Temperature Analysis of Thermosiphon Solar Water Heaters Using Different Flat Plate Collectors and MATLAB software.

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-2586580/v1

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Temperature Analysis of Thermosiphon Solar Water Heaters Using Different Flat Plate Collectors and MATLAB software.

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Solar thermal energy was utilized to heat water for its useful applications. Moreover, solar water heaters have become essential in our lives, and using renewable energy sources is becoming more popular. The current effort is to test and find the effectual solar water heating system. Solar water heater designs have been suggested and produced within two methods whereas forced circulation using a mechanical pump and natural circulation without the use of a pump also recognized as thermosiphon solar water heater. This research was to analyse most efficient Flat Plate Collector (FPC) in terms of heat absorption on Thermosiphon Effect due to energy collection by different colour, material, and glazing. This experiment uses Solar Energy Trainer and MATLAB software to compare the impact of several forms FPC on heat absorption of thermosiphon effect in solar water heater. The most efficient FPC in terms of colour is black collector with higher efficiency of 9.3% compared to white while most efficient FPC in terms of material and glazing are copper and double-glazing collector with 10.86% and 11.15% respectively. The experiment and analysis show that various types of FPC with good heat absorber have higher efficiency.

Solar water heater

Thermosiphon effect

Flat plate collector

Efficiency

Colour

Material

Glazing

Solar thermal energy is one of the energies circumscribe sustainable and low-carbon technologies which will play a critical role in these years ahead. The thermal energy can be used directly as heat for domestic or industrial uses, depending on the range of temperature and production scale (Fereres, 2018). The most efficient application of solar power is the solar water heating system (flat plate collector), which uses the sun radiation to warm water (Syam Sundar et al., 2021). In this modern and urbanisation country, water heating is the second biggest portion of residential energy use after air conditioning systems. The increased energy use for heating is having a significant impact on the national system, causing an oversupply of electricity and negatively impacting electricity prices (Amin and Nuarey Mithila, 2017). Among the extensively used water heating systems around the world is the solar water heater. The solar water heater can efficiently convert solar energy into concentrated heat, with the features of established technology, low global climate change danger, and reduced life cycle cost (Ge et al., 2018).

Solar water heaters (SWHs) are the most practical solar energy harvesting devices for both household and industrial use (Freegah and Al-Tabbakh, 2019). Solar collectors and heat storage tanks are compulsory among the solar system part. When it is available, the storage tank performs an important function in the solar power system, delivering heat when it is needed (Amirgaliyev et al., 2018). Usually, water is selected as the working fluid in flat plate collectors because it is a single-phase fluid. The water is cycled between the collector and the tank using one of two methods: forced circulation using a mechanical pump or natural circulation without the use of a pump. Water heating systems in most properties still largely depend on electricity from the power grid for heating water due to low efficiency of solar thermal collectors and inefficient functioning of the heating system (Li et al., 2020). Flat plate collectors are commonly implemented for water heating because of their simple construction. The flat plate collector's lower efficiency is caused by the fact that there are comparably fewer regions that receive direct sunlight (Rajashekaraiah, Mura and Sharma, 2019). Therefore, problem statement is low efficiency of flat plate collector due to small area of receiving solar radiation and easy to loss heat. The objectives to be achieve is analyse most efficient Flat Plate Collector in terms of heat absorption on Thermosiphon Effect due to energy collection by different colour, material, and glazing. Moreover, solar water heater with natural circulation (thermosiphon effect) is frequently favoured due to its simplicity for rural places where access to professional workers and electricity is limited (Feilizadeh et al., 2019).

