Evaluation of thermal efficiency of a PVC-B square honeycomb solar collector for residential applications

One square meter of solar surface produces approximately 63x106 W/m? of energy and even with all the natural atmospheric filters, this energy is still very little explored, especially in thermal systems. Countries with an abundance of solar radiation still do not properly exploit this natural resource and when we look at poorer countries, this situation is even more worrying. The use of solar collectors for water heating represents significant economic and technological development throughout the world. In this work the PVC-B (Polyvinyl Chloride-Blue) lining honeycomb plate was converted into a solar collector, and its thermal efficiency was then analyzed. The coldwater inlet, hot water outlet and ambient temperatures, as well as the water flow and direct and reflected solar radiation from the ground are measured and these records are used to determine the energy absorbed by the water and incident on the solar collector. The average and maximum thermal efficiency of the PVC-B collector was 38.35% and 68%, respectively, with a maximum temperature of 42.94?C. The collector in this study can be used both as a stand-alone system and as a hybrid system to support electric showers. The behavior of the solar collector studied here is analogous to a swimming pool collector, but with a cost of 73.18% lower. Even with a not so attractive average efficiency (38.35%), the low cost and simple construction make this equipment a great attraction for residential installation, as it can be built by the user himself and used to heat water for low-income families, which is a promising result for a low-investment equipment, compared to commercial solar collectors (FPC).