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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 1141–1159

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews


journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser

Innovation in flat solar thermal collectors: A review of the last ten


years experimental results
Gianpiero Colangelo n, Ernani Favale, Paola Miglietta, Arturo de Risi
Università del Salento-Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Innovazione, Via per Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: An overview of innovations introduced in the field of flat solar thermal collectors is presented using
Received 12 June 2014 information from different literature sources. Despite the large number of publications available about
Received in revised form this specific issue, this review is focused on the last ten years period, to underline the actual trend of the
1 December 2015
scientific and technologic world so far. Bearing in mind this choice, in this study a selection of the most
Accepted 17 December 2015
Available online 8 January 2016
valuable papers has been done, considering different points of view and aspects. Even if this work cannot
be considered exhaustive of the complete literature about this field, it can be taken into account as a
Keywords: quick reference to have an overview about new materials, geometries, heat transfer fluids etc., available
Flat solar thermal collector and tested in the last decade.
Materials & 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Geometry
Nanofluids
Hybrid collector

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1141
2. Innovative materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1142
3. Innovative geometries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1143
4. Integrated solar thermal collectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1147
5. Heat-pipe collectors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1150
6. Innovative heat transfer fluids in solar flat thermal collectors: nanofluids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1153
7. Hybrid pv-solar thermal collectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1155
8. Final remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1157
9. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1157
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1158
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1158

1. Introduction
Abbreviations: TCO, Transparent conductive oxides; PVD, Plasma vapor deposi-
tion; FTIR, Fourier transform infrared; CR, Concentration ratio; SAR, Specific area
ratio; SAH, Solar air heater; ICS, Integrated collector storage; OT, Ogival transverse; Energy production, efficiency and savings are key factors for
OIF, Ogival inclined folded; WT, Waisted tube; WDL, Waisted delta lengthways; the social and economic development of a country. The last ten
WOL, Waisted ogival lengthways; TL, Transverse-Longitudinal obstacles; MSTC,
years have seen the development of many different technologies
Massive solar-thermal collector; TSC, Transpired solar collector; UTC, Unglazed
transpired collector; ICSSWH, Integrated collector storage solar water heater; ISR, in the field of renewable energy, due to the input given by a new
Integral solarized roof; FPTU, Flat plate thermosiphonic unit; SWC, Solar water political and economic view of the sustainable development of the
collector; ISC, Integrated solar collector; SWC, Solar water collector; SWHS, Solar
world. Flat solar thermal collectors are not exceptions. This tech-
water heating system; ISSC, Integrated solar storage collector; CFD, Computational
fluid dynamic; MHPA, Micro-channel heat pipe; CEOHP, Closed-end oscillating heat nology is widely used all over the world because of the low-cost
pipe; DGVHP, Double glass vacuum heat pipe; MWCNT, Multi walled carbon and easy and cheap maintenance. The exploitation of flat panel
nanotube; PV, Photovoltaic
n solar thermal collectors has assumed a great importance not only
Corresponding author. Tel.: þ 390832297752, fax: þ 390832297777.
E-mail address: gianpiero.colangelo@unisalento.it (G. Colangelo). in residential applications, but also in industrial and commercial

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.12.142
1364-0321/& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1142 G. Colangelo et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 1141–1159

Nomenclature Tout outlet air temperature [K]

Ti inlet fluid temperature [K] Greek symbols


Ta ambient temperature [K]
FR(τα) adsorbed energy parameter δ Thickness [m]
FRUL removed energy parameter [W/K] ηmax maximum thermal efficiency
he mean evaporating heat transfer coefficient [W/m2 K] ηi efficiency
TPV PV module temperature [K]
Tw back wall temperature [K]

buildings, where low temperature-hot water is required and par- 2. Innovative materials
ticularly for hot climates [1].
Even if this device has reached good technological develop- The aim of this paragraph is to study different innovative
ment and diffusion, the scientific and technological world has materials, developed or used in the last ten years, in flat solar
shown a constant attention to the optimization of the existing thermal collectors field.
technologies or the introduction of new and more effective ones In order to increase the efficiency of flat solar thermal collec-
[2]. On the other hand new perspectives and revolutionary tors, some innovative materials have been investigated for differ-
ent applications as coverage, selective absorbers, outer box etc.
inventions are not easy to introduce in this field, because of the
Ehrmann et al. [7] investigated the optical proprieties of
cost constrains of such a product. Very often, the debut of a new
transparent conductive oxides (TCOs), used as antireflective coat-
technology or discover in the field of flat solar thermal collectors
ings, deposited with a physical deposition technique, called mag-
has to face with economic evaluations that, despite of the intro-
netron sputtering. It is a Plasma Vapor Deposition (PVD) process in
duced advantages, make the novelty more or less successful in the which plasma is created and positively charged ions are acceler-
market. However, it is worth of consideration the fact that what ated and, by means of an electrical field, are deposited on the
the market does not consider economically advantageous today, target, condensing on surfaces and thus creating a thin film. The
may become very convenient after few years. These considerations advantages of this deposition method are: high adherence, wear
have been the guide for the selection of the works developed in resistance and smoothness. After a parametric study of different
last decade, that could have a good impact on the development of target materials as ZnO, Al2O3, target-substrate distance, pressure
flat solar thermal collectors and could become a cutting edge in before and during deposition, substrate temperature and so on,
the next years. In past years, the development of new technologies morphological investigations have been made by means of scan-
has been applied to improve the thermal efficiency of the solar ning electron microscope and optical properties, as reflectance and
collector, to increase the assorbance of the absorber plate, to transmittance, determined using a Fourier Transform Infrared
enhance the heat transfer area, to stabilize the heat transfer fluid, (FTIR) spectrometer. The solar transmittance of these selective
layers is about 85%, that is higher than other conventional ones
to optimize the geometry of solar thermal collectors in relation to
(71%). By using low-e coating on the surface of the covering, the
costs, lightness and easy maintenance [3].
efficiency of this flat solar collector increases (it is about 77% at a
In the past some authors have presented some reviews on
temperature difference of 20 °C), compared to the traditional one.
different typologies of solar thermal collectors as Shukla et al. [4],
The results, presented in this paper, are promising for the devel-
who described different types (stand alone, hybrid and building opment of highly efficient flat-plate collectors. Boudaden et al. [8]
integrated) of transpired solar collectors (TSCs) and their operation investigated the optical proprieties of two dielectric materials as
principle. TiO2 and SiO2, deposited by sputtering technique, for antireflective
Moreover Shukla et al. [5] suggested a review on the storage coatings for solar thermal applications. From spectroscopic results,
medium of solar water heaters, which is divided in two categories: it has been proved that the sputtered films could be successfully
latent and sensible. Smyth et al. [6] made a summary about the used in solar thermal applications because of low absorbance and
technological development of all components of ICSSWHs as ves- high reflectivity (up to 70%), high solar transmission (it is about
sel, glazing, insulation, reflectors, absorber, evacuation between 87% for the bilayer film and 70% for triple layer film); good
vessel and glazing and deflector in heat storage. Influence of some adherence, because the sputtering is a physical deposition
interesting materials on the performance of ICSSWHs has been technique.
described in their work. Kalogirou et al. [9] evaluated the performance and practical
This paper has been focused on six specific topics, that are applications of different colored absorbers of solar thermal flat
collectors to reduce environmental impact in buildings. From
considered the most interesting and promising, and structured
experimental and theoretical analysis, the collectors with black
consequently in: innovative materials, innovative geometries,
absorber have higher efficiency (83% for black absorber with
integrated solar thermal collectors, heat-pipe collectors, innova-
absorbance of 95% and emittance of 10% and 76% for colored layer
tive heat transfer fluids and hybrid pv-solar thermal collectors.
with absorbance of 85% and emittance of 10%) compared to the
The objective of this paper is to give to the scientific commu-
ones with colored absorber. This paper developed a numerical
nity a description of the actual and possible trend in the research model (with TRNSYS) to study the efficiency of solar thermal
in the field of solar collectors. This analysis, even if not exhaustive, collectors, with various colored absorbers, located at different
tries to be a useful tool for the reader who wants to have a view latitudes: Nicosia, Cyprus, Athens and Madison.
of the last ten years technological development of solar thermal Abbas et al. [10] investigated the effect of deposition time on
collectors, with a particular overview on the experimental the optical characteristics of chemically deposited nanostructured
results. PbS thin films. These nanocrystalline films have been created with
G. Colangelo et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 1141–1159 1143

