Selection of materials for the improvement of energy storing techniques applicable for solar cavity collector

SOLAR CAVITY COLLECTOR (SCC) is an advanced version of a FLAT PLATE SOLAR COLLECTOR (FPC). Usually the cavity type configuration is used for the Fresnel and concentrating type collectors, but it has been experimented for an improvement of FPC. A solar cavity collector with 5 numbers of cavities has been fabricated and concentrically positioned in 50 x 50 square enclosure cover metal box made with Mild steel (M.I) and Galvanized Iron (G.I). Five such cavities have been designed to SCC and tested for its optimal performance. The Experimental investigation was carried out for various working parameters of the cavity collector, namely by 1. Changing the receiver material as Aluminum and Copper 2. Flow mode of SCC has been tested with serpentine and parallel mode of flow. 3. Inclination angle of the whole setup of SCC has been experimented. 4. It is packed with Pebble bed and metal scrap chips and 5. By changing the cavity covers materials - M.I and G.I. The Experimental work was conducted under standard laboratory conditions that were especially designed for this purpose. It shows that the Copper as the receiver material gives better efficiency than the Aluminum. Around 3% improvement in the energy transfer was achieved by the use of Pebbles. Usually the application of the cavity collector has to heat the working fluid liquid or gas. Heat transfer has been achieved by exchanging the heat energy from cavity to Water (working fluid). For improving the heat transfer characteristics, cavity type collectors are the better choice, since it can be used during cloudy days where intermittent nature of the solar energy is inevitable.