Solar water heater performance can be improved by increasing the efficiency of solar flat plate collector. This study conduct experiment using various types of FPCs to measure which are the most efficient to be used. Its features are well-known, and it is the simplest and least expensive to build, operate, and maintain when compared to other collector types. FPC can process adequate high temperature of heat for commercial use such as swimming pools, residential and domestic hot water (Gond et al., 2016). In the residential sector, thermosiphon SWHs are commonly applied, and numerous research on the thermal performance have been performed. Basically, solar energy delivers energy to the system in the collector absorber. Temperature differences cause a density difference, and water circulates naturally (thermosiphon effect), with hot water rising and cold water going down (Liu et al., 2012). Unbalanced gravitational forces come from the temperature of the water in the collector rising and the density falling, which causes fluid migration into the storage tank. All components of the loop flow because water is nearly incompressible and continuity is guaranteed (Brew-Hammond and Akuffo, 1989). The appropriate operation of a thermosiphon effect solar collector is driven by a range of interrelated parameters, including solar radiation, ambient temperature, the water flow rate through collectors, the container structure (vertical or horizontal), component materials, the heat exchanger efficiency (for an indirect heating system) and certain other aspects that have an impact on final temperatures and the system's operating principle (Amirgaliyev et al., 2018).

In need for the thermosiphon phenomenon to work in a thermosiphon system, the water tank must be higher than top of the solar collectors. Within certain circumstances, this could result in reverse water flow throughout the night, increasing the system's heat losses. It is necessary to initiate and sustain temperature stratification in the tank to improve thermal efficiency (Michaelides et al., 2016). Flat plate collectors of solar are instruments that capture solar thermal energy and use it for heating purposes such as water heating, room heating, and other industrial uses. Flat plate collectors are the most frequent and also the oldest type of collector (Murari and Chaurasiya, 2017). The foundation of a Solar Water Heater system is a flat-plate collector (FPC), which is often utilised for collecting solar thermal energy at low ambient temperatures. A team of researchers cooperated on the FPC’s design and development. It was previously reported that the collector's design has a significant impact on its thermal performance (Shukla et al., 2013). The thermal performance of a flat plate collector is influenced by several essential elements (Ikmal et al., 2020). These elements include flow tube, absorber plate and glazing cover. Solar energy travels through the semi-transparent cover and absorbed by absorber plate. The sun's energy absorbed was converted into heat and then transferred to the heat transfer fluid where most commonly is water before being carried to storage tank or used (Chowdhury and Salam, 2019).

This outlined the approaches and methods for completing the project. This chapter was also intended to describe a suitable strategy for reaching the project's objectives. This chapter describe method for experimental setup of flat plate collector (FPC) in investigating the influence of heat absorber colour, material, and glazing on the collector efficiency of thermosiphon effect on Solar Water Heater. Moreover, this studies also evaluate the outlet temperature value with its optimum time using MATLAB software. This experiment uses Solar Energy Trainer which may indeed easily move to a location with direct thesis sunlight.

2.1 Experimental Setup

Experimental will be conduct in three terms of thermosiphon effect on solar water heater using different collector plates, which are colour absorption capacity level (black collector versus white collector), material absorption capacity level (cooper collector versus polypropylene collector), glazing effect on heat absorption (single glazing cover collector versus double glazing cover collector). It is importance to understand the working principle of thermosiphon system.

The colour absorption capacity level experiment is to understand the colour effect on absorption capacity level. This experiment study if the temperature differential between the black and white collectors are substantial. Next, material absorption capacity level experiment was conducted to better understand the heat absorption effect in various materials and to determine whether there is a significant temperature difference between copper and polypropylene collectors. Next, it is important to understand how heat is transferred by thermal conduction. The influence of glazing cover on heat absorption experiment was to see if there were any significant temperature variations between the collector panels. The data will be collected on five distinct days for each collector, with the average values being used in the analysis except when using MATLAB. The entire field experiment will start at 9:00 a.m. and end at 4:00 p.m. During the experiment, the Solar Energy Trainer will automatically tabulate the water temperature at feeder tank (T1), water temperature at inlet (T2), and water temperature at output (T3) every 15 minutes onto the computer. The data for ambient temperature (T) will be taken manually every hour using a 4 in 1 meter. After all the data has been collected, the efficiency of FPC will be calculated and the data temperature of each day for collectors with highest efficiency will be use in MATLAB.