chemical bath deposition technique, which is one of the cheapest estimated using a theoretical model. In order to obtain a high
and scalable methods to deposit thin films. Such technique could value of working temperature and a low value of stagnation
be employed for large area batch processing or continuous temperature, polymers with thermotropic proprieties could be
deposition [11]. It has been made a comparison among three applied on the glazing and on the absorber. The solar transmit-
samples, deposited at different deposition times and hence at tance of these thermotropic layers is in the range from 76% to 87%
different thicknesses (500 nm, 600 nm and 660 nm). The authors and from theoretical model, we can deduce the values of the
have investigated nanocrystalline PbS thin films optical propri- collectors’ efficiency at a temperature difference of 20 °C, with
eties, such as transmittance and reflectance as candidates to be thermotropic glazing (  70%) and without (  80%) and, at the
used for antireflective coatings in the field of thermal flat solar same temperature difference, with thermotropic absorber (  70%)
collectors. The solar transmittance decreases and the reflectance and without (  80%). The low solar transmittance of these mate-
increases with increasing of the thickness. The high reflectance rials decreases the efficiency of collectors, characterized by ther-
property (R ¼21.24 nm) confirmed the film of 660 nm as good motropic glazing and absorber.
material for thermal solar applications. Reim et al. [16] investigated the performance of flat solar
Ienei et al. [12] and Dudita et al. [13] studied the character- thermal collectors with granulate and spherical silica aerogel
ization of solar absorbers, obtained with spray pyrolysis. Spray material as thermal insulation. The aerogel is a nanostructured
pyrolysis is a process in which a thin film is deposited by spraying material that has low thermal conductivity ( o0.005 W/mK) and
a solution on a hot surface, where the constituents react to form a high solar transmission (53% for semi-translucent spheres and 88%
chemical compound. The chemical reactants are selected in such a for highly translucent granulate). In this paper, thermal con-
way that the products, other than the desired compound, are ductivity values of evacuated solar collector with aerogel as insu-
volatile at the temperature of deposition. This process is particu- lation are compared with those of conventional solar thermal
larly useful for the deposition of oxides and it is very simple and collectors. The aerogel material reduces the thickness of the
low cost. After the experimental study on deposition parameters of insulation inside the solar thermal collector and it reduces heat
thin films, structural and morphological characterizations have losses of 40% compared to conventional insulation.
been carried out, in order to optimize selective coatings for solar Table 1 shows a comparison among optical proprieties (emis-
absorbers applications. The emissivity and solar absorption index sivity and absorbance) of different solar coatings and thermal
of deposited films have been correlated with the chemical com- efficiencies of solar thermal collectors with different types of solar
position, crystalline structure and morphology. In the former absorbers.
paper the results demonstrate that coatings with high spectral Table 2 shows a comparison among thermal efficiencies of solar
selective properties (absorbance of 92% and thermal emittance of thermal collectors with innovative materials.
3%) can be obtained with spray pyrolysis. The samples are influ- Data about the thermal efficiency are not complete, but it is
enced by the annealing treatments at 500 °C and by addition of possible to have an idea on the effectiveness of the results
additives. obtained in this field of research. The new materials have excellent
Dudita et al. [13] have experimentally analyzed the influence of perspectives and this will be in the next future one of the main
solvents on the properties of solar selective coatings, obtained aspect to explore to increase thermal efficiency. In particular, the
with spray pyrolysis. From experimental results, values of solar coating of Cindrella [14] exhibits very promising properties with
absorbance are high (92%) and thermal emittance is 3%, with a excellent results. Aerogel as thermal insulation material (Reim
concentration of 40% of solvent, due to physical processes as et al. [16]) is an excellent example of how a new material could
internal absorption of incident photons and multiple reflections improve the actual technology without much effort.
that occur when thin films are deposited.
Cindrella [14] numerically studied the efficiency of the solar
selective coatings with various values of optical properties (the 3. Innovative geometries
range of the absorbance was from 91% to 96% and the range of the
thermal emittance was from 6% to 17%) and their impact on the In the last decade many different geometries have been pro-
performance of solar thermal systems, with different concentra- posed for flat solar thermal collectors.
tion ratios (CR). From obtained results, it has been highlighted that Fernández et al. [17] developed the concept called “channels”,
the coating Co–Cd–BA, with a combination of low emissivity (6%) based on three elements:
and high solar absorption index (96%), exhibits higher efficiency
(91% at a temperature difference of 60 °C) than other coatings.  reflecting housing: parabolic channels;
Another important parameter proposed in this paper is specific  black collecting pipes;
area ratio (SAR), which is the ratio of base area of the heat transfer  glass.
fluid bed in function of absorber area receiving solar radiation. For
systems with factor of concentration of 1 and specific area ratio After the optimization of the concept, the authors of the paper
Z1, the optical proprieties of selective coating are negligible. designed and made the main components: the absorbing part, in
Actually, at CR ¼10, the coating Co–Cd–BA at 100 °C and 150 °C has which the tubes are removed and rectangular plates placed in the
the highest efficiency (95%) and at CR ¼100, the same layer at middle of the absorber. The operation of the solar collector has
100 °C, 150 °C and 250 °C shows the highest efficiency (96%). been studied, that means how water circulates through the
Instead, for system with solar flat plate collector, in which the channels, which are divided by the absorbers. After the develop-
value of CR ¼1 and SARo 1, the internal component of the solar ment of the prototype manufacturing, its thermal efficiency has
system, as selective absorber coating, is the main responsible to been measured by means of a methodology based on the standard
increase the efficiency of the system. UNI.ISO 9806-1:1994. From experimental data, the prototype has
Resch et al. [15] analyzed the effect of polymeric layers on shown efficiency between 41% and 57% and the instantaneous
overheating protection properties and application in a solar col- efficiency of about 98%.
lector. These polymers have thermotropic properties, which means Ma et al. [18] made an experimental and theoretical study on
that materials are able to change phase in function of temperature. the efficiency of a dual-function solar collector, that is able to
The attitude of selected thermotropic resins to avoid overheating provide both hot water and air. The design of this new solar
of all solar collectors, made of polymeric layers, has been thermal collector is represented in Fig. 1.
1144 G. Colangelo et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 1141–1159

Table 1
Comparison among optical properties of selective coatings and thermal efficiencies of solar thermal collectors with different solar absorbers.

Reference Deposition technique Emissivity of selective absorber Absorbance of selective absorber Solar Transmittance Thermal efficiency

Ehrmann et al. [7] Plasma vapor deposition 0.85 0.77 at 20 °C


Boudaden et al. [8] Sputtering – – 0.67–0.87 –
Kalogirou et al.[9] – 0.10 0.85 – 0.76
Abbas et al. [10] Chemical bath deposition Reflectance ¼21.4 nm
Dudita et al. [13] Spray pyrolysis 0.03 0.92

Table 2
Comparison among thermal efficiencies of thermal solar collectors with innovative
materials.

Reference Innovative material Properties Thermal


efficiency

Cindrella Coating Co–Cd–BA Absorbance (0.96) 0.91 at 60 °C


[14] absorber and emittance (0.06)
Resh et al. Polymeric layers as Tramittance (0.76– 0.70 at a tem-
[15] with thermotropic 0.87) perature differ-
properties as protec- ence of 20 °C
tive layers
Reim et al. Silica aerogel mate- Transmittance (0.53– –
[16] rial as insulation 0.88) and thermal
conductivity
( o 0.005 W/mK)

The scheme of the solar collector consists of 13 copper tubes


welded to the L–shape aluminum fins. This configuration is posi-
tioned between the glass cover and the insulation. Daily mean
efficiency and instantaneous efficiency increased both of the 50%
for water heating mode and 52% and 55% in air heating mode,
respectively. In air heating condition, the temperature of the outlet
air decreased with the increase of the flow rate. The configuration
of the dual function solar collector, with L-shape fins welded to the
copper tube, presented good values of efficiency compared to
theoretical and experimental models.
Youcef-Ali [19] carried out the theoretical study and optimi- Fig. 1. Sketch of a dual function solar collector.
zation of the thermal performance of the offset rectangular plate
fin absorber plates, with various glazings. The construction of the have been acquired as function of local time. The system has
solar thermal collector was developed thus to be changed in var- reached the optical efficiency of 70.54% and 1.41 suns and a water
ious components (glass cover, absorber and box). The influence of temperature of 85.9 °C inside the storage.
some geometrical parameters on the thermal efficiency has been El-Sawi et al. [21] performed the application of folded metal
observed from experimental data. Therefore, when the fin length sheet in the shape of a chevron pattern in flat bed solar air col-
decreases, the thermal efficiency increases. Another component lectors. Among the different papers related to innovative geome-
that influences the thermal efficiency is the use of double or triple tries, this design represents one of the most interesting, in relation
glazing. The triple glazing increases the efficiency of the solar flat to the increase of the efficiency.
thermal collectors (39%, 67%, 68%, 62% and 59% for the flat plate Authors have proposed a theoretical model to compare flat
and with fin lengths of 2.5 cm, 5 cm, 10 cm and 20 cm), reducing plate, chevron pattern and v-grooved absorbers. Theoretical
the heat losses, but with the price of the reduced solar incident
results indicate that the chevron pattern has an increase of effi-
transmission, compared to the double wall transparent cover, in
ciency of 10% and 20%, compared to those of the v-grooved and the
which the efficiencies are 38%, 59%, 64%, 63% and 56% respectively.
flat absorbers respectively. To validate the model, the new tech-
The configuration with triple glazing and with offset rectangular
nology of the chevron absorber has been designed and built and
plate fin absorber plates enhances considerably the thermal per-
compared to the flat absorber. A series of graphs, related to effi-
formance of the solar collector.
ciency as function of two different mass flow rates (0.010 kg/sm2
Chong et al. [20] studied a solar water heater, using stationary
V-trough collector. This new solar collector is made by two parts: and 0.036 kg/sm2), for flat and chevron absorbers have been per-
solar flat collector and V-though reflector. This innovative geo- formed. From experimental and theoretical results, the chevron
metry of the stationary V-though, able to reach the maximum pattern (81% at outlet temperature of the fluid of about 60 °C) has
solar concentration ratio of 1.8 suns, is conceived to increase the a higher efficiency curve than the flat plate absorber (61% at outlet
thermal efficiency of the solar system. The authors of the paper temperature of the fluid of about 60 °C) at both tested flow rates.
have made the optical analysis of the geometry of the reflector Ghoneim [22] experimentally analyzed the insertion of hon-
with ray-tracing method, in order to compare the quantity of the eycomb slats between glass cover and absorber plate, in order to
transmitted and dispersed radiations. Afterwards, it has been set suppress natural convection, as shown in Fig. 2. A detailed
up a solar system composed by solar collector, storage tank, cir- experimental study has been made to measure the efficiency of
culation pump system. Experimental data of ambient temperature, solar thermal collectors with different bottom and top gap thick-
water temperature in the storage tank and global solar irradiance ness δ. Moreover, a comparison of thermal performance between
G. Colangelo et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 1141–1159 1145

