A Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Low-Conductivity Unglazed, Transpired Solar Air Heaters

Abstract

The performance of low-conductivity unglazed, transpired solar collectors was determined numerically and experimentally. The numerical work consisted of modelling flow conditions and plate geometries with the FLUENT computational fluid dynamics software and the experimental work utilized laboratory apparatus at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Good agreement was found between the numerical and experimental results. The results showed that for practical low-conductivity materials, performance differed little from the equivalent geometry in high-conductivity material.