COMPARISON OF COMPOUND PARABOLIC AND SIMPLE PARABOLIC CONCENTRATING SOLAR COLLECTORS

The compound parabolic and simple parabolic solar collectors are analyzed and compared for their ability to accept non-direct radiation and for their respective reflector arc-lengths. The simple parabolic concentrator (SPC) can make use of some non-direct solar radiation if the absorber tube is intentionally enlarged so as to intercept defocussed radiation. A principal advantage of collecting non-direct radiation with a SPC rather than with a compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) is the reduced materials use in the construction of the reflector, but a principal disadvantage is the reduction of acceptance angle to about 1 3 that of the CPC. However, a SPC with concentration ratio less than 10 can still collect most of the circumsolar non-direct radiation. © 1979.