Peng et al. [25] evaluated the performance of a novel solar air


collector with pin-fin integrated absorber. Authors developed an
original model of collector, which presents some advantages:

1. low cost;
2. high durability;
3. high thermal efficiency, due to high heat transfer coefficient
even at lower air mass flow rates and low heat losses;
4. flexibility in applications of fin-pins.

This new model of solar collector contains an absorber with pin


fins arrays of different lengths. From recorded data, the heat
transfer coefficients of pin-fin arrays and flat plate collector have
been obtained for a determined value of the air volume flow rate
Fig. 2. Scheme of solar collector with honeycomb slats.
(19 m3/h). From theoretical model, the formula of the maximum
thermal efficiencies ηmax of 25 kinds of pin-fin collectors is given
solar collectors, with and without honeycomb, has been carried
as in Eq. (1) at ambient temperature:
out. In this paper some innovative results have been reached:
 s   0:224 h0:149
 natural convection can be suppressed using honeycomb ηmax ¼ 0:65 ð1Þ
between the glazing and absorber plate; d d
 the bottom gap thickness is more influent than the top gap
Aldabbagh et al. [26] discussed about single and double pass
thickness;
 the honeycomb panel in the field of solar thermal collectors can solar air heaters (SAH), with wire mesh as packing bed. The
reduce the transmission of solar radiation and the top heat loss schematic views of the single and double pass air collectors are
(of 52%). shown in Fig. 3.
The solar air system is composed by:
For values of the reduced temperature less than 0.026, the
optical efficiency of the collectors with honeycomb panel is less 1. glass cover;
than that of the collectors without honeycomb (of about 14%), for 2. back box;
values of the reduced temperature higher than 0.026, the thermal 3. wire mesh layers as absorber;
efficiency of the collectors with honeycomb panel is higher than 4. digital thermometer;
the one of the collectors without (at reduced temperature of 0.03, 5. thermocouples;
6. manometer;
the value of the efficiency is 40% and 30% respectively).
7. speed controller;
Al-Madani [23] evaluated the performance of a cylindrical solar
8. fan;
water heater. The proposed model consists of a cylindrical glass
9. orifice meter.
receiver, with a copper coil. After describing the physical char-
acteristics of the glass tube as receiver and of the copper coil as
From experimental results the double pass SAH, with mesh
collector, measures of the thermal efficiency have been performed
layers, has a maximum efficiency of 83.65%, instead of 45.93% for
and the maximum value of the obtained averaged efficiency was
the single pass SAH with an air mass flow rate of 0.038 kg/s. Fur-
41.8%, during a year with a maximum temperature of 45.6 °C and
thermore, for single and double passes, the efficiencies increase as
with a minimum temperature of 8 °C.
Ozgen et al. [24] carried out an experimental investigation function of the air mass flow rate.
Abene et al. [27] suggested a new solar collector with some
about thermal performance of a double-flow solar air heater
(SAH), with aluminum cans. Three types of solar thermal collectors different typologies of elements which act as obstacles. The paper
have been analyzed: compares the efficiencies of solar collectors with and without
obstacles (WO). Particular attention is given to the different shapes
 Type I: cans placed as zigzag on the absorber plate; of the obstacles, which can be ogival transverse (OT), ogival
 Type II: cans arranged in order on the absorber plate; inclined folded (OIF1), waisted tube (WT), waisted delta length-
 Type III: absorber plate without cans. ways (WDL1), waisted ogival lengthways (WOL1) and transverse-
longitudinal obstacles (TL). The aim of introducing the obstacles on
By introducing aluminum cans on the plate absorber, the heat- the insulation or on the absorber is to extract a maximum quantity
transfer area is increased and a good airflow over and under the of heat and to increase the water outlet temperature, by increasing
absorber plates is ensured, because cans create turbulence and the efficiency with minimum heat losses. In order to have a tur-
reduce the dead zones in the collector. Experimental data of the bulent air flow, the shape of the obstacles has been changed. Some
efficiencies for two different mass flow rates (0.05 and 0.03 kg/s) geometrical properties of the obstacles (as shape, position and
have been recorded for the three types of solar thermal collectors. orientation) considerably influence the collector efficiency.
The first type of the proposed model has the maximum value of The main characteristics of the solar collector are:
efficiency of 72% at 0.05 kg/s mass flow rate. The second type, with
cans arranged in order on the absorber plate, has a lower efficiency  transparent cover in polycarbonate with transmission and
(59%) than the first one and it has higher efficiency than the third emissivity coefficients of 83% and 90% respectively;
model at 0.05 kg/s mass flow rate.  absorber in aluminum sheet with absorption coefficient of 95%
The same trend is presented at 0.03 kg/s mass flow rate. This and thermal conductivity of 205 W/mK;
phenomenon is due to the high turbulence created by cans on the  an insulation in polystyrene with a thermal conductivity of
absorber plate. 0.04 W/mK.
1146 G. Colangelo et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 1141–1159

Fig. 3. Schematic drawings of a double pass solar air heater (SAH) (a), side profile of the double pass SAH (b), side profile of the single pass SAH (c).

A constant value of irradiance (1063.5 W/m2) has been con- circulation. Therefore, the better solution is to build ICS with one
sidered to measure the efficiency. Collectors with obstacles OT, tube and a symmetric (or asymmetric) CPC or involute reflector
OIF1, WT, WDL1 and WOL1 have efficiency of 50% with air flow trough. A disadvantage of this solution is the larger depth than
rates of 47 m3/h, 34.5 m3/h, 35.5 m3/h, 32 m3/h and 33 m3/h (per traditional solar flat panel.
unit collector area) and temperature differences of 35.5 °C, 52.5 °C, D’Antoni et al. [29] presented a critical work on massive solar–
49.5 °C, 56.1 °C and 52.2 °C respectively. Comparing all these col- thermal collector, characterized by concrete as absorber, water as
lectors, the solar collector with WDL1 represents the best one. heat transfer fluid and plastic or metal as pipe material. The main
Another comparison is made between the solar collector with the advantage of these MSTCs is to have the capacity to store a big
TS obstacle and without. The first one offers good results (effi- quantity of thermal energy to compensate the needs of heating
ciency of 50% at air flow rate of 23 m3/h (for unit collector area), at water in all the periods of the year.
an output temperature of 97 °C) and the second one has an effi- Researchers described thermo-physical and technological
ciency of about 25% at the same conditions. Tripanagnostopoulos aspects related to different models of MSTC: detached, partially
et al. [28] proposed an Integrated Collector Storage (ICS) system to integrated and building integrated. Massive materials as concrete
reduce costs of solar systems. It contains a flat or cylindrical water have a lower thermal conductivity, but a greater heat storing effect
storage tank, as Fig. 4 shows, and it can be mounted in horizontal than metals. With a value of 0.66 kWh/m3K of volumetric heat
or vertical position. From experimental data, we can observe that capacity, the concrete has a water capacity of 60%. Compared to
the solar system proposed in horizontal version (at values of mean traditional collectors, MSTC have the same thermal efficiency
storage water temperature/irradiance in the range between 0.01 K/ (40%) in low temperature range (temperature fluid is less than
Wm2 and 0.06 K/Wm2, the mean daily efficiency is between 0.36 50 °C).
and 0.62) is more efficient than that in vertical position (in the Badache et al. [30] investigated, experimentally and theoreti-
same conditions, the mean daily efficiency is between 0.32 cally, the thermal performance of unglazed transpired collectors
and 0.58). (UTC). Influence of the air mass flow rates, of the solar irradiation
Obviously the cost of an ICS is directly proportional to the and of plenums thickness on the performance of the solar thermal
number of tubes, because they need to be connected for water collectors have been studied, as shown in Table 3.
G. Colangelo et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 1141–1159 1147

Fig. 4. Cross section of various ICS design.

