Enhancing the performance of parabolic trough solar collectors: Cost-effective innovative designs for sustainable energy harvesting

This study aims to improve the performance and stability of parabolic trough solar collectors (PTSC), especially those with heat storage capacity. Three different receiver tube designs have been meticulously developed to achieve this goal. As a result of the research, the Black surface (BS) -PTSC and PTSC- Paraffin wax (PW) systems achieved 26.5% and 56.8% more thermal energy flow, respectively, compared to the conventional PTSC. In addition, while the average thermal efficiencies of the PTSC, BS-PTSC, and PTSC-PW systems were found to be 11.2%, 14.1%, and 16.9%, respectively, the average exergy efficiencies of the PTSC, BS-PTSC, and PTSC-PW were 1.4%, 1.9%, and 2.3%. Painting the black copper pipe and filling the receiver tube with paraffin wax PCM increased thermal and exergy efficiency. Besides, comparing the temperature differences based on the PTSC system, it was found that BS-PTSC and PTSC-PW systems have 12.3% and 16.4% higher tank temperatures, respectively. The findings of this research have demonstrated the potential of parabolic trough solar collectors equipped with heat storage. It has also increased the sustainability index in terms of sustainability and reduced CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. Furthermore, it has been shown that these simple and inexpensive designs, without significant modifications to the system, can achieve high thermal performance without unnecessary expensive components.