The current study examines the performance of a flat plate solar collector in response to a variety of features as well as energy efficiency reported by (Verma, Tiwari and Chauhan, 2017). The energy that calculates percentage of the incoming radiation delivered as usable energy to the working fluids can be used to measure the flat plate collector's efficiency (Sup, 2010). The incident solar energy is transformed to heat and transported to a medium like water in the flat plate collector (Dagdougui et al., 2011). Besides, (Gunjo, Mahanta and Robi, 2017) stated that on the top surface of the solar collector, a continuous heat flux (solar irradiance) is supplied. In this experiment, the solar radiation intensity, I = 722 W/m2 was compared to a study by (Nurhanis, 2019). This is due to the fact that (Nurhanis, 2019) used the same methods as this experiment to be conducted in Malaysia. The thermosyphonic mass flow rate is quite difficult to quantify using conventional equipment. The current work proposes a new approach for measuring mass flow rate based on collector intake and outlet temperatures, water dynamic viscosity, and riser diameter. Aside monitoring the temperature of the collector's input and output, the equation may then be used to estimate the thermosyphonic mass flow rate. The suggested equation looks like this:

$$ṁ=189.498 * D * \mu *{\left(\frac{{T}_{out}}{{T}_{in}}\right)}^{1.19}$$

Where,

ṁ = mass flow rate, kg/s

D = riser diameter, m

µ = dynamic viscosity, Pa.s

Tout = Outlet water temperature, °C

Tin = Inlet water temperature, °C

The instantaneous solar collector's efficiency (Gunjo, Mahanta and Robi, 2017) in terms of inlet and outlet water temperature is calculated by the expression:

$ƞ$ = $\frac{ṁ{C}_{p} ({T}_{o} -{T}_{i})}{I{A}_{c}}$ (2)

Where,

ƞ = Thermal efficiency

ṁ = mass flow rate, kg/s

Cp = Specific heat of water, kJ/kg.°C

To = Outlet water temperature, °C

Ti = Inlet water temperature, °C

I = Solar insolation, W.m-2

Ac = Effective collector area, m2

Then, in the evaluation part using MATLAB, the software was used to identify the highest value of temperature in a day for 7 hours. This was done by plotting the day and time of experiment with the outlet temperature itself. Begin with saving sample data in Excel first by select all data, copy, and paste it in MATLAB folder. Different folder for different types of flat plate collector were save in MATLAB. Then, with the use of MATLAB importing involved data from Excel. The setting or output format in the MATLAB was changed as preferred to perform the continuous data in figures later. Function of MATLAB such as ‘script’ and ‘command window’ were used. Write and edit the coding in the script section before running the data. Once done, the result will appear on command window and workspace. MATLAB read one or more script files, each containing commands that finish with a newline. Once all the data prepared, the ‘plot’ function was used to produce the graphs.

3.1 Colour Absorption Capacity Level

As for colour absorption capacity level (black versus white plate collector) experiment, the graphs below show the average temperature of collectors with time on five different days.