Souliotis et al. [31] compared three Integrated Collector Storage Table 3


Solar Water Heaters (ICSSWH) with a Flat Plate Thermosiphonic Results of thermal efficiencies in function of different values of air temperature,
solar irradiation and mass flux.
Unit (FPTU). ICSSWH used in this experimental investigation were
like those of Fig. 4e and f, with an acceptance angle of 90° (ICS2) Air temperature Efficiency (%) Solar irradiation Mass flux (kg/s per
and 60° (ICS3) respectively. They were mounted in horizontal (Tout–Tamb) (°C) (W/m2) unit collector
position. The results of the investigation showed that ICSSWH area)

behavior is comparable to that of FPTU before sunset. However, in 15 72 300 0.0133


the nighttime heat losses of ICSSWH were higher than FPTU. 10 84 300 0.0266
Another comparison is made between ICSA with single glazing and 8 89 300 0.0411
ICSB with double-glazing. In the range of the mean storage water 25 72 450 0.0.133
18 83 450 0.0266
temperature/irradiance, between 0.01 and 0.06 K/Wm2, the mean 12 89 450 0.0411
daily efficiency of the ICSA (between 0.42 and 0.59) is higher than 32 74 600 0.0133
that of the ICSB (between 0.40 and 0.53). Over this range the main 20 83 600 0.0266
15 88 600 0.0411
daily efficiency of the ICSB (between 0 and 0.46) is higher than
that of the ICSB (between 0.34 and 0.42).
Table 4 shows a comparison among thermal efficiencies of
thermal solar collectors with innovative geometries. Focusing only
on the efficiency, the best performances have been reached by the collectors is related to the aesthetics. Hazami et al. [32] analyzed
works of Youcefi et al. [19] and Ozgen et al. [24], but this para- the performance of a solar storage collector containing:
meter is not the only one to take into account when evaluating an
innovative geometry, even if it is one of the most important. The
 glazing (transmission coefficient of 95%);
 empty space;
overall construction effort, LCA, environmental impact etc. are
 selective layer;
important parameters as well. Under those points of view, the
 concrete;
analyzed papers do not give an exhaustive analysis, leaving to
 capillary braid;
possible future works the opportunity to determine this.  thermal insulation (thermal conductivity of 0.038 W/m °C).

The authors recorded a series of experimental data during two


4. Integrated solar thermal collectors different stages: Storage and Discharge.
From obtained results, authors affirmed that:
This paragraph is dedicated to integrated flat solar thermal
collectors, whose characteristics allow accomplishing the strict  it is cheap and handy;
regulations in terms of environmental impact and landscape  it can store high quantity (96.4 kW h/m3) of thermal energy
constraints. An important advantage of this typology of solar during the day, that can be used during the night;
1148 G. Colangelo et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 1141–1159

 it can reach the temperature of 50 °C with an irradiance of  selective absorber (absorbance coefficient is 90% and emissivity
980 W/m2; is 0.9);
 it can be obtained a power of 1.5 kW with a surface of 5 m2 with  single transparent glazing;
an efficiency of 30%.  air gap;
 the building insulation.
Motte et al. [33] designed and proposed a theoretical model for
a new patented integrated thermal solar collector. It is a concept of The advantages of the façade solar collector are:
a solar water collector (SWC), schematically shown in Fig. 5. Inside
the collector, there are “hot” and “cold” tubes together, where  to protect the building against atmospheric conditions;
water flows, a glass cover, a selective absorber and the thermal
 high aesthetics, because the façade solar system, often char-
acterized by wooden frame, is assembled on the building walls;
insulation. This typology of solar water collector can be perfectly
 reduced heat transfer coefficient;
integrated in south and in north walls because the collector is
 improvement in thermal properties for high insulation, because
inserted into gutter, which sorrounded all the house. The imple-
it is directly mounted on the insulation of the building.
mented thermal model has been validated with experimental
results of temperatures of the solar collector, water outlet and The paper deals with a simulation with TRNSYS to study the
inlet. The results showed that, compared to standard solar col- thermal performance of this innovative system. The results put in
lector, the proposed design has the following advantages: evidence that the façade solar area could increase by 30% com-
pared to conventional solar thermal one tilted at 45 °C and façade
 it is aesthetically invisible;
solar system could capture 60% of solar fraction.
 it can be placed in south and north walls;
 the modules of the collector are mounted in parallel;
 the efficiency is up to 60%.

Matuska et al. [34] introduced a new idea, called “façade”, that


is a solar collectors integrated in the front of the building. The
scheme of a façade, constituted by glazing, air gap, absorber,
insulation and wall, is represented in Fig. 6. The peculiarity of this
configuration is that the solar collector is directly mounted on the
building walls. The façade solar collector is charactecterized by:

Table 4
Comparison among thermal efficiencies of thermal solar collectors with innovative
geometries.

Reference Innovative geometry Thermal efficiency


(%)

Youcefi et al. [19] triple glazing and fins with length 68


of 10 cm
Ghoneim et al. [22] honeycomb between the glazing 40
and absorber plate
Ozgen et al. [24] cans placed as zig zag on the 72
absorber plate
Ozgene al. [24] cans arranged in order on the 59
absorber plate
Abene et al. [27] Solar absorber with different 50
shapes of obstacles as TL
D’Antoni et al. [29] massive solar thermal collector 40
Fig. 6. Scheme of façade.

Fig. 5. Scheme of solar water collector.


G. Colangelo et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 1141–1159 1149

Hazami et al. [35] carried out a modeling of energy and exergy


performance of an integrated solar system based on concrete
matrix.
The solar collector is composed by:

 transparent glazing cover (with a transmission coefficient of


81% and an emissivity of 94%);
 empty space (about 20 mm);
 concrete as selective layer (thermal conductivity of 0.81 W/mK
and specific heat of 0.880 kJ/kgK);
 capillary braid;
 thermal insulation (thermal conductivity of 0.32 W/mK and Fig. 7. Scheme of integrated solar collector.
specific heat of 2090 J/kgK).
 reduced roof area, due to the slope of the solar system
After a theoretical analysis, an experimental setup has been structure;
equipped to measure inlet and outlet temperature of the solar  reduced construction time;
system, temperature of the concrete absorber, solar radiation,  reduced cost of the solar system, due to the replacement of the
environment temperature, energy and exergy efficiencies during insulation layer with the roof.
two different months of the year (February and December).
From experimental results, we can deduce that the highest In this paper, different schemes of operation have been pre-
energy efficiency is related to December in the range from 23% to sented during summer-day, summer-night, winter-day and
41.2%, while the exergy efficiency is in the range from 19% to 28.8%. winter-night. This new concept of solar flat collector is interesting
The highest values of energy and exergy efficiency are reached
for domestic heating, due to the solar irradiation during the winter
under some conditions: temperature of 21 °C, solar irradiance of
and cooling by free convection during summer. During the sum-
935 W/m2 and during noon period. In February, the energy and
mer day, a water pond is formed on the collector's glass and it
exergy efficiencies are lower than those during December and they
yields cooling by evaporation. During the summer day, the water,
reached the values of 34.5% and 23.5% respectively.
that has been cooled during the night, is pumped to create indoor
Therefore, integrated solar system can supply a capacity of hot
cooling by free convection. During the day, a rolling tent is placed
water of 140-180 l with an efficiency of 32% at 42-46 °C in winter.
on the collector’s glass in order to avoid the irradiation and the
ISSC has the same efficiency of the conventional solar
heating.
system (34%).
Gertzos et al. [38] constructed an innovative integrated col-
Moreover, an economic evaluation, by comparing the cost and
lector storage solar water heater equipped with storage tank, heat
the economic benefits between conventional solar water heating
system (SWHS) and integrated solar storage collector (ISSC), has exchanger (serpentine tube), circulation pump, water inlet and
been performed. From economic analysis, the cost of conventional outlet port, sensor for water flow and fins. Differently from other
solar system is higher than that of the integrated one ($ 1000 vs $ integrated solar systems, the operation of this configuration is
380 respectively), the annual energy gain is almost similar based on heating of the water by means of a serpentine heat
(1450 kWh and 1380 kWh respectively) while the cost back for exchanger. In this model, the tank, included into collector,
conventional solar system is triple compared to the integrated one becomes the heat accumulator.
(9 and 3 years). Authors have implemented a computational fluid dynamics
Smyth et al. [36] designed and build an integrated collector/ (CFD) model to investigate positions and sizes of the inlet and
storage solar water heater (ICSSWH), in two models: fully enclosed outlet port, to study solar collector with and without heat
and partially enclosed. In the first one, integrated collector storage exchanger and the arrangements of fins coupled to front and back
vessel is 1 m long. It has an insulation of polystyrene foam surfaces.
50 mm thick. The main advantages are:
In the second version, integrated collector storage vessel is
1.5 m long and the upper part of 1/3 of the vessel length is posi-  reduced cost of the integration of the collector with the heat
tioned outside a reflector cavity. The storage volumes are 57 l and storage tank;
85 l respectively. During 24 hours, for both systems, an analysis of  less aesthetically intrusive.
the average storage temperatures has been carried out, observing
in the heating period a temperature increase from 0 °C to 52 °C in The disadvantage, instead, is that the storage tank must be built
the first eight hours and in the cooling period a temperature in a particular way in order to avoid the corrosion and it is able to
decreasing from 52 °C to 20 °C in the remaining hours. Both sys- withstand high pressure [39].
tems are with forced circulation. D. Borello et al. [40] presented a simple integrated collector
From results, it has been showed that the first model has higher storage (ICS), characterized by the absence of the external vessel
efficiency (57.5%) than the second one (52%). The configuration and by the fact that the collector includes the storage.
with inner vessel improves the thermal performance of the ISSC The schematic image of this model appears in Fig. 8.
because there is a decrease of the average storage water tem- The characteristics of the materials used in this collector are the
perature due to the reduced area. following:
Juanico [37] presented a roof-integrated water solar collector,
represented in Fig. 7, where the roof has been replaced with the  transparent glazing (T ¼0.72%);
collector. The main advantages of this new patented solar collector  stainless steel pipe (thermal conductivity ¼16.3 W/mK, thermal
are: dilatation ¼0.000016 K  1);
 polyurethane layer as insulation (thermal conductivity¼ 0.040
 resistant materials have been used against atmospheric W/mK);
corrosion;  galvanized aluminum structure (thermal conductivity¼18 W/mK).
1150 G. Colangelo et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 1141–1159

Fig. 8. Schematic figure of the integrated collector storage (ICS).

