Experimental study of a designed solar parabolic trough with large rim angle

In this paper, the design process steps of a conventional solar parabolic trough with large rim angle are presented. The various parameters which intervene to obtain the suitable parabolic trough form of the concentrator are applied. Through an experimental characterization, the real focal distance and the focal zone size of the designed concentrator have been determined and compared with those calculated theoretically. Then, its concentration ratio is evaluated and the focused solar flux at the focal zone along the absorber tube is calculated using Soltrace code. It should be noted that the wind speed effect was not taken into account in the experimental tests which are conducted under a solar irradiation of 970 W/m2 and a receiver inclination angle of 36° which corresponds to the experimentation site latitude.