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- Title
Performance of flat-plate collectors with two-positional active tracking.
- Authors
Tomson, Teolan; Tamm, Gunnar
- Abstract
Northern European regions such as Estonia at a 60° latitude receive yearly about 980 kWh·m-2 of solar radiation. These low insolation levels motivate inclusion into solar collectors a tracking mechanism to increase the yield. Classical active tracking is complicated and energy intensive, negating tracking benefits for PV modules and thermal flat-plate collectors. In this paper, the performance of PV modules with daily two-positional tracking is studied. The positions are symmetrical about the north-south axis, corresponding to the positions of the sun in the morning and in the afternoon. The tracking drive is simple and requires a minimum energy input during the brief daily triggering of the movement. Results indicate that the seasonal energy yield is increased by 10–20% over the yield from a fixed south-facing collector, tilted at an optimal angle. The results are based on long-term solar data, measured at the Tartu-Tõravere Meteorological Station in Estonia, and have been confirmed with experiments in summer 2004 at Tallinn University of Technology.
- Subjects
ESTONIA; SOLAR collectors; SOLAR radiation; PHOTOVOLTAIC cells; SOLAR energy; SOLAR heating; METEOROLOGICAL stations; UNIVERSITIES &; colleges
- Publication
Estonian Journal of Engineering, 2007, Vol 13, Issue 1, p26
- ISSN
1736-6038
- Publication type
Article