DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF CONCRETE SOLAR COLLECTORS

Abstract

This paper investigates the development and performance of three types of concrete solar collectors made from locally available materials. The only difference between these collectors was the flow passage materials. These passages were made from locally manufactured Galvanized Steel Pipes (GSP). Propyleneglycol (Thermopipe) and Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) pipes. It was found that concrete solar collector with galvanized steel pipes was as good as local metallic conventional collectors with a daily efficiency as high as 40% compared with 45% for the local metallic conventional one. The time constants for concrete collectors investigated are much higher than metallic collectors, with the value as high as 37.4 minutes.