A critical review on solar applications of parabolic trough collector

Worldwide, various countries, including India, have a vast potential for solar energy throughout their seasonal duration and are working toward harnessing the maximum amount of solar energy through various concentrating and non-concentrating solar energy technologies. This paper elaborates on one of the parabolic concentrating collector types of technology. This study discussed the basics of a solar parabolic trough collector (PTC) technology, their components, effects of design parameters, effects of new designs of the receiver tube, effects of secondary reflectors (evacuated tube collector), effects of heat transfer fluid (HTF), effects of thermal and end losses, and effects of tracking systems on its performance. The primary outcome of the paper is mainly understanding research work done in solar parabolic through the collector. The key finding of this study is that high thermal efficiency can be achieved by using a vacuum receiver tube. To improve heat transfer characteristics, a porous trapezoidal fin may be utilized. In the case of water as HTF, the efficiency of small prototype collectors is 50-70%, which shows that a PTC can work better also with water as HTF. The study will be helpful for people focusing on solar parabolic trough collector for various applications.