Table 5
Comparison between thermal efficiencies of integrated thermal solar collectors and conventional ones.

Reference Thermal efficiency increase (%) of integrated solar collec- Cost ($) Cost back (years)
tors compared to conventional one

Matuska et al. [34] 30 N.A. N.A


Hazami et al. [35] 34 380 for integrated collector and 1000 for 3 for integrated collector and 9 for
conventional one conventional one

The authors of the paper examined the prototype by means of promising giving to this solution good prospective advantages
numerical and experimental models during the discharge phase. versus the traditional one.
Measurements of the temperature variation inside the solar col-
lector were performed by means of draw-off method and they
validated the theoretical results. 5. Heat-pipe collectors
A series of experimental data are based on the variation of the
temperature (for three days with different solar irradiations of In a conventional solar collector, heat transfer fluid (water or
715 W/m2, 868 W/m2 and 803 W/m2) as a function of variation of mixture of ethylene glycol and water) circulates inside pipes,
discharged volume. The day with the lowest value of solar irra- attached to the absorber, under natural convection conditions or
diation (715 W/m2) shows the lowest value of temperature of the through a pump. Some of the disadvantages of traditional solar
water (13 °C), instead a strange behavior is shown for the other collector are both pressure drops and corrosion inside the pipes,
solar irradiations of 868 W/m2 and 803 W/m2 (12 °C and 15.5 °C effect of the water flow. To overcome these drawbacks, heat pipe
respectively). This fact could be casual. The solar radiation and solar collectors are employed. They consist in a sealed tube, where
stratification influence the efficiency of solar system. From a working fluid is placed. By evaporating of the working fluid, heat
obtained results it has been conceived an interesting integrated is transferred in a cooling zone where the vapor condenses and
collector storage. returns to the heating zone through a capillary structure.
Summarily, the concept of integrated solar collector is common In the last decade several studies have been carried out on
to all mentioned papers, that is that storage tank is included geometry and efficiency of heat pipe. Typically a heat pipe solar
directly inside the collector. collector is made of a set of sealed and separate heat pipes, each of
Aste et al. [41] presented the results about energy efficiency one has a condenser zone. Efficiency of a heat pipe also depends
and economic analysis of a solar integrated roof. The solar inte- on the area of condenser section surface. For this purpose Wei at
grated roof consists of three sections: solar system for heating al. [42] proposed a new design for heat pipe solar collectors, that
water, air and photovoltaic system. This solar system has an area of consists to connect all pipes through both upper and bottom tube,
390 m2 divided in: as Fig. 9 shows.
With this solution area of condenser section is higher than that
 104 modules for solar system for water heating; of a traditional heat pipe solar collector. System shown in Fig. 9
 104 modules for solar system for air heating; was tested with ethanol as working fluid, with a mass flow rate of
 26 modules for photovoltaic system with a power of 3.9 kW. 0.2 kg/s and a maximum efficiency of 66% was reached.
An innovative heat pipe solar collector, in order to study effi-
From energy evaluation, the produced electric energy is 7% ciency of many heat pipes and heated length-cooled length ratio,
higher than that of a traditional solar system. Energy of a SWH was designed and built by Azad [43]. Condenser section consists in
(solar water heating) system is 30% higher compared to the esti- a copper pipe, wrapped around heat pipe, as Fig. 10 shows.
mated one, instead energy of a SAH (solar air heating) system is 7% Ethanol was used as working fluid and water flow rate was
higher compared to the estimated one. The main parameters that 0.03–0.032 kg/s. With an experimental investigation and thermal
characterized them are: overall heat loss coefficient (4 W/m2 K for analysis for this configuration, efficiency of heat pipe solar col-
standard collector and 3.5 W/m2 K for TIS); collector efficiency lector was observed to be inversely proportional to the number of
factor (0.8 for standard collector and 0.9 for TIS); and effective heat pipes, because water temperature increases from inlet to
transmittance-absorbance product (0.75 for standard collector and outlet section and, therefore, heat loss in each condenser too.
for 0.8 TIS). Besides the optimum heated length-cooled length ratio was 8.25.
Table 5 shows a comparison between thermal efficiencies of Rassamakin et al. [44] investigated on a heat pipe for building
integrated solar collectors and conventional ones. The only work integration without welds, but with fin and sealed tube built as
that gives data about cost and return of investment is that of one aluminum part through extrusion method. This guarantees a
Hazami et al. [35]. The data reported in this work are very negligible thermal resistance between tube and fin. Inner wall of
G. Colangelo et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 1141–1159 1151

the tube was longitudinally grooved. Aluminum heat pipe pro- with three tube passes (Fig. 11). The second one (Type II) is the
posed by authors was tested at different tilt angles, between 0° solar collector proposed by Azad [45] and the third type (Type III)
and 90°. Thermal power between 210 W and 300 W and thermal has four tubes heat exchanger (Fig. 11).
resistance between 0.02 and 0.07 °C/W were measured respec- Efficiencies of the three types of solar collectors were calcu-
tively. Besides, a flat plate solar collector and evacuated tube solar lated and compared. Experimental results show that efficiencies of
collector prototypes, with aluminum heat pipe, were built and both Type II and Type III are higher than Type I when reduced
their efficiency was calculated. Experimental results were com- temperature is less than 0.038. Finally Type I and Type III, are built
pared to efficiency curves of commercial solar collectors. Flat plate with interconnected heat pipes, and this allows an easy produc-
collector (FPC), with 8 heat pipes, an absorber area of 1.98 m2 and tion and lower costs (Fig. 12).
a diameter of heat pipe of 14.0 mm was compared to a Vitosol 100- Thermal performance of a micro-channel heat pipe (MHPA)
F. Evacuated tube collector (ETC), with 14 heat pipes, an absorber was studied by Deng et al. [46]. MHPA consists in a thin aluminum
area of 2.0 m2 and a diameter of heat pipe of 8.0 mm was com- plate with independent micro-channel heat pipes, as Fig. 13a)
pared to a copper HPs (MT 58-1800). A good agreement between shows. Typical MHPA thickness is 3 mm and width is 60 mm. A
efficiencies of solar collectors with aluminum heat pipe and those heat pipe solar collector with MHPA was built (Fig. 13b) and effi-
of commercial solar collectors was observed, to demonstrate high ciency was calculated and compared to Chinese Standard GB/
efficiency of the aluminum extruded heat pipe. With FPC, effi- T6424-2007, where the minimun efficiency must be at least as the
ciency between 0.65 and 0.45 for reduced temperature difference following linear relation in Eq. (2):
between 0.02 and 0.06 has been obtained. With ETC, efficiency    
T T T T
between 0.6 and 0.4 for reduced temperature between 0.06 and η ¼ F R ðταÞe F R U L wi a ¼ 0:80  4:72 wi a ð2Þ
I I
0.11 has been observed.
Three types of heat pipe solar collectors were installed in par- Where Twi, Ta and I are inlet water temperature, room tem-
allel and tested under the same conditions. The first type (Type I) perature and the solar radiation intensity respectively, FR(τα)e
consists in a set of finned heat pipes, welded to an heat exchanger should be not less than 0.72 and FRUL no more than 6.0. From the
experimental results, efficiency was higher than Chinese Standard
GB/T6424-2007 values. Precisely efficiency equation is the fol-
lowing:
 
T T
η ¼ 0:80  4:72 wi a ð3Þ
I

Besides the difference between temperature of the evaporator


section and condenser section is less than 1 °C. This behavior and a
quick thermal response speed are some of the reasons of higher
efficiency of MHPA solar collector than that of the other six groups
of models tested by authors. Group 1 includes three heat pipe solar
collectors investigated by Azad [45]. In this case FR(τα)e average
value was 0.64 and FRUL average value was 6.02. Group 2 regards
wickless heat pipe solar collectors analyzed at various water flow
rates, 0.0292 kg/s, 0.0458 kg/s and 0.0125 kg/s respectively. At
these conditions FR(τα)e average value was 0.59 and FRUL average
value was 5.20. Group 3 includes two ETCs with U-tube, with
copper fin between absorber and U-tube and filling layer inside
absorber respectively. In this case MPHA solar collector efficiency
was lower than those of U-Tube solar collectors. Comparing effi-
ciency of MPHA solar collector with that of solar collector made
with heat pipes inside evacuated tube (Group 4), of flat plate solar
collectors with honeycomb with different arrangements (Group 5)
and three commercial flat plate solar collectors, better results have
been obtained with MPHA.
Rittidech et al. [47] carried out a study on performance of a
closed-end oscillating heat pipe (CEOHP). CEOHP consists in a long
Fig. 9. Connected heat pipe proposed by Wei et al. [42].
capillary tube, without wick structure, bent into many turns. The

Fig. 10. Innovative heat pipe proposed by Azad [43].


