Andy Schroder

Solar Collector Power Output

How much power do solar thermal collectors produce?

When planning for a solar thermal system, it is critical to consider the available solar radiation at the installation site.
Solar radiation is a highly variable power source. Radiation varies significantly from hour to hour, day to day, and location to location, based upon time, weather and geographic region.
It is critical to note that solar thermal collectors have a variable efficiency, dependent upon solar radiation intensity, fluid temperature, and air temperature.
Contrary to photovoltaics, using monthly averaged solar radiation data cannot be used to accurately simulate the output of solar thermal collectors.
In order to more accurately understand solar collector output a numerical model has been developed which simulates the power output of solar thermal collectors using 15 years of historical hourly solar radiation and temperature data from NREL. This takes into account the variation in efficiency of the thermal collectors.
Due to the variable nature of the weather in any location in the world, it is nearly impossible to predict future weather conditions. This tool aims to provide statistical insight on how a solar collector might perform based upon a historical simulation of solar collector power output. Using this historical simulation, it is the system designers responsibility to make an engineering judgement how the solar collector will perform in the future. Please use the form below to specify the details of your configuration.

Collector Make/Model		If you don't believe that the CPC1518 is the best collector for your application, choose another make/model and see how the simulation results compare.
Collector Inlet Temperature (Tin):		Recommendations: 50C (Domestic Hot Water, DHW), 30C (Radiant Heating), 80C (Absorption Cooling)
Collector Outlet Temperature (Tout):		Recommendations: 60C (DHW), 40C (Radiant Heating), 100C (Absorption Cooling)
Altitude Angle (Collector Tilt):
Azimuth Angle (direction the collector is pointing):
Location:		Choose from 858 locations throughout the United States of America. Class 1 locations utilize higher quality input meteorological data than class 2 locations.
Number of Days to Average:		Increasing the number of days averaged will result in a smoother power curve, however, an appropriatly sized thermal energy storage device is required in order for the smoothed results to be physically realistic.
Choose the area in which the results will be presented with respect to:	Per Square Meter (Gross Collector Area) (useful for comparing collectors of different sizes) Per Collector

(please be patient)