A new concentrating collector with evacuated all-glass absorber for solar cooling

摘要

Recent developments have led to an interest in the reevaluation of a concept that received much attention more than twenty years ago. This is a simple version of an eXternal reflector Compound Parabolic Concentrator (XCPC) combined with a modern-day implementation of an all glass dewar-type evacuated absorber. Such a collector, assembled utilizing present day technologies and manufacturing capabilities, could provide a very low cost and simple solution to the problem of providing mid- to high temperature solar thermal energy. A prototype panel based on this concept has been designed and built and is undergoing preliminary testing and evaluation. The design philosophy and contemporary implementation are reviewed, the results of some preliminary optical performance measurements are presented, and some potential applications are discussed.