1152 G. Colangelo et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 1141–1159

pulsation of the working fluid guarantees heat transfer from eva- conduction heat loss. On outer surface of the inner pipe a selective
porator section to condenser section. CEOHP was analyzed at a tilt coating is placed. DGVHP can be used for producing a higher
angle of 18°, dimensions were 2.00  0.97 m2. Material, inner temperature fluid, since it has an high stagnation temperature
diameter and length of capillary tube were copper, 0.003 mm and (about 230 °C), that can be used in thermodynamic energy con-
70 m respectively. By using R134a as working fluid an efficiency of version systems. For this purpose Fiaschi et al. [48] proposed a
62% has been obtained, for a solar radiation of 902 W/m2, an model to investigate the design parameters, which influence the
ambient temperature of about 43 °C and a plate temperature of performance of this innovative heat pipe. Commercial DGVHPs
86 °C. At this conditions, water temperature within the tank was have efficiency between 0.58 and 0.42 for X ¼ ðT I T a Þ between 0.01
45 °C. These results are comparable to that of conventional heat and 0.1, where T is fluid temperature, Ta is ambient temperature
pipe solar collectors. However CEOHP are easier to build. Another and I is the intensity of solar radiation.
type of heat pipe solar collector is built with a double glass system A study on the influence of cross section shape of heat pipe was
and called Double Glass Vacuum Heat Pipe (DGVHP) [48]. Also in carried out by Hussein et al. [49]. They analyzed three groups of
this case no wick structure is used, the circulation of working fluid heat pipe having circular, elliptical and semi-circular cross section.
is controlled by gravity and by surface tension on interface Systems were tested using water as working fluid at filling ratio of
between glass and liquid. The evaporator section consists in a 10%, 20% and 35%. Two groups of experiments were carried out:
double glass with vacuum inside, in order to avoid convection and the first one, at fixed mass flow rate of cooling water and low inlet
temperature, in order to investigate on instantaneous performance
of the wickless heat pipe solar collectors during a day; the second
group of experiments regarded efficiency, at two mass flow rates
and different inlet cooling water temperatures, at quasi-steady
state condition around solar noon. From the first group of
experiments, it was possible to note that, for a constant filling ratio
of 20%, better rates of thermal energy gain have been obtained
with elliptical cross section wickless heat pipe. This is due to its
higher surface area to volume ratio compared to the circular and
semi-circular wickless heat pipe. Besides, the optimum filling ratio
of elliptical cross section heat pipe is 10%. This behavior can be
attributed to the increase of heat capacity of the collector with the
increase of filling ratio. Finally, second group of experiments
confirmed that higher efficiencies could be reached with elliptical
cross section wickless heat pipe and a filling ratio of 10% in a wide
range of inlet temperature and mass flow rate of cooling water.
Fig. 14 shows a comparison among curves fitting of efficiencies of
heat pipe solar collectors, analyzed in this review. For each solar
collector water mass flow rate is also indicated. Different x-axes
were used because temperature differences used in the paper are
Fig. 11. Finned heat pipe solar collector. different. In particular in Fig. 14a, Tp indicates temperature of the

Fig. 12. Heat pipe solar collector with four tubes for water.
G. Colangelo et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 1141–1159 1153

Fig. 13. MHPA scheme.

plate of the solar collector. In Fig. 14b Ti is the inlet temperature of respectively. An increase of thermal conductivity up to 21.76% was
the water flow. obtained with Cu nanoparticles. Besides, it was possible to observe
Applications of heat pipes are much wider than traditional that thermal conductivity of diathermic oil based nanofluids is
solar flat thermal collectors, in fact it is possible to reach high inversely proportional to particle size. Heat transfer coefficient of
temperatures and to use various heat transfer fluids. However, nanofluids has been also analyzed [55,56]. Hwang et al. [57] stu-
design and manufacture of heat pipe must be very careful, because died the convective heat transfer coefficient of water–Al2O3
evaporation/condensation mechanisms strongly depend on geo- nanofluids flowing in a stainless steel tube. The nanoparticles,
metry and dimensions of components. used in this investigation, had an average diameter of 30 nm and
they obtained an increase up to 8.0% at a concentration of solid
phase of 0.3%. Heyhat et al. [58] measured heat transfer coefficient
6. Innovative heat transfer fluids in solar flat thermal collec- of the water based nanofluids with Al2O3 nanoparticles with an
tors: nanofluids. average diameter of 40.0 nm and a volume fraction from 0.1 to
2.0% in a circular tube, with constant wall temperature, under
Water or mixture of water and ethylene glycol are heat transfer turbulent flow conditions. Results showed an enhancement up to
fluids generally used in flat solar thermal collectors. Their thermal 23.0%, compared to base fluid.
conductivity is a limiting factor, because it is lower than thermal Nanofluids can be employed in flat solar panels in order to
conductivity of heat exchange solid surface. Innovative heat increase efficiency of the systems. However, it is necessary to take
transfer fluids have been proposed to enhance efficiency of energy into account that solid phase of these suspensions could yield
systems, based on mixing of solid nanoparticles (o 100 nm) of sedimentation phenomenon and, therefore, a decrease of thermal
metal or metal oxide with traditional heat transfer fluids as water,
properties of nanofluids and clogging. For this purpose Colangelo
ethylene glycol, oil. These suspensions are called nanofluids, word
et al. [55,59] proposed a modified flat solar panel to avoid sedi-
used by Choi for the first time [50]. Thermal conductivity
mentation. The modification consists in a variation of the cross
enhancements have been obtained by several authors. Minsta et al.
section both for top and bottom header, through a shaped ele-
[51] measured thermal conductivity of water based nanofluids
ment. To study sedimentation phenomenon, two flat solar panels
with CuO nanoparticles with an average dimension of 29 nm and
with transparent tubes were designed and built. The first one has
Al2O3 nanoparticles, with an average dimension of 47 nm and
the dimensions and shape of a commercial collector. In the second
37 nm respectively. An enhancement between 2.0% and 24.0% was
one, cross variation along both top and bottom header, through a
observed using CuO nanoparticles at a volume fraction between
shaped element, maintains a constant heat transfer fluid velocity.
1.0% and 14.0%. With Al2O3 nanoparticles they obtained an
In fact, in a conventional flat solar panel, velocity varies because
increase of the thermal conductivity up to 30.0%, in a range of
volume fraction from 1.0% to 18.0%. Yu et al. [52] obtained an the heat transfer fluid is distributed to the riser tubes by a collector
increase of thermal conductivity of 26.5% for 5.0 vol% of ZnO dis- pipe having a constant cross section. Water-Al2O3 nanofluids with
persed in ethylene glycol. Murshed et al. [53] measured ethylene 1 vol% and 3 vol%, were used to study sedimentation inside two
glycol–TiO2 nanofluids and ethylene glycol–Al nanofluids thermal panels with transparent tubes. Nanofluids flow rate was 1.2 l/min.
conductivity. They obtained enhancements of 18% with 5.0 vol% of In order to simulate the working condition of a solar system, the
TiO2 and 45% with 5.0 vol% of Al, respectively. Colangelo et al. [54] pump run for 12 h and was turned off for other 12 h. By optical
measured thermal conductivity of diathermic oil-based nano- investigation it was possible to note that inside flat solar panel,
fluids, with Al2O3, CuO, ZnO and Cu nanoparticles respectively, in a without shaped element, sedimentation was inversely propor-
temperature range between 20 °C and 60 °C and a volume fraction tional to the mean velocity of the fluid along top and bottom
between 0.1% and 2.0%. They used CuO and Al2O3 nanoparticles header and directly proportional to the solid phase of nanofluid.
with a spherical shape and particle size with average diameters of Instead, inside modified flat solar panel, variation of the cross
30 nm and 45 nm, ZnO, with an elongated shape and an average section area along top and bottom header avoids sedimentation
dimension of 60 nm, and three types of Cu nanoparticles, with phenomenon.
spherical shape and average diameters of 100 nm, 50 nm and This modification is an easy and cheap solution, the additional
25 nm. They obtained a thermal conductivity enhancement up to pressure drop is concentrated in the collector and it is negligible if
12.9%, 10.7% and 8.29% with ZnO, CuO and Al2O3 nanoparticles, compared to the case of an increased flow rate.
1154 G. Colangelo et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 1141–1159

Fig. 14. Comparison among efficiencies of heat pipe solar collectors.

