Experimental energy and exergy performance of a solar receiver for a domestic parabolic dish concentrator for teaching purposes

• Experimental energy and exergy efficiencies for a solar receiver are investigated.
• Energy efficiencies are found to be greater than exergy efficiencies.
• An exergy factor parameter is proposed to characterise the receiver.
• Average heat loss factor is determined to be 4.6 W/K.
• Optical efficiency of the system is determined to be 52%.

An experimental setup to investigate the thermal performance of a cylindrical cavity receiver for an SK-14 parabolic dish concentrator is presented in this technical note. The thermal performance is evaluated using energy and exergy analyses. The receiver exergy rates and efficiencies are found to be appreciably smaller than the receiver energy rates and efficiencies. The exergy factor parameter is also proposed for quantifying the thermal performance. The exergy factor is found to be high under conditions of high solar radiation and under high operating temperatures. The heat loss factor of the receiver is determined to be around 4.6 W/K. An optical efficiency of around 52% for parabolic dish system is determined under high solar radiation conditions. This experimental setup can be used as teaching tool for people with little or no knowledge about solar dish concentrators due its simplicity and the basic mathematical formulations applied. Different types of receivers and different types of deep focal region parabolic dishes can also be tested with the experimental setup.