The use of thermal-electric analogy in solar collector thermal state analysis

The paper presents a review of publications devoted to the use of thermal-electric analogy in the analyses of solar collectors' performance, with special focus on the shortcomings of the proposed models of the equivalent thermal network (ETN). Additionally, the study describes the principles of construction of the ETN, especially for large-scale solar thermal circuits. The process of heating the working medium flowing through the collector battery was also shown. The ETN model was presented both analytically (nodal potential method) and with the use of the Simulink package (MATLAB), which made it possible to investigate the effect of operating conditions on the parameters of the solar collector.