A new type of solar concentrator employing a cone-cylinder combination

Most conventional solar thermal radiation concentrators have some sort of symmetry which allows them to concentrate solar thermal energy for their operation. We report a new system that utilises the symmetry of a cone and a cylinder combination to simulate the concentration of solar radiation on a ring containing a fluid (water). A halogen lamp is used as the source of radiation to simulate solar radiation in this work. The temperature of the water in the ring with the concentrator is found to rise to a steady state of 55.4°C after the ring is exposed to radiation for a period of 1,200 sec while water in the ring without the concentrator exposed to the same radiation attains a steady state temperature of 33.2°C for the same exposure time of 1,200 sec.