Solar collector

Abstract

A solar collector is made primarily of plastic materials. A wide variety of collector configurations may be made from similar parts, and thus the collector may be adapted to mount in locations where traditional flat panel collectors may not be feasible. The collector may conveniently be used with a nanofluid as the heat transfer fluid, to increase the heat transfer characteristics of the heat transfer fluid. A control system for stagnation remediation, freeze protection, or both may be utilized. For example, when the collector is in danger for stagnation or freezing, water may be circulated through a ground coupled heat exchange loop to cool or heat the collector. Preferably, the stagnation remediation mode does not sacrifice thermal energy previously collected and stored.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]Sunlight provides a source of renewable, clean, and freely available energy useful in a variety of applications, including water heating, space heating, electricity generation, and other areas. Devices for collecting and concentrating solar energy have been developed to take advantage of the ready availability of this energy source. For example, flat panel collectors are often used in low temperature applications such as space heating and domestic water heating. Concentrating collectors may be used in higher temperature applications such as electric power generation, industrial process heating, and other applications.[0002]Conventional flat panel collectors have a number of disadvantages. For example, they are typically made of relatively expensive materials such as copper, aluminum, and glass due to requirements for strength and thermal conductivity. Flat panel collectors are also typically provided in relatively large form factors, for example up t...

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