To the orientation of spherical solar collectors

Abstract

The design of spherical solar collector and how it works are described. Solar heat receiver is made of a single metal tube that is wound along the spherical spiral line. An advantages of spherical geometry collectors are compared to flat geometry. One of the major advantages of spherical collector compared to conventional flat collectors is that it does not have a special mechanism for turning it in accordance of solar motion and whereby it as "sunflower follows the sun." Proposed collector does not require additional energy for the operation of the rotating mechanism. Numerical-analytical calculation of the quantity of solar energy, that is received by solar collector, depending on its orientation relative to the horizon, is done. The results of this calculation as interpolation data are used for the approximation of the functional dependence of the amount of solar energy, that is received by solar collector for the year, on the angle of inclination of its axis relative to the horizon. Using this approximation, it is defined the optimum angle of inclination of the spherical collector, in which he takes the maximum amount of solar energy per year and depends on the geographical latitude on which it is installed.