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Optics and Heat Transfer in Solar Collectors

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Harnessing Solar Heat

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Energy ((LNEN,volume 18))

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Abstract

All substances emit electromagnetic radiation continuously in a particular range of the electromagnetic spectrum, the dominant form that such energy takes depends upon its nature and the form of the applied external excitation; electrical conductors emit radio waves when excited by an alternating current; certain elements emit X-rays if excited by atomic bombardment and if heated to a sufficiently high temperature all substances will emit visible light. Cosmic rays, X-rays, r-rays, visible light and radio waves are forms of electromagnetic radiation that, when absorbed by a substance, usually produces a very small heating effect. The wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum that interact with matter to produce significant radiative heating are confined to a band from approximately 0.1 to 100 μm; this includes a portion of the ultraviolet light together with all visible (0.40–0.7 μm) and infrared light bands. For many solar thermal systems the optical characteristics and geometries of aperture materials, reflectors and absorbers determines solar heat gains. How much of that heat is retained is determined largely by heat transfer (i) across air gaps, evacuated spaces, and insulation materials and (ii) provided by forced or buoyant removal of fluid from a collector.

A couple of thousand years dropped in the ocean of time will completely exhaust the coal fields of Europe, unless, in the meantime, the heat of the sun be employed

John Ericsson (1868)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin, Ireland

    Brian Norton (Office of the President)

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  1. Brian Norton
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Norton, B. (2014). Optics and Heat Transfer in Solar Collectors. In: Harnessing Solar Heat. Lecture Notes in Energy, vol 18. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7275-5_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7275-5_3

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