Black Plate Collector

Refer to figure 1

White Plate Collector

Refer to figure 2

3.1.1 Black Plate Collector versus White Plate Collector

Figure 1 and Fig. 2 show average temperature of water with time for colour absorption capacity level black versus white plate collector experiment. The graph shows the average variation of water temperature for feeder tank (T1), inlet (T2), outlet (T3) and ambient temperature on five different days. Ambient temperature, (T) with average of 32.6°C have a significant impact to flat plate collector as it can affects heat loss. Ambient temperature with average of 31.5°C also have a significant impact in affecting heat loss. Early in the morning and evening the ambient temperature found to be low and humid with air and wind movement for both collectors. The graph in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 shows the water temperature was low as there was low solar radiance during 9:00am. The temperature in both figures started to increase afterward due to the increases of solar radiation supplied until 2:00pm. Meanwhile, both black and white plate collectors had average temperature decrease after 2:00pm. These temperature decreases happened due to the weather as it plays an important role during the experiments as there were days that rain in the morning before starts the experiment and few hours after finishing the experiment in the evening. The weather's high solar radiation and beginning water temperature are also comprehensible given that the effective supply volumes are linked to the same months but different forms of heating (Dhongadi, Sajjan and ..., 2021). Besides, there were also less exposure of sunlight on the flat plate collector especially in the evening. This was due to the location of Solar Energy Trainer which led to the lack exposure of sunlight. The Solar Energy Trainer was placed and tested in an open space but has been blocked by tall campus building nearby due to limit in cable length which need to be connect to an electrical source in building. The impacts of ambient temperature, humidity, and wind speed were fully considered (Zhang et al., 2020). This research can be simplified to prove that the black collector absorbs more solar heat energy than the white collector. It is the best energy absorber for both light and heat, making it an excellent option for solar hot water systems. The amount of heat absorbed increases with the amount of light absorbed. All light waves are absorbed, and none are reflected by a black collector. White collectors reflect all visible light wavelengths, absorbing the least heat. Considering flat plate collector for colour, black absorbs more heat energy compared to white.

3.1.2 Efficiency Black Plate Collector versus White Plate Collector

When the water flow rate in the flat plate collector tube is higher, the flat plate collector is more effective. For example, the efficiency of black plate collector rises progressively until it reaches its peak at 1.15 pm with 9.3% and start to fall afterward. In between 12.30 pm to 1.15 pm, there was an overcast weather that led to drop or relatively low efficiency with 4.12% (12.45 pm) and 4.27% (1.00 pm) for black collector plate. The efficiency for white plate collector was high especially at 10.30 am with 8.2% and drop afterward until 4:00 pm. The decreases of efficiency in white flat plate collector were happened not only because of rainy season, but white colour was significant with weak heat absorber. The decreases in efficiency for both black and white flat plate collector around after 2:00 pm was occurred repeatedly because of the Solar Energy Trainer's location being obstructed by a nearby tall building, which prevented exposure to sun radiation. Therefore, the efficiency of FPC grows along with an increase in solar radiation.

3.1.3 Evaluation of Outlet Temperature Value and Its Optimum Time Using MATLAB

Figure 4 shows outlet water temperature value of black flat plate collector from the solar energy trainer in 14th August 2022 to 18th August 2022. In the experiment set up, there were flat plate collector and tubes are used to transfer water from the cold tanks into the hot water tank. The heat from the sun is absorbed by the collector, which heats the water that is already in the tubes that hold the collector. When the solar heat was sufficient, the thermosyphonic mode kicks in and the water begins to flow naturally. Due to the inherent thermosiphonic mode, hot water begins to fill the hot water storage tank, and the cycle steadily continues until there is a significant temperature difference between the hot water tank temperature and the flat plate collectors. Thermosiphon system naturally control the circulation flow rate in phase with the radiation levels and don't need electricity to work (Sherwani, 2016). Water temperature at outlet had higher value between above 50°C to 60°C in 1 hour from 1:15pm until 2:15pm. Here, where the thermosiphon effect involved and started the natural flow of water. While the highest value was at 2:15pm with 61.1°C. In this period, the solar radiation was at its highest point on fixed tilted surface of 45° flat plate collector. As for the second, third and fourth day, the data plotting result was a bit different as the day was windy and cloudy for few hours. Moreover, energy from solar has an irregular low energy density and is easily influenced by climatic conditions. This contributes to the collector's low solar energy utilisation efficiency. Therefore, a key issue that needs to be resolved for the further application and commercialization of photo thermal technology is how to increase efficiency (Xiao et al., 2022). On the last day, 18th August 2022 the data plotting trend was almost the same as the first day which supported that lower solar radiation in the morning and evening while become higher in the afternoon.

