Performance analysis of parabolic trough collectors for Pakistan using mathematical and computational models

This paper investigates the effects of solar radiations and climatic conditions for the five major cities of Pakistan by using parabolic trough collectors. The modeling is carried out using Matlab by considering the available climatic data from the Retscreen software. The potential geographical location of the parabolic trough collector is identified on the basis of different parameters such as gaining temperature, the absorbed heat, the losses and the collector efficiency. To strengthen the investigation, variation of input parameters like the latitude (location) of the place, solar radiation flux, the ambient temperature are also being considered. These results are encouraging and support the feasibility of parabolic trough solar collectors in Pakistan's diverse climatic conditions.