A new methodology to select the thermal solar collectors by localizations and applications

The temperature requirements of the majority of solar thermal collector's applications is between 40°C and 260°C. The characteristics of low to medium-high temperature solar collectors are given and an overview of the relation between the efficiency and operating temperature of existing technologies is presented. Four thermal collectors have been considered in this study varying from the simple stationary flat plate to a movable parabolic trough one. Based on theoretical studies of solar systems, a mapping for various solar technologies was performed to different climate zones and different heat demand. The study was based on three criteria. Firstly, the industrial process heat demand, secondly, the efficiency of the solar thermal collectors (STC) and at last, the solar potential in different localizations. The viabilities of the systems depend primarily on these criteria.