Improving the experimental estimation of the incident angle modifier of evacuated tube solar collectors with heat pipes

This article focuses on the thermal performance testing of evacuated tube solar collectors with heat pipes (ETC-HP) using the ISO 9806:2017 standard test methods: Steady-state testing (SST) and Quasi-dynamic testing (QDT). The main objective of this work is to improve the experimental estimation of the incident angle modifier (IAM) for these types of solar collectors in both test methods. For the QDT method, a novel model for the IAM is presented and validated against SST results. This IAM model, recently developed for flat plate collectors under the SST framework, has demonstrated superior performance compared to other available models. This study marks its first application to ETC-HP technology, showcasing its adaptability across different technologies and test methods. While this work primarily focuses on ETC-HP collectors, the results are applicable to evacuated tubes in general. Thus, the generality of this model and its consistency with the SST method make it suitable for implementation in test standards as a general-purpose model. Regarding the SST method, and aiming to enhance consistency between testing methods, an improved parameter conversion from SST to QDT is also proposed, reducing IAM differences between test methods by 1 to 19 percentage points, with greater improvement at higher incidence angles.