Design and analysis of a novel ICS solar water heater with CPC reflectors

In this paper, a new design of an integrated collector storage (ICS) solar water heater combined with compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) is presented. The ICS system consists of one cylindrical tank properly mounted in a stationary symmetrical CPC reflector through. In this solar system, the cylindrical storage tank surface is partially insulated at the back side at 50%, so as to suppress thermal losses from it to the ambiance. The system depth and aperture width are moderated. The optical efficiency of the ICS solar water heater was predicted using advanced ray tracing technique. The result shows that the acceptance angle is 40°. A theoretical study was carried out to predict the thermal behaviour of the system under Saharan climate. The results are presented and discussed.