Experimental investigation of parabolic trough solar collector

Energy is one of the building blocks of modern society. The growth of the modern society has been fueled by cheap, abundant energy resources. Solar energy is a form of renewable energy which is available abundantly and collected unreservedly. In this research the application of solar energy using parabolic trough is analyzed. Parabolic trough technology is currently the most extended solar system for electricity production or steam generation for industrial processes. The prototype of the parabolic trough concentrating solar is collector manufactured using the available materials. The research work elaborates in detail the steps undertaken in the fabrication of the parabolic trough and other accessory parts used in the experimental setup. An experimental setup has been developed to investigate the performance of the parabolic trough. Measurements of total direct radiation on the plane of the collector, ambient temperature, wind speed, water flow rate, inlet and outlet temperatures of the water inside the absorber tube are collected and employed in studying the performance of the parabolic trough.