Yousefi et al. [60] investigated the effect of nanofluids on effi- For wide range of temperature differences, precisely for
ðT i  T a Þ
ciency of flat solar panel. They used water-Al2O3, with and without GT o0:018,
experimental results showed that efficiency at
surfactant, as working fluid. The weight fraction of solid phase was 0.2 wt% was higher than that at 0.4 wt%. For higher temperature
0.2% and 0.4% respectively and Triton X-100 was used as surfac- differences efficiency at 0.4 wt% was greater than that at 0.2 wt%.
tant. Average diameter of nanoparticles was 15 nm. Mass flow rate This behavior has been explained by authors through weight
of nanofluid varied between 1 and 3 l/min. Efficiency was calcu- fraction. At high concentration particles tend to agglomerate,
lated through Eq. (4): reducing stability of nanofluids. At high temperature Brownian
motion of agglomerates leads to an increase of thermal con-
ðT i T a Þ
ηi ¼ F R ðταÞ  F R U L ð4Þ ductivity of nanofluid and therefore to an enhancement of effi-
GT
ciency of solar flat panel. However, the mechanisms of heat
Eq. (4) is based on ASHRAE method and Ti, Ta, F R ðταÞ and F R U L transfer within the nanofluids are not yet clear.
are the collector inlet fluid and ambient temperatures, absorbed Effect of surfactant was investigated through a water–Al2O3
energy parameter and removed energy parameter respectively. 0.4 wt%, with 0.21 wt% of Triton-X100. Efficiencies were calculated
G. Colangelo et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 1141–1159 1155

and compared to those obtained with nanofluid without surfac- operating temperature. Similarly, flat solar thermal collectors
tant. It was obtained a negligible variation of absorbed energy guarantee hot water or air with acceptable temperature for
parameter, , from 0.6194, without surfactant, to 0.6086, with sur- domestic uses. For this purpose, it is possible to combine both PV
factant. Removed energy parameter, , increases from 22.376, and flat plate solar thermal collector technologies in order to
without surfactant, to 24.672, with surfactant. Therefore, Triton X- reduce temperature of PV module, collecting thermal energy in
100 enhances collector efficiency. Lastly, for water–Al2O3 0.4 wt% the form of hot air (PVT/AIR) or hot water (PVT/WATER). Systems
with surfactant, it was observed efficiency directly proportional to based on this principle are known as Hybrid photovoltaic/thermal
mass flow rate. solar systems [64], designed for low temperature applications [65].
Yousefi et al. [61] also investigated efficiency of the same solar Erdil et al. [66] studied a PVT/WATER system composed of two
collector for water based nanofluids with Multi Walled Carbon modules and a warm water storage tank and tested it in Cyprus. It
Nanotubes (MWCNT). In this case, as well, surfactant effect was has been seen that electrical energy loss, depending on absorption
observed, by using Triton X-100 – to – MWCNT. Ratio between and reflection by the glass cover and water, was 11.5%. However, a
solid phase and MWCNT was of 1:350. For this purpose, 0.2 wt% PV system to supply a traditional household in Cyprus is composed
and 0.4 wt% water-MWCNT was prepared. Particularly, nanofluid of ten PV modules. Therefore, energy loss will be less than 1%, if
at 0.2 wt% was prepared with and without surfactant. Efficiencies two modules of PV system are hybrid. Besides, by economic ana-
were calculated with ASHRAE method on a mass flow rate lysis, it was obtained that pay-back period is 1.7 years for hybrid
between 0.0167 kg/s and 0.05 kg/s. Efficiency of flat plate solar system, which is employed to heat water for domestic utilization.
collector with water-MWCNT 0.2 wt% without surfactant was Another system was investigated with both natural and forced
lower than that with water with surfactant. With 0.4 wt% water- circulation mode by Chow et al. [67] in Hong Kong. Natural cir-
MWCNT an increase of efficiency was observed. In fact absorbed culation was used to calculate efficiency of PVT/WATER system
energy parameter, , increases from 39.53, for 0.2%wt, to 45.27, for without water consumption. Test data were recorded during early
0.4%wt. Removed energy parameter, , increase from 0.549, for 0.2% September 2005 and thermal efficiency of 38.9% at zero reduced
wt, to 0.912, for 0.4%wt. Adding surfactant to water, efficiency of temperature and an electricity conversion efficiency of 8.56%,
solar collector decreases, because Triton X-100 creates foam, that during late summer, were obtained. Forced and natural circula-
reduces heat transfer from pipe to liquid. Instead, with water- tions were used to evaluate efficiency of the system with a water
MWCNT 0.2 wt% with surfactant, efficiency is higher than that consumption of 0.46 m3 per day. Measurements were done from
observed with nanofluid without surfactant. In particular the July to December 2005. In this case efficiency was from 24.3% to
values of absorbed energy parameter, , and removed energy 30.9% for natural circulation and from 25.3% to 28.6% for forced
parameter, , were 0.8142 and 53.3 respectively. circulation.
Effect of nanofluids on performance of solar systems was also Touafek et al. [68] investigated on a new PVT/WATER system to
investigated by Liu et al. [62] through an evacuated tubular solar improve both thermal and electrical efficiency, through a new
air collector, integrated with simplified CPC and a special open design and with lower cost compared to conventional hybrid
thermosyphon, using water-CuO nanofluids. The mean evaporat- system. PVT system consists in a monocrystalline photovoltaic
ing heat transfer coefficient, he, in the spirally coiled tube was module having width of 0.33 m and length of 1.29 m. PV module is
calculated for water-CuO nanofluids, with a mass fraction between placed on a galvanized steel absorber that can contain water, air or
0.8 wt% and 1.5 wt%. Results were compared with heat transfer glycol. Hybrid system is insulated with glass wool. Thermal effi-
coefficient obtained by using water. It was obtained that heat ciency was investigated according to Standard ASHRAE 93-86 and
transfer coefficient was directly proportional to the mass fraction determined by following Eq. (5):
of solid phase for values up to 1.2 wt%.
mp ðT s  T e Þ
Chougule et al. [63] studied efficiency of heat pipe solar col- ηth ¼ ð5Þ
ðAGÞ
lector, with water and water-CNT nanofluid respectively. For this
purpose, two identical setups were built and the working fluid was where m _ is the mass flow rate, Cp is the specific heat capacity, Te
water in one setup and water-CNT 0.15 vol% nanofluid in the other and Ts are the inlet and the outlet temperature of the fluid, A is the
one. Effects of a solar tracker and tilt angle were investigated and surface of the collector and G is the solar radiation intensity. A
good results were obtained with 50° tilt angle for both water and thermal efficiency between 50% and 80% was observed during
nanofluid as working fluid. Besides solar tracker increases effi- measurements.
ciency of heat pipe solar collectors. Efficiency of heat pipe solar Robles-Ocampo et al. [69] analyzed the performance of a PTV/
collector versus reduced temperature differences was analyzed. WATER system with bifacial PV module and a set of plane reflec-
Result showed that water-CNT nanofluid increased efficiency up to tors. A transparent solar collector was placed on the front face of
10% compared to that obtained by using water. the PV module. Experimental results showed a thermal efficiency
It is evident that nanoparticles lead to an increase of both of 50%. However, a decrease of 10% of electrical efficiency for front
thermal conductivity and heat transfer coefficient of traditional face of PV module was observed.
heat transfer fluids and therefore to an enhancement of efficiency Colangelo et al. [70] investigated a new type of combined
of the energy systems. Nanofluids is more stable than suspensions Photovoltaic–Thermal Solar Collector, with water as heat transfer
made with micrometer or millimeter particles, but it is necessary fluid, with two configurations (vertical and horizontal). The results
to make a right design and to choose hydraulic components in showed that available thermal energy was 691.04 kWh/m2 year for
order to avoid sedimentation. Solution proposed by Colangelo horizontal configuration and 675.46 kWh/m2 year for the vertical
et al. [55,59] is an example of how to reduce sedimentation of one, with PV gained efficiency respectively of 4.74% and 5.44%.
nanofluids. One of the disadvantages, when air is used as heat transfer
fluid, is low density, small volumetric heat capacity and small
thermal conductivity. Therefore a solution to improve heat trans-
7. Hybrid pv-solar thermal collectors fer mechanisms is to augment area of surface of heat transfer.
Tonui et al. [71] proposed an experimental study on performance
In the hot season, when solar radiation is high, photovoltaic achieved by a modified system compared to a typical PVT/AIR
systems work in unfavorable conditions, because energy conver- system. Fig. 15 shows the cross section of air channels for the
sion efficiency of PV modules is inversely proportional to typical system (REF) and the modified (TMS and FIN) PVT/AIR
1156 G. Colangelo et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 1141–1159

Fig. 16. Single-pass with double duct PVT/AIR solar collector with CPC and fins.

