Renewable Energy 119 (2018) 79e94

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Solar tracker for enhancement of the thermal efficiency of solar water

heating system
M.A. Abdelghani-Idrissi a, c, *, S. Khalfallaoui a, D. Seguin a, L. Vernie

res-Hassimi a,
S. Leveneur a, b
a
Normandie Universite, LSPC-Laboratoire de Securite des Procedes Chimiques, EA4704, Universite/ INSA Rouen, 685 Avenue de l'universit e, BP 08, 76801
Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, France
b
Laboratory of Industrial Chemistry and Reaction Engineering, Johan Gadolin Process Chemistry Centre, Åbo Akademi University, Biskopsgatan 8, FI-20500
Åbo/Turku, Finland
c
Haut-Commissariat de la R epublique, B.P. C5, 98844 Noumea, Nouvelle-Cal
edonie, France

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper deals with thermal efficiency enhancement analysis of a solar water heating system with a
Received 16 June 2016 solar tracker. Made at laboratory-scale, an automated mechanical system enables solar panel rotation
Received in revised form and inclination. The control system is programmed to place the solar panels facing the sun throughout
28 September 2017
the day. Its coordinates by means of the solar height and the azimuthal angle will determine the sun
Accepted 23 November 2017
position on the celestial sphere. The thermal behaviour of the solar water heating system is developed
Available online 23 November 2017
with energy balance on solar panels, heat exchanger and storage system. The solar irradiation intensity is
measured by a pyranometer placed in the plan of the solar panels. Comparison between experimental
Keywords:
Solar tracker
results obtained for fixed inclinations of solar panels and those obtained with the solar tracker shows a
Gain 40% gain of overall stored thermal energy. The energy gain depends on the season. The low inclinations
Solar radiation are still favourable in summer while in winter they are higher inclinations are needed.
Azimuth © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Solar energy
Modelling
́ ́ ́ ́ ́ ́

1. Introduction the receiver towards the sun. However, the panel positioning
compared to the direction of the solar irradiation is not throughout
Since Kyoto's protocol has been ratified, environmental preser- the day in an optimal orientation. The usual recommendations for
vation is an essential priority in the field of energy production the integration to the construction roofing lead to an optimal fixed
improvement and the development of clean renewable energies position determined in regard with the average stored energy along
has become a major technical and scientific challenge. the day. The solar tracker is a possible solution to enhance the solar
Development of solar energy is an alternative to limit the energy by approximately 33% [1]. An increasing of solar still pro-
exploitation of fossil fuels that leads to massive gas emissions and ductivity around 22% was obtained by using sun-tracking system
climate changes. Solar energy presents interesting assets because it [2]. According to freedom degrees, solar trackers can provide a
is a clean and almost unlimited resource and as it is uniformly movement to the panels along a single [3] or double axis - [4,5]. A
distributed all over the area of sunny countries, its supply does not comprehensive comparison of different maximum power point
require sophisticated transports facilities. Therefore, the develop- tracking techniques for photovoltaic systems has been presented in
ment of this resource could contribute to the energy mix. Ref. [6].
The amount of absorbed solar energy by a given surface is In Ref. [7], the authors presented a software solution imple-
directly dependent on its orientation with respect to the solar mented on hardware system to manage and drive multiple bi-axial
position. To maximise the absorbed energy, it is necessary to face solar trackers by personal computer (PC) in photovoltaic solar
plants. Several methods of sun pursuing have been investigated and
evaluated to keep the solar panels, solar concentrators, telescopes
or other solar systems perpendicular to the sunbeam [8e10]. To
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [Link]-idrissi@[Link] (M.A. Abdelghani- extract the maximum output power from a PV module or solar
Idrissi). concentrator, a solar tracker can be used to track the sun direction

[Link]
0960-1481/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
80 M.A. Abdelghani-Idrissi et al. / Renewable Energy 119 (2018) 79e94

Nomenclature F solar radiation intensity [W m2]

FDh diffuse total radiation by the ground [W m2]
A area [m2] FsolarD solar flux direct [W m2]
a solar azimuth [
] FsolarG global solar flux [ W m2]
a* albedo of sol 4 geographic latitude [
]
CP specific heat capacity [J kg1K1] q orientation [
]
D.C. Direct Current u hour angle [
]
E energy [J] d declination angle [
]
·
h heat transfer coefficient [W m2K1]
q speed of rotation of the earth[
/h]
h sun height [
]
g angle to the south[
]
i inclination angle [
]
D variation
K heat transfer coefficient [W m2K1]
! l thermal conductivity [W m1 K1]
k unit vector r density [kg m3]
·
m mass flow rate [kg s1] h0 yield of panel [%]
n numbers of days
! Subscripts
n unit vector
P thermal power [W] c calorific liquid
PV Photovoltaic c1 calorific liquid in the collector
PC personal computer c2 calorific liquid in serpentine heat exchanger
Q flow rate [m3 s1] D diffuse
t time [s] ext external
T temperature[K] G global
TSV true solar time[h] I direct light
Ul heat transfer coefficient of solar panel [W.m2.K1] in inlet
V volume [m3] loc local
max maximum
Greek symbols out outlet
a1 static gain [K W1 m2] p panel
a 2, a 3 static gain sp solar panel
b1, b2 static gain ss storage system
d1, d2, d3
static gain th thermal
t time constant [s] w domestic water

where sunbeam is perpendicular to the face of the PV module or it possible to track the sun during all the day. The thermal model
solar concentrator, and the maximum value of solar energy is presented in this reference can easily be adapted to any configu-
captured [11]. A review of different types of sun tracking systems ration of the solar panels orientation.
and methods of maximizing solar systems were presented in This tracker takes into account the terrestrial position of the
Ref. [12]. An ideal tracker enable the PV cell to point accurately at installation, its altitude, latitude as well as the sun elevation. These
the sun with compensation changes in the altitude angle of the sun parameters are assessed according to the relations proposed in
throughout the day, in the latitudinal shift of the sun during the Ref. [20e22] and are implemented into a control system to set the
season and in the azimuth angle [12]. The sun tracking systems are solar panels at the front of the sun. The experimental results will be
classified into two categories corresponding to passive and active compared to the theoretical results, obtained from the solar water-
trackers [12,13]. heating model described in Ref. [19], taking into account the
A passive solar tracker activated by aluminum/steel bimetallic progress of the solar panels in the sun direction and the solar
strips and controlled by a viscous damper presents an increase in irradiation intensity. The gain in term of thermal energy with solar
efficiency of up to 23% over fixed solar panels [13]. tracker is presented in comparison with the configuration, in which
The active trackers were also the subjects of research of several the solar collectors are fixed at different inclinations.
authors. Active trackers are based on the use of a motor and a
controlled system. The active trackers of solar photovoltaic cells 2. Experimental set-up description
were presented in several researches [14e17]. A self-powered solar
tracker for low concentration PV systems has been recently Fig. 1 shows the different elements of the experimental pilot.
designed and presented in Ref. [18]. The solar electromagnetic radiation energy is converted into calo-
The works of literature cited previously deal with solar trackers rific energy at the plane solar collector shown by the picture (A) of
applied to PV panels. This paper focuses on the study of a thermal Fig. 1. A pump brings into circulation the fluid in the primary circuit
domestic solar water heating system with a solar tracker based on to transport this energy from the collector to the heat exchanger
calculation of the solar position. The performance enhancement is located in the storage system shown on picture (B) of Fig. 1. The last
assessed from the stored thermal energy. The purpose of the one transfers heat energy to the secondary circuit through the heat
automatic solar tracker is to make it possible for the solar panels to transfer area.
follow solar positioning during the day with two degrees. In order As presented on depiction (C) of Fig. 1, a pyranometer was
to implement this study, the experimental set-up presented in installed for the measurement of the solar radiation intensity. It is
Ref. [19] was improved by the installation of equipment that makes placed in the same plan as the collector with respect to the solar
 M.A. Abdelghani-Idrissi et al. / Renewable Energy 119 (2018) 79e94 81

Fig. 2. Solar panels tracking system.

An electronic card connected to the PLC synchronizes the

movements of the two jacks placed on the frame of the solar panel.
After establishing the position model of the thermal solar sys-
tem, the Ladder language has been developed for programming the
automatic and manual orientation and inclination. The automatic
mode allows to test the experimental set-up with tracking the sun
during the day and the manual mode allows to set the solar panels
at a fixed position. The inclination value was limited to 65
C for
technical reasons.

3. Thermal modelling of the solar water heating

A mathematical model obtained by energy balance of each

element represents the thermal behaviour of the solar water
Fig. 1. Experimental set-up: (A) solar panels, (B) Storage tank, (C) pyranometer, (D) heating system. This model is presented in Ref. [19].
electrical control. While flowing through the solar collector, the fluid is heated by
convection resulting in a change of its output enthalpy. The energy
radiation intensity. A turbine flowmeter was placed on the primary balance, applied to the total instantaneous volume of liquid in the
hydraulic circuit for measuring the flow rate of the calorific fluid. solar collector, takes into account the thermal rate of the calorific
The monitoring and testing are curried out with a data card fluid, the solar radiation and the heat exchange of the solar panel
acquisition connected to the computer operating system. with the outdoor environment. For simplifications, the liquid in the
As depicted on Fig. 2, the solar panels rotation around the ver- solar panel is considered completely mixed. This leads to the
tical axis is carried out with a D.C. motor in a scale from 0
to 180
following equation after simplification and rearrangement:
corresponding respectively to the sunrise and sunset directions.
dTsp;out

Two electric jacks were mounted for the solar panels inclination rc Vc1 Cpc _ c Cpc Tsp;in ðtÞ  Tsp;out ðtÞ
ðtÞ ¼ m
dt
while following the height of the sun. The inclination value is

limited between 5
and 65
due to the mechanical restriction. þ Ul Ap Text ðtÞ  Tsp;out ðtÞ
All these elements are controlled through an electrical equip- þAp h0 FðtÞ (1)
ment box equipped with a programmable logic controller (PLC)
with an interface machine. The picture (D) of Fig. 1 represents the where, rc is the calorific fluid density, Vc1 is the instantaneous
internal aspect of the electrical equipment box where all electrical volume of the calorific fluid in the collector, Tsp,out and Tsp,in are
alternative and continuous inputs and outputs (0e5 V and 24 V) as respectively the calorific fluid outlet and inlet temperature in the
·
well as the three-phase and single-phase voltage (400 V and 230 V) solar panel, m c is the fluid mass flow rate, Cpc is the specific heat,
are provided. The various switches and relays make it possible to F(t) is the solar radiation intensity and Ap is the effective panel area.
activate and control each part of the motorization (orientation and Energy balance applied to the calorific fluid in the heat
inclination). exchanger placed in the storage system leads to the following
The electric motor used for this motorization is a three-phase equation:
synchronous motor and is controlled by the programmable logic
controller PLC via a variator. In order to facilitate the control of the dTss;out

rc Vc2 Cpc _ c Cpc Tss;in ðtÞ  Tss;out ðtÞ
ðtÞ ¼ m
solar panels orientation between 0
and 180
, two limit switches dt


were fixed. Their operation principle is based on inductive de- þ hss Ass Tw ðtÞ  Tss;m ðtÞ (2)
tectors, which make it possible to locate metal objects without any
Tss;in ðtÞþTss;out ðtÞ
physical contact. where the mean temperature is Tss;m ðtÞ ¼ 2 .
82 M.A. Abdelghani-Idrissi et al. / Renewable Energy 119 (2018) 79e94

The secondary circuit being in closed loop, the inlet and outlet    
temperatures are the same order of magnitude. The mean tem- a1 a2
Tsp;out ðsÞ ¼ FðsÞ þ Text ðsÞ
perature could be replaced by the outlet temperature. 1 þ t1 s 1 þ t1 s
 
The heat losses through the short insulated pipes between the a3
þ T ðsÞ (5)
storage system and the solar panel are neglected. The inlet tem- 1 þ t1 s sp;in
perature of the solar panel Tsp,in is similar to the outlet temperature
of the heat exchanger Tss,out. The same consideration is available for where s is the Laplace variable and t1 ¼ rc QrccCVpc1þU
Cpc
1 Ap
,
the outlet temperature of the solar panel. c
r Q Cpc
a1 ¼ rc Q c CApp hþU
0
1 Ap c c
U Ap
, a2 ¼ r Q Cp1 þU1 Ap
, a3 ¼ r Q cCp cþU
c c 1 Ap
.
c c c

Tsp; in zTss; out The different terms are listed in the nomenclature.
The Laplace transform of Equation (3) allows for the following
equation:
Tsp; out zTss; in    
b1 b2
Tsp;in ðsÞ ¼ Tsp;out ðsÞ þ Tw ðsÞ (6)
Note that the storage system is assumed to be completely mixed. 1 þ t2 s 1 þ t2 s
Therefore, the domestic water temperature Tw is considered
rV C rQ C
uniform. where t2 ¼ r Q cC c2þhpc A , b1 ¼ r Q Cc cþhpc A , b2 ¼ r Q Chss Aþh
ss
.
c c pc ss ss c c pc ss ss c c pc ss Ass
Equation (2) can be written as follow:
As for the domestic water temperature, the following Laplace
transform representation is obtained:
dTsp;in
   
rc Vc2 Cpc _ c Cpc Tsp;out ðtÞ  Tsp;in ðtÞ
ðtÞ ¼ m d1 d2
dt

Tw ðsÞ ¼ T ðsÞ þ T ðsÞ
1 þ t3 s sp;in 1 þ t3 s loc
þ hss Ass Tw ðtÞ  Tss;m ðtÞ (3)  
d3
The domestic water internal energy change is due to the flow þ Tss ðsÞ (7)
1 þ t3 s
use, to the heat exchange with the serpentine heat exchanger and
to the heat exchange between the storage system and the room.
where t3 ¼ Kloc Sloc þhrwssvAssssCþpwr , d1 ¼ Kloc Sloc þhsshssAAss ssþr ,
The energy balance leads to the following equation: w Q w Cpw w Q w Cpw
r Q c
d2 ¼ Kloc Sloc þhKsslocAssSloc
þrw Q w Cpw
, d3 ¼ K S þhw Aw þpwr Q C .
ss ss
loc loc w w pw

dTw
rw Vss Cpw ðtÞ ¼ m_ w Cpw ðTss ðtÞ  Tw ðtÞ Þ Fig. 3 illustrates the functional diagram of the solar water
dt heating system. It shows the thermal coupling between the pri-


þhss Ass Tsp;in ðtÞ  Tw ðtÞ mary hydraulic circuit and secondary hydraulic circuit. As discussed
þKloc Aloc ðTloc ðtÞ  Tw ðtÞ Þ (4) previously, this diagram is compatible with the Matlab-Simulink
tool for programming the calculations and the simulation.
The Laplace Transform use leads to a functional approach with Note that the model parameters such as static gains and time
different sub-systems to assess the states through various internal constants depend on physical parameters such as flow rates. Thus,
variables according to the variations of the physical inputs and nonlinearities occur on the thermal behaviour of the solar system.
outputs. The Simulink® tool under the Matlab® environment is
compatible with the functional approach presented in this paper.
This tool allows for the evaluation of different intermediate pa- 4. Solar position assessment
rameters of the proposed model.
The Laplace transform applied to Equation (1) leads to: The solar radiation received by solar panel varies considerably

α β
+ τ

+ τ δ
α β
δ
+ τ

Fig. 3. Block diagram of the global solar thermal system.

 M.A. Abdelghani-Idrissi et al. / Renewable Energy 119 (2018) 79e94 83

equinoxes are the two dates of the year during which the sun
crosses the equatorial plan. In this case, its declination is nil and day
and night have the same duration. The declination value can be
obtained with a good accuracy by the following relation [22]:
 
360
d ¼ 23:45 sin ðn  81Þ (8)
365

where, n is the day number of the year.

4.2. Solar time

The position of the sun is correlated to the true solar time (TST).
The earth itself rotates at the rate of one revolution per day around
the polar axis. The earth daily rotation is defined by the rotation of
the celestial sphere about the polar axis, and the instantaneous
position of the sun is described by the hour angle (u), the angle
Fig. 4. Solar azimuth and altitude. between the meridian passing through the sun and the meridian of
the site.
according to its inclination, its orientation and its geographical The following relation expresses the hour angle as function of
location. According to Kepler, the earth revolves yearly around the solar time:
sun in an elliptical orbit with the sun. The ecliptic corresponds to ·
the plane of this orbit. The relative position of the sun and the earth u ¼ qðTSV  12Þ (9)
is well represented by the celestial sphere around the earth as
illustrated in Fig. 4. The solar position is usually defined by its q_ is the number of revolutions of the ground (q_ ~15
/h). The hour
azimuth angle and its height. Fig. 5 shows geographic latitude and angle is nil when the sun is in the plane of the local meridian line
solar height. The main parameters to define the solar position are corresponding to solar noon.
defined as follows:
4.3. Latitude of the place
 The declination compared to the plan of the equator,
 The solar time, The latitude (4) is an angular value, which expresses the posi-
 The latitude of the place, tion of a point on earth compared to the equator as shown in Fig. 5.
 The height of the sun, The latitude varies between 90
(South Pole) and þ90
(North
 The azimuth (orientation compared to the cardinal points) Pole). The site of our experiment is located at a latitude of 49
230 .
This model is valid for any location on the earth by assessing its
latitude as the intersection of the longitude angle and the latitude
4.1. Declination angle.

The solar declination corresponds to the angle between the line 4