While photovoltaics convert the sun’s rays into electricity, solar thermal collectors absorb its thermal energy for the home and industrial goals.
A researcher at the University of UMEå in Sweden has recently developed new sustainable coatings for those collectors that can improve their efficiency and durability, according to a school report.
“The solar thermal has a great potential to contribute to the green transition, especially as a source of industrial heat. But the technology must become even more competitive in order to acquire a broader grip,” says Eric Zal, a doctoral student in Experimental Physics at the University of Music.
Using more resistant methods for the production of heat or electricity, companies can reduce their carbon prints, reduce their operating costs, and even convey these savings to consumers.
ZAL explained in its doctoral dissertation how optical coatings can be tailored to two key components of solar thermal collectors: the roof glass where the light enters the system, and the receiver that absorbs light and converts it into heat.
The anti -otrasonic coating of silica with small, hexagonly arranged pores has helped to improve light transmission through the roof glass while enhancing the resistance of the coating to environmental factors such as scratches, dirt and moisture.
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Two solutions were presented for the receiver, which helped to absorb the greater part of the sunlight while radiating a little thermal radiation. Both can be manufactured using cheap, eco -friendly methods that can be scale.
One of the option uses an electric cobalt chrome coating that absorbs light and is more environmentally friendly than other types of chromium used earlier.
The second is a composite film made up of carbon nanotubes and silica, which is said to be covered with a spray on a heated stainless steel using ultrasound technology. The heat treatment of steel helps to create a thin oxide layer that increases the optical properties and thermal resistance.
According to the World Economic Forum, heat represents half of the world’s energy consumption, from home space heaters to industrial applications. The processes used to create this heat contribute more than 40% of the global carbon dioxide emissions associated with energy.
Solar energy systems can use the sun’s rays to heat water or air in buildings, with flat-panel collectors being the most common type of applications where 200 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures are sufficient.
Some industrial solar thermal power plants use huge arrays of concentrating collectors that focus the sun’s rays on a smaller absorber to generate heat.
Zäll studies have been done in collaboration with Absolicon Solar Collector and are specially adapted to the design of Swedish solar energy, which have led to two patent applications for more efficient solar collectors.
The Absolicon website describes in detail how its durable heat collection systems can operate with solar photovoltaics to relieve the load on the electrical network and boiler systems that use dirty fuels.
These systems include the heat storage in the form of heat batteries that allow them to operate around the clock, even when the sun does not heat, increasing the technology resistance factor.
“Our work shows that it is possible to combine the resistance, cost efficiency and high characteristics of optical coatings to turn solar heat into a viable alternative to fossil fuels on a larger scale,” Zäll concluded.
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