3.2 Material Absorption Capacity Level

As for the material absorption capacity level (copper versus polypropylene plate collector), the graphs display the average temperature of collectors over five days, which were measured between 25 to 29 September 2022 for the copper collector and between 18 to 22 September 2022 for the polypropylene collector.

3.2.1 Copper Plate Collector versus Polypropylene Plate Collector

Copper Plate Collector

Refer to figure 5

Polypropylene Plate Collector

Refer to figure 6

For material absorption capacity level (cooper versus polypropylene) experiment. The graphs in Figs. 5 and 6 show variety average temperature of feeder tank (T1), inlet (T2), outlet (T3), and ambient temperature (T) versus time of the collectors. From Fig. 5, it shown that average temperature at outlet (T3) had significantly higher value compared to the average temperature at inlet (T2) and feeder tank (T1) respectively. This data performance was correlated to temperature rise in ambient temperature. The flat plate collector could be significantly impacted by average ambient temperature (T) of 32.4°C since (T) can reduce operational efficiency leading to heat loss. From both Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, all temperature at outlet (T3), inlet (T2), feeder tank (T1) and ambient (T) were relatively low during the morning in respect of low solar radiation. Then, because of the increased sun radiation, the temperature of the water began to rise between the hours of 9:00 am and 2:00 pm. Maximum peak for temperature especially (T3) occurred differently for both copper and polypropylene plate collector due to the different material properties. Temperature declination take places for all parts involved after reach the maximum temperature that day. This experiment can be summarised by saying the copper collector absorbs more solar heat energy than the polypropylene collector. This occurs because copper has high heat-conducting properties. On the other hand, polypropylene has a weak ability to conduct heat.

3.2.2 Efficiency Copper Plate Collector versus Polypropylene Plate Collector

The FPC is more effective when the water flow rate or velocity at which the water moves through the tube is higher. In addition, it was discovered that the warmest water feasibly led to higher productivity (Manokar et al., 2018). The efficiency for both collector copper and polypropylene will increases gradually with time until reach the maximum efficiency. But, happened instead was both copper and polypropylene flat plate collector had inconsistency graph of efficiency with time for average of five days. The inconsistent result was happened due to the constraints of weather during day of the experiments take placed. Copper flat plate collector had gradually increased in efficiency with time but had a few falls before reach the maximum efficiency at 1.15 pm with 10.86% and continues to drop afterward. Meanwhile, polypropylene flat plate collector efficiency with time started higher than copper and continue increasing until 10.00 am with 6.1% before the efficiency decreases moderately afterward. The fundamental reason for the current investigation is the variation in solar irradiation values that are influenced by solar energy radiation from sunlight. Therefore, the efficiency of FPC grows along with an increase in solar radiation.

3.2.3 Evaluation of Outlet Temperature Value and Its Optimum Time Using MATLAB

Figure 8 shows outlet water temperature value of copper flat plate collector from the solar energy trainer on 25th September 2022 to 29th September 2022. The result obtained from the first day of experiment was summarized in figure above with highest temperature of 61.2°C with optimum time at 2.15pm. There was slight decrease in the graph after 12:30pm with 34°C and 36°C for each 12:45pm and 1:00pm respectively. The last temperature of that day also resulted in lower value when compared to the first day with 32.2°C. As for the third day, the graph was still unstable due to weather however, the flat plate collector still manages to trap sun radiation. The temperature increases to maximum of 45°C at 11:45am in the morning and started to decrease afterwards. There was only small different in the maximum temperature value reached between second and third day where 44°C and 45°C respectively. Both data were marked with dark blue to turquoise colour indicate all the data were not more than 45°C. On 28th September 2022, the data show unsteady growth with the highest outlet temperature (T3) value was only 37.7°C due to the overcast weather. Figure 8 above revealed that there were fluctuating temperature data in the last day of experiment for copper flat plate collector. According to the region's observations of the sky, a sunny day is one in which there are no clouds at all during the entire day or one when there are less clouds in the morning and more clouds in the late afternoon. When the day is deemed clear yet there are clouds present in the morning and at noon, the term "partial cloudy day" is used. When the day is so called moody with clouds in a day, and/or rainy, it is considered to be a cloudy (or rainy) day (Khatib et al., 2012). The highest outlet temperature reached was 43°C with its optimum time at 1:30pm.

