Energy and exergy analysis of flat plate solar collectors in transient behaviors

This paper is concerned with the energy and exergy analyses of flat plate solar collectors in transient behavior. Using the first law of thermodynamics, energy analysis was carried to estimate the amounts of energy gained from solar water collectors and the ratios of energy utilization. However, exergy analysis was accomplished to determine the location, type, and magnitude of exergy losses during the solar heater process by applying the second law of thermodynamics. A set of equations representing the model was simultaneously solved. The results are used to investigate the effect of operations parameters on the performance of the collector such as energetic efficiency and exergy destruction. Thus, more accurate results and beneficial applications of the exergy method in the design of solar collectors have been obtained.