Project Description

Dr. Willy proposed that the team take advantage of an existing solar thermal collector to design an experiment that compares the reported efficiency value for the collector to its actual efficiency. This requires the team to design and assemble a solar thermal system that follows ICC standards in the renewable energy lab space. Moving into the second semester our client has changed to Professor Carson Marty Pete as he assumed responsibility for the Renewable Energy lab over the summer. No changes were made for the base expectation of the project, but some additional items were acknowledged that may further enhance the versatility of the project. Professor Pete requested that the test bed have accommodations for two other solar thermal systems.

Process Diagram & CAD Model

Outline of the general flow of the system. Points of note are sensors, collector, heat exchanger, and manifold.

SolidWorks model showing the collectors mounted to the Rack as above

Video Summary