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

An overview of innovations introduced in the field of flat solar thermal collectors is presented using information from different literature sources. Despite the large number of publications available about this specific issue, this review is focused on the last ten years period, to underline the actual trend of the scientific and technologic world so far. Bearing in mind this choice, in this study a selection of the most 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 quick reference to have an overview about new materials, geometries, heat transfer fluids etc., available and tested in the last decade.