Othman et al. [73] studied a single-pass PVT/AIR solar collector


combined with various heat exchangers: V-groove, honeycomb
and stainless steel wool respectively. Air inlet temperature, air
outlet temperature, temperature at the back of the insulator and
panel temperature were measured to calculate the efficiency of the
systems, varying air mass flow rate from 0.02 kg/s to 0.13 kg/s. The
best results were obtained with honeycomb heat exchanger. For
example, at irradiance of 828 W/m2 and mass flow rate of 0.11 kg/
Fig. 15. Cross section of PVT/AIR systems. s, thermal efficiency and electrically efficiency of PVT/AIR system
with honeycomb were 87% and 7.13% respectively. With V-groove
systems, respectively. The REF is a single-pass air channel posi- and stainless steel wool 71% and 86% of thermal efficiency and
tioned on the back of PV module. TMS system consists in a double- 7.04% and 6.88% of electric efficiency were achieved.
pass configuration and FIN system has fins with rectangular pro- Jin et al. [74] tested a PVT/AIR solar collector, with rectangular
files attached to the back wall of air channel. tunnels positioned at the back side of a standard photovoltaic
Thermocouples were placed to measure PV module, Tpv, back panel. Heat exchanger consists in 27 units of tunnel bar with a size
wall, Tw, ambient, Ta, and outlet air, Tout, temperatures, necessary of 1.2  2.5  120 cm3 and 12 units with dimensions of
to compare performance of the systems that, under natural and 1.2  2.5  105.3 cm3. Air mass flow rate between 0.011 kg/s and
forced airflow modes, were investigated. Obviously it was 0.0754 kg/s was guaranteed by a blower. Experimental investiga-
obtained that PV module efficiency was inversely proportional to
tion was carried out on hybrid solar collector with tunnel and
its temperature. With air circulation PV module temperatures
without tunnel. It was observed that PVT/AIR system with tunnels
were between 45 °C and 65 °C and electrical efficiency was from
has a lower photovoltaic panel temperature and higher electric
11.0% to 9.0%. With no air circulation temperature was between
efficiency than the one without tunnels. Tunnels also determine an
55 °C and 75 °C and electrical efficiency from 10.0% to less than
improvement of thermal efficiency. At solar irradiance of 800 W/
9.0%. Besides, it has been seen that the maximum thermal effi-
ciency achieved by REF, TMS and FIN PVT/AIR was 25%, 28% and m2 and an air flow rate of 0.01 kg/s an efficiency of 25% has been
30% respectively, under forced airflow mode. From a comparison observed. Instead at 0.08 kg/s efficiency of 85% has been measured.
between TMS and FIN systems it has been obtained that FIN sys- A PVT/WATER system with Polycrystalline silicon solar cells and
tem has lower PV temperature, higher back wall temperature and an aluminum alloy flat box was proposed by Chow et al. [75] for
higher air outlet temperature than the TMS system for both nat- residential applications. A daily thermal efficiency around 40% has
ural and forced airflow mode. Therefore, the FIN system is more been obtained. This value is about 80% of the thermal efficiency of
efficient in PV cooling and heat extraction than TMS system, while a traditional solar thermosyphon collector system [76].
TMS is superior in reducing the back wall temperature than FIN. A Srinivas et al. [77] built a PVT/AIR system with double pass of
low back wall temperature helps to reduce heat conduction across the air through top surface of the absorber plate and bottom side
building envelope in hot seasons. Finally, pumping powers for a of the collector, where nine slats were fixed longitudinally. In
flow rate of 60 m3/h were calculated. Absorptions of 177.7 mW, order to reduce convection heat losses top surface was covered
178.3 mW and 178.2 mW for REF, TMS and FIN respectively were with tempered glass. Six PV modules, with dimensions of
obtained. From these results it is possible to note that additional 545 mm  445 mm, made of 36 solar cells connected in series,
power for TMS and FIN systems are negligible compared to were placed on the absorber plate. It has been shown that elec-
enhancement of electrical efficiency of PV module. tricity production was inversely proportional to panel tempera-
Alfegi et al. [72] investigated on performance of single-pass and ture, but this loss was compensated by thermal energy obtained
double duct PVT/AIR collector with CPC and fins, as illustrated in
by air heating. Also in this case it has been obtained that efficiency
Fig. 16. The system was analyzed at varying inlet temperature, air
was directly proportional to air mass flow rate, observing the
flow rate and radiation conditions. Experimental results showed
system in a range between 0.005 kg/s and 0.0123 kg/s. It has been
that photovoltaic efficiency, thermal efficiency and combined
obtained a thermal efficiency between 7% and 17%.
efficiency were directly proportional to mass flow rate. Photo-
Table 6 shows a comparison among thermal efficiencies of
voltaic efficiency from 10.50% to 12.09%, thermal effciency from
hybrid solar collectors analyzed in this review.
17.0% to 26.4% and combined efficiency from 27.5% to 40.0% have
It is possible to note that in the last decade experimental
been obtained in a range between 0.0316 kg/s and 0.09 kg/s, at a
investigation was focused on PVT/AIR systems, despite thermo-
solar radiance of 400 W/m2 and inlet air temperature of 30 °C.
Besides, it was observed that temperature rise along PVT/AIR physical properties of water are better than air. This is due to low
collector was direcly proportional to solar radiation. This behavior operating costs and minimal use of material as well as Tonui et al.
implies that photovoltaic efficiency decreases. [78] asserted.
G. Colangelo et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 1141–1159 1157

Table 6
Comparison among thermal efficiency of hybrid solar collectors.

Reference Fluid Flow rate [kg/s] Thermal efficiency Solar radiation [W/m2] Notes

Chow et al. [67] Water 0.110 0:39  0:153T i G T a


Touafek et al. [68] Water 0.022 0:645  12:5T i G T a
Robles-Ocampo et al. [69] Water 0.005 0.50 (estimated)
He et al. [76] Water Natural circulation 0:394  0:169T i G T a
Algefi et al. [72] Air 0.0316 to 0.09 0.170–0.264 400
Jin et al. [74] Air 0.01 0.25 800
0.08 0.85 800
Srinivas et al. [77] Air 0.005 0.07
0.0123 0.17
Othman et al. [73] Air 0.11 0.87 828 Honeycomb
0.71 V groove
0.86 Stainless steel wool
Tonui et al. [78] Air 0.02 0:25  7:31T i G T a REF system
0:28  7:14T i G T a TMS system
0:30  6:14T i G T a FIN system

Table 7
Future areas of possible investigation on innovative solar flat thermal collectors.

Topic Possible future research efforts

Innovative materials  Increasing transmittance of the transparent cover and reducing its reflectance;
 Improving performance of the colored absorber in order to use these components to reduce environ-
mental impact in building;
 Studying cheaper and scalable fabrication methods.
Innovative geometries  Increasing air outlet temperature or mass flow rate at the same temperature;
 Studying solutions to simplify geometries to reduce manufacturing costs.
Integrated solar thermal collectors  Studying solar tracking systems solutions;
 Integrated solution with absorber and storage systems, obtained with traditional envelope building
materials.
Heat pipe collectors  Improving heat transfer efficiency through new materials and geometry.
Innovative heat transfer fluids in solar flat thermal collectors:  Improving stability of nanofluids;
nanofluids  Improving heat transfer coefficient of nanofluids;
 Solar thermal systems must be suitable to avoid sedimentation of solid phase inside piping.
Hybrid pv-solar thermal collectors  Improving thermal efficiency of PVT/AIR systems;
 Reducing manufacturing costs.

8. Final remarks 9. Conclusions

Even if the analyzed topics were very different, there is a This review has been focused on the recent developments (last
common line that join together the future trends of the research in 10 years) in the field of flat plate thermal solar collectors. These
the field of flat solar thermal collectors. All the efforts are focused types of solar collectors are the most widely used in the world
on the increasing the overall efficiency of the system, using dif- because of low cost and easy and cheap maintenance. From these
ferent strategies and with different results. The future trends will papers it is possible to deduce that the geometry of flat solar
be focused on the development of new materials, studied speci-
thermal collectors, in the last decade, has evolved. The main trend
fically for each field of application, bearing well in mind, the main
that we can appreciate is based on the presence of obstacles as
constraints of being cost effective, recyclable and with low envir-
aluminum cans, ogival elements, honeycomb slats etc. in order to
onment impact.
The research in the field of innovative heat transfer fluids such increase the heat exchange area, to reduce the heat losses and to
as nanofluids could give a good contribution to increase the effi- suppress natural convection. New models of solar collectors (as
ciency of these systems without much impact under the design cylindrical collector, double and single pass solar air heater, solar
and costs point of view. air collector of pin-fin integrated absorber, stationary V-trough
Another way to obtain at the same time increase in efficiency collector) have been designed to increase the thermal efficiency.
and costs optimization is the development of hybrid pv-solar The scientific works selected in this paper show how deep the
thermal collectors. The research in this field is very promising interest in this topic is and the directions the scientific and
and the use of this technology is able to reduce the need of industrial research are exploring for the next future. Despite of
building surface for the installation of the devices and yielding the economic considerations, that are out of the scope of this review,
not negligible effect to increase the efficiency of the pv-cells. there are some interesting and promising new technologies, that
To overcome the drawbacks of these systems is a not easy
have been explored particularly for what concerns: innovative
challenge for the research, also considering that these systems
materials, innovative geometries, integrated solar thermal collec-
have success only because they are easy to build and relatively
cheap if compared to the competitors. tors, heat-pipe collectors, innovative heat transfer fluids in solar
Table 7 shows some of the possible future areas of investigation flat thermal collectors and hybrid pv-solar thermal collectors.
to overcome technological barriers of the solar flat thermal These innovative improvements will show a new scenario for the
collectors. future solar market of the next years.
1158 G. Colangelo et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 1141–1159

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