Design of Parabolic Trough Solar Collector (PTC) and Numerical Simulation for Improving the Efficiency

This research focus on two PTC designs, one in Runzhen-school, China (latitude 36.5°N, longitude110°E and 386m altitude) and the second PTC with tracking system. The study showed that, using one tube concentrate in the focal point with fixed PTC gives lower efficiency compared with using two vacuum tubes, as the variation of solar altitude angle is large. So using two focal points results a better heating. The new system uses PTC with sun tracking system to maximize solar radiation absorptions, that leading to increase the hot water temperature and has higher system efficiency. In addition, this system supplies two batteries by electricity coming from two solar-cells and it’s produced for the tracking system working during hours of sunlight. The photovoltaic electricity provided is stored in batteries and then used for tracking motion. The tracing motion receives orders from a control unit, which works at different voltage in two solar cells.