What are parabolic trough solar collectors?

Parabolic trough solar collectors are a type of solar thermal collector that can be used to generate electricity. This paper discusses the potential advantages and challenges of using parabolic trough solar collectors. One of the main advantages of parabolic trough solar collectors is their scalability.

Can a parabolic trough solar plant be used for industrial process heating?

Researchers also performed modeling and simulation analysis on a parabolic trough solar plant for industrial process heating. For validation purpose the computational simulation techniques were used . Thus solar energy with PTC is more suitable for industrial process applications. 4.5. Solar energy in power plants

Do parabolic trough collectors use north-south axis tracking?

Most parabolic trough collectors adopt north–south axis tracking and only track the solar azimuth angle rather than the solar elevation angle. The north–south tracking method has the advantage of lower tracking energy consumption, but with a higher end- effect.

How does a parabolic trough concentrator work?

Parabolic trough collector is usually aligned North-South axis and the concentrator tracks the sun East-West direction to focus the solar radiation on to the receiver. The parabolic trough concentrator can focus the solar radiation at 30 to 100 times its normal intensity (Kalogirou, 2003). Fig. 9. Schematic of the solar parabolic trough collector.

Which concentrating solar trough is the cheapest?

Among the concentrating solar collectors, the parabolic trough is the most developed, cheapest, and widely used for large-scale applications in harnessing solar energy. However, it is not yet cheaper than conventional fossil fuels, and improvements and developments in the PTC are a must . 2.2. Parabolic dish Sterling engine

What is a parabolic trough?

The reflecting surface is usually made of reflective silver-painted metal or polished aluminum, or they just employ mirrors . Parabolic troughs, unlike flat plate collectors, cannot use diffused radiations since diffused radiations cannot be made to focus onto the collector plate.