Water-in-Glass Evacuated Tube Solar Water Heaters

Evacuated tube solar collectors have better performance than flat-plate solar collectors, in particular for high temperature operations. A number of heat extraction methods from all-glass evacuated tubes have been developed and the water-in-glass concept has been found to be the most successful due to its simplicity and low manufacturing cost. In this paper, the performance of a water-in-glass evacuated tube solar pre-heater is investigated using the International Standard test method ISO 9459-2 for a range of locations. Factors influencing the operation of water-in-glass collector tubes are discussed and a numerical study of water circulation through long single-ended thermosyphon tubes is presented. Preliminary numerical simulations have shown the existence of inactive region near the sealed end of the tube which might influence the performance of the collector.