Study the thermal response of a solar flat-plate collector under transient solar radiation experimentally and numerically

The target of the current study is to investigate and comparing the thermal response of solar flat plate collector (SFPC) for traditional and new model numerically and experimentally. The new model consists of elliptical-shaped riser pipes and a flat plate with longitudinal channels and wavy fins. The idea behind the new model is to increase the surface area exposed to solar radiation. All numerical models were created and simulated using ANSYS Fluid 19. R3. While, all of the experimental tests were conducted during the winter season in Baghdad, Iraq. The study showed that there are agree well between experimental and numerical results, and both models have the same behavior. The results showed that the new model outperformed the traditional one in terms of thermal response. The new one performed 23.6% better to compare the conventional model in terms of liquid temperature in the container. Additionally, the mass flow rate of liquid flowing within the closed loop of the new model is 7.9% higher than the traditional model. Moreover, in terms of overall thermal efficiency, the new model outperformed the traditional model by 22.4%.