3.3 Glazing Effect on Heat Absorption

Experiment for glazing effect on heat absorption (single versus double glazing collectors), the graphs depict the average of the collectors over five different days which was carried out from 21st August 2022 for single glazing cover and double glazing cover started from 27th August 2022.

3.3.1 Single Glazing Plate Collector versus Double Glazing Plate Collector

Glazing effect on heat absorption (single versus double glazing) experiment. The graphs in Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 depict the variation of water temperature at feeder tank (T1), inlet (T2), outlet (T3), and ambient temperature (T) versus time for the glazing cover on five different days. Early in the morning and evening the ambient temperature found to be low and humid with air and wind movement. The graph in Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 shows that there was low solar radiance as the water temperature started low during 9:00am. Single glazing cover increases progressively until reach the highest temperature at 1.15 pm with 47.2°C and decreases gradually later. Ambient temperature with average of 32.7°C have a significant impact to flat plate collector as it can affects heat loss. The temperature started to increase subsequently until 12:00 pm with 48.8°C due to the increases of solar radiation. Meantime, both single- and double-glazing cover had average temperature decrease after both reach the maximum average temperature in a day. Apart from rainy season, the liquid used in a flat plate collector affects its efficiency. High thermal conductivity fluids can be used in instead of the water in flat plate collectors to boost efficiency (Syam Sundar et al., 2021). Both Fig. 9 and Fig. 10, shown average temperature increasing gradually from 9:00 am. Average temperature in double glazing cover reach it highest temperature in a day early in the afternoon compared to single glazing cover. It can be summed up as a double-glazing cover collector captures higher heat energy from sunlight than a single glazing cover collector. The amount of heat loss from the plate collector will decrease as the number of covers increases, resulting in the flat plate collector operating at its highest efficiency.

3.3.2 Efficiency Single Glazing Plate Collector versus Double Glazing Plate Collector

The FPC is more effective when the water flow rate, or velocity at which the water moves through the tube, is higher. Commonly, the efficiency for both single- and double-glazing cover collector will increases gradually with time until reach the maximum efficiency. Single glazing cover had an acutely increasing efficiency at 10:15 in the morning and a fluctuation graph eventually. Meanwhile, double glazing cover collector started with high efficiency at 9:00 in the morning but decreases later due to the dim weather. The efficiency increases constantly to the maximum efficiency before decreasing later. The fall in temperature was caused by a solar energy trainer that was blocked by a nearby tall structure preventing it from receiving sunlight. In a previous study, according (Vettrivel and Mathiazhagan, 2017) for single glazing cover collector highest efficiency was 12% while in the current study, the single glazing cover collector maximum efficiency is 10.6%. While the maximum efficiency for double glazing cover collector in the previous report was 20.8% (Vettrivel and Mathiazhagan, 2017), the maximum efficiency for double glazing cover collector in this research was 11.15%. This happened due to the low solar radiation in rainy season and obstruct building effected the efficiency of glazing cover collector. Wind flow causes a greater heat transfer from the glazing cover to the environment, thereby lowers the temperature of the glazing cover and increases the temperature difference between the feeder tank and the flat plate collector, which speeds up the condensation process and distillation rate (Manokar et al., 2018). It can be concluded that water temperature and heat absorption increase when the efficiency of the flat plate collector increases.

3.3.3 Evaluation of Outlet Temperature Value and Its Optimum Time Using MATLAB

Figure 12 above shows outlet water temperature value of double-glazing flat plate collector from the solar energy trainer on 27th August 2022 to 29th August 2022 and continues again on 6th September 2022 to 7th September 2022. The result obtained from the first day of experiment was summarized in Fig. 12 above with highest temperature 55°C marked with green colour. It can be concluded that the optimum time for the day was 12:00 noon before it declined to 36.5°C at 4:00pm. Outlet temperature (T3) for the second day was unstable due to the weather condition. It started to rain in the evening, and it give effects on the temperatures. The major component of a solar flat plate collector is an absorber that is protected from heat loss through convection and radiation by insulation and glazing. In addition, the configuration of the absorber and the heat transfer rate from the absorber surface to the circulating fluid determine how well the collector performs (Majumder, Jagadish and Biswas, 2020). As for the third day, the outlet temperature data was gradually increases until its maximum temperature of 68.1°C at 12:00 noon. On the first and third day, the thermosyphonic circulation was likely take place. The temperature increases to the maximum before started to decrease continuously afterwards. The highest temperature was coloured yellow. Next, highest temperature for the fourth day was 42.5°C at 11:00am and started to decline unsteadily after due to the cloudy weather. The data was coloured light to dark blue. On the last day, 7th September 2022 the data show increases growth of temperature with the highest outlet temperature (T3) value was 42.3°C when the time was at 11:15am. The temperature was marked with light blue colour to show temperature below 45°C. The temperature decreases gradually after reached the highest temperature. Another intriguing use for spectrally selective glass is in the double-glazed cover for a high efficiency flat plate collector. The emitting coating can prevent heat from transferring via radiation between the two glass panels, significantly lowering thermal losses through the collector gap (Giovannetti et al., 2012).

In conclusion, for the colour collector type, black collector absorbed more heat compared to the white collector. This resulted in high efficiency of black than white collector. Copper collector absorbed more heat than polypropylene collector. Make the copper collector efficiency highest than polypropylene collector. Lastly, double glazing collector absorbed more heat and have less heat loss and make double glazing collector the most efficient compared to single glazing collector. The different ability in efficiency of heat absorption, higher temperature value and optimum time are all affected by the colour, material, and glazing cover with different characteristics each respectively. However, weather condition when the experiment take placed is also considered. The experiment and comparison show that various types of FPC have varying degrees of efficiency.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Ministry of Education (MOE) through Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS/1/2020/TK0/UTHM/03/35).

Funding

This research was supported by Ministry of Education (MOE) through Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS/1/2020/TK0/UTHM/03/35).

Competing Interests

The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Author Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Norul Ahsanah Aulia Mohamad Mahani, Mariah Awang, Nuramidah Hamidon, Mohd Shahril Abdul Rahman, Fatimah Mohamed Yusop, Mohammad Ashraf Abdul Rahman, Mohd Kamaruzaman Musa, Faridahanim Ahmad and Siti Zaleha Daud. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Norul Ahsanah Aulia Mohamad Mahani and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Ethical Approval

Not applicable

Consent to Participate

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Consent to Publish

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Availability of data and materials

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Temperature Analysis of Thermosiphon Solar Water Heaters Using Different Flat Plate Collectors and MATLAB software.

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Abstract

Figures

1 Introduction

2 Methods

2.1 Experimental Setup

3 Results And Discussions

3.1 Colour Absorption Capacity Level

3.1.1 Black Plate Collector versus White Plate Collector

3.1.2 Efficiency Black Plate Collector versus White Plate Collector

3.1.3 Evaluation of Outlet Temperature Value and Its Optimum Time Using MATLAB

3.2 Material Absorption Capacity Level

3.2.1 Copper Plate Collector versus Polypropylene Plate Collector

3.2.2 Efficiency Copper Plate Collector versus Polypropylene Plate Collector

3.2.3 Evaluation of Outlet Temperature Value and Its Optimum Time Using MATLAB

3.3 Glazing Effect on Heat Absorption

3.3.1 Single Glazing Plate Collector versus Double Glazing Plate Collector

3.3.2 Efficiency Single Glazing Plate Collector versus Double Glazing Plate Collector

3.3.3 Evaluation of Outlet Temperature Value and Its Optimum Time Using MATLAB

4 Conclusion

Declarations

References

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