Thermo-economic analysis of a flat solar collector with a phase changing material under tropical climate conditions: Residential and industrial case

Phase changing materials provide significant heat storage capacity and features different applications within the field of solar thermal energy, specifically in flat solar collectors. This research study presents a mathematical model of global energy balance of a flat solar collector integrated with phase changing materials under different environmental conditions of tropical climate of Merida, Mexico, which predicted fluid temperature of the system. The model was developed implementing three phase changing materials and monitoring their behavior for a four test-days and three-days samples of continuous series with different sky conditions were considered. Similarly, an optimal material thickness analysis for the best performance was carried out towards an economic feasibility study. This study was implemented for two sectors: residential and industrial, with the aim of verifying its feasibility. The highest temperature reported was 95 degrees C using lauric acid with a thickness of 32 mm, which resulted the most suitable phase changing material for this application. According to economic study, internal rate of return was used as indicator of investment viability. The results reported a maximum internal rate of return of 22% and 17.2% for the residential and industrial sectors, respectively. The integration of these materials improves the performance of these systems, making their implementation feasible in flat solar collectors.