation thickness making the increase of insulation ther-
mal-conduction resistance, which makes it more difficult
for the collector to lose heat to the environment.
Thereby, it increases the collector instantaneous efficiency.
When the insulation thickness e is relatively small
(e < 30 mm), increasing the insulation thickness has great
effect on the collector instantaneous efficiency. When the
insulation thickness e is relatively large (e > 30 mm),
increasing the insulation thickness has little effect on the
collector instantaneous efficiency. When solar radiation
intensity I equals to 700 W/m2, and the insulation thickness
e increases from 10 mm to 30 mm, the collector instanta-
neous efficiency g is increased by 2.91%. When the insula-
tion thickness e increases from 30 mm to 60 mm, the
collector instantaneous efficiency g is increased by 0.33%.
Therefore, it is reasonable to select the insulation thickness
of about 30 mm.
When the insulation thickness e increases from 10 mm
to 60 mm, the collector instantaneous efficiency g under
different solar radiation intensities I (I equals to 400 W/
m2, 700 W/m2, 1000 W/m2 respectively) is increased from
48.74% to 53.24%, from 56.93% to 60.1%, from 60.16%
to 63.10% respectively.
3.7. Comparison with the results in published literature
In order to evaluate the results in present investigation
synthetically, comparison is carried out with the experi-
mental results in published literature (Rojas et al., 2008;
Zambolin and Del Col, 2010; Kong et al., 2013).
In this paper, when the solar radiation intensity is
700 W/m2, the absorber plate thickness is 0.9 mm, the col-
lector tube spacing is 110 mm, the collector tube length is
1800 mm, and the collector tube diameter is 12 mm, the
insulation thickness is 30 mm, the collector efficiency is
59.81%, which is about 1.91% higher than the correspond-
ing collector efficiency value in the standard of EN 12975 in
Ref. (Rojas et al., 2008), and about 0.91% higher than the
201
corresponding collector efficiency value in the standard of
ASHRAE 93 in Ref. (Rojas et al., 2008). The error is due
to the different collector structure parameters and environ-
mental parameters. In Ref. (Kong et al., 2013), when the
solar radiation intensity is 600 W/m2, the collector tube
spacing is 110 mm, and the absorber plate material is cop-
per, then the collector efficiency is about 59.50%. This is
due to the solar radiation intensity in this paper is
100 W/m2 higher than that in Ref. (Kong et al., 2013).
But the thermal conductivity of the aluminum in this paper
is poorer than the copper in Ref. (Kong et al., 2013), so
ultimately results in the similar collector efficiency. When
the absorber plate material in this paper is changed from
60 aluminum to copper, and the solar radiation intensity is
600 W/m2 (with other conditions unchanged), then the col-
lector efficiency is 60.80%, and the error is 1.30% compared
with Ref. (Kong et al., 2013).
When the solar radiation intensity is 1000 W/m2, the
absorber plate thickness is 0.9 mm, the collector tube spac-
ing is 110 mm, the collector tube length is 1800 mm, and
the collector tube diameter is 12 mm, the insulation thick-
ness is 30 mm, then the collector efficiency is 62.91%. In
Ref. (Zambolin and Del Col, 2010), when the solar radia-
tion intensity is 1000 W/m2, the collector efficiency is about
66.00%, which is 3.09% higher than the value in this paper.
This is due to the different absorber plate materials and
structure parameters of the collector. The material of
absorber plate in this paper is aluminum, and which is cop-
per in Ref. (Zambolin and Del Col, 2010). When the absor-
ber plate material in this paper is changed from aluminum
to copper, the collector efficiency is 66.83%, and the error
of collector efficiency is about 0.83% compared with Ref.
(Zambolin and Del Col, 2010).
4. Conclusions
By combining the existing experimental data and theo-
retical methods, numerical simulation study on flat-plate
solar collectors is conducted by virtue of CFD numerical
simulation in this paper. The influencing characteristics
of the structural parameters on the flat-plate solar collector
instantaneous efficiency are discussed in details. The results
show that:
(1) Increasing the absorber plate thickness t can signifi-
cantly increase the collector instantaneous efficiency
g. When the solar radiation intensity I equals to
700 W/m2, the absorber plate thickness t increases
from 0.1 mm to 0.9 mm, the collector instantaneous
efficiency g is increased by 13.27%. When the absor-
ber plate thickness t increases from 0.9 mm to
2.1 mm, the collector instantaneous efficiency g is
increased by 4.19%. Therefore, it is reasonable to
select the absorber plate thickness of about 0.9 mm.
(2) The collector instantaneous efficiency g increases with
the decrease of the collector tube spacing W. When
the solar radiation intensity I equals to 700 W/m2,
202 Z. Jiandong et al. / Solar Energy 117 (2015) 192–202
and the collector tube spacing W reduces from
170 mm to 50 mm, the collector instantaneous effi-
ciency g is increased from 52.81% to 66.01%.
Therefore, reducing the collector tube spacing is an
effective measure to improve the collector instanta-
neous efficiency.
(3) Reducing the collector tube length L will help
improve the collector instantaneous efficiency.
When the solar radiation intensity I equals to
700 W/m2, and the collector tube length L reduces
from 2800 mm to 2000 mm, the collector instanta-
neous efficiency g is increased by 2.11%. When the
collector tube length L reduces from 2000 mm to
1200 mm, the collector instantaneous efficiency g is
increased by 0.51%. Therefore, it is reasonable to
select the collector tube length of about 2000 mm.
(4) Increasing the collector tube diameter D will help
improve the collector instantaneous efficiency.
When the solar radiation intensity I equals to
700 W/m2, and the collector tube diameters D
increases from 8 mm to 20 mm, the collector instanta-
neous efficiency g is increased from 56.18% to
63.97%. Therefore, increasing the collector tube
diameter is an effective measure to improve the collec-
tor instantaneous efficiency.
(5) When the insulation thickness e is relatively small
(e < 30 mm), increasing the insulation thickness has
great effect on the collector instantaneous efficiency.
When the insulation thickness e is relatively large
(e > 30 mm), increasing the insulation thickness has
little effect on the collector instantaneous efficiency.
Therefore, it is reasonable to select the insulation
thickness of about 30 mm.
(6) According to the two cases of collector tube spacing
W and collector tube diameter D discussed above,
we can see that their limit forms are flat-cassette col-
lectors. It shows that the flat-cassette collectors own
the higher instantaneous efficiency.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data associated with this article can be
found, in the online version, at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
j.solener.2015.04.027.
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