The Solar-AC FAQ : (Category) Solar thermal collectors : (Answer) What does a homemeade solar thermal collector look like?
Solar collection systems fall into two broad categories: the concentrating collectors and the so-called flat plate collectors. Concentrating collectors collect the sun’s rays from a relatively large area and focus them on a point. If you ever used a magnifying glass to focus the sun’s rays to start a fire, you have used a concentrating collector. In the field of solar collection, parabolic (bowl-shaped) mirrorsare generally used instead of a magnifying glass or Fresnel lens. The effect is the same. Parabolic mirrors can create extremely high temperatures (over 2,000 degrees). These can be used to generate steam, which can be used directly or to power electrical generators. They can also provide high-grade heat (90C and up) required to run absorption chillers. A dish which tracks the sun in two dimensions can reach hotter temperatures than a parabolic trough which tracks only one dimension (and focuses sunlight onto a straight line, usually a pipe containing water, molten salt, or oil).
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