Abstract
This work concerns the numerical study of the conversion of solar energy into thermal energy using a parabolic collector. The heating of a flow of heat transfer fluid (water) in the absorber tube of a parabolic cylindrical type concentrator solar collector uses water as a heat transfer fluid. A mathematical model derived from the energy balance equation applied to the absorber tube was solved by the finite difference method. A computer program has been developed to solve our problem. MATLAB is used as a simulation tool. This program makes it possible to calculate the evolution of the thermal efficiencies, the temperatures of the absorber tube, the temperatures of the fluid, the temperatures of the glass, and the heat coefficient loss. The results are calculated hour by hour from sunrise to sunset. This study showed that there is a considerable temperature difference between the inlet (320 K) and the outlet for the test days (530 K). The results obtained clearly show that the output temperatures vary according to the solar flux, which reaches 1050 w/m(2), geometric, and climatic parameters.