2015 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
57. Maximisation and Optimisation of the Total Solar Radiation Reaching the Solar Collector Surfaces
Authors: Kacem Gairaa, Abdallah Khellaf, Farouk Chellali, Said Benkaciali, Yahia Bakelli, Salah Bezari
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Published in:
Progress in Clean Energy, Volume 2
Abstract
The performance of solar conversion systems is affected by its orientation and tilt angle with the horizontal plane. This is because both of these parameters change the amount of solar energy received by the collector surfaces.
In this study, the optimum tilt angle of solar systems is determined in order to increase the solar radiation amount reaching the collector plane. Mathematical models have been used for estimating the total (global) solar radiation on a sloped surface and to determine the optimum tilt and surface azimuth angles in Ghardaïa area, southern Algeria, on a daily basis, as well as for a specific period of the year. Then, these models are compared with experimental data for choosing the best one, through the statistical test calculation.
For this purpose, a database for one complete year of solar radiation components (global, diffuse and direct) has been used.
The results obtained show that the optimum angle for each month allows us to collect the maximum solar radiation; the annual tilt angle is approximately equal to the latitude of the site and the surface azimuth is due south. The loss in the amount of energy between a fixed plane of 32.6° and another one adjustable according to the monthly optimum tilt angle is around 10 %.