thermal efficiency

The solar energy that reaches the Earth is free, but installations to convert solar energy into heat, as well as equipment for transporting and storage that heat, require some investment. A significant part of the components of these systems are metals. Pipelines in solar collectors and heat exchangers are made of copper, aluminum is used for the absorber and housing, and the steel is often used in heat storage tanks. One of the options to reduce the cost of solar collectors and increase their efficiency is to use polymeric materials instead of metals.

The work notes the development of non-traditional energy sources in Ukraine. There is a need to improve existing solar collectors and combine these units with structures of external fencing for energy-efficient buildings. Taking into account the popularity of construction with an increased area of glazing, the paper suggests the design of solar collector combined with the glass facade of the building. It gives data about change of the heat carrier temperature at the outlet of the solar collector.