The Mathematical Modeling of a Solar Collector’s Absorber

The paper gives the stationary heat conduction process is studied theoretically for flat plate surfaces of the absorber of a solar collector. Based on the mathematical model of a stationary heat conduction process in flat surfaces of a solar collector’s absorber described by the authors in previous works, the geometry of such an absorber is analysed from the viewpoint of the most optimal temperature field in it. Special attention is given to simplification of the mathematical model and to creation of a computer model that would reflect the two-dimensional temperature field in the collector’s absorber. Introducing into the computer model the solar radiation density received from an external data source/storage medium the authors obtain the temperature field in the absorber and show that it is possible to define its optimal geometry if the maximum heat power is found from the cross-sections area, since the main parameters in the mathematically described heat conduction process are geometrical sizes of the absorber. The developed computer model will form a basis for creation of new software intended for this particular new innovative idea relating to the design and making technology of flat plate solar collectors without application of expensive experimental materials. The main conclusion is that the carried out mathematical description can help to find the optimal sizes for the absorber, which, taken for the whole collector, would provide its maximum efficiency