Experimental studies on a solar air collector with metal matrix absorber

The present contribution describes the development and testing of an efficient single-glazed solar matrix air collector. This collector was designed in order to overcome the physical problems of conventional flat-plate air collectors as well as the technical problems of matrix air collectors, in particular. The absorber of the collector consists of two parallel sheets of black oxidized or black galvanized industrial woven, hue-meshed wire screens made of copper. The new collector can be readily produced industrially at acceptable costs. A test collector was developed and tested indoors by varying design features and operating conditions using a solar simulator as a radiation source. The new collector is very durable and flexible regarding mass flow rate and collector duct height, and yields high thermal performances at very low pressure losses. High outlet temperatures are obtainable, thus improving the quality of the gained heat. This type of collector can be used for drying and heating applications and - due to its light-weight design and the possibility to serve as a sunshade (anti-glare device) which can be unrolled if there is dazzle by the sunlight inside of the building - it can be easily integrated vertically into double facades of buildings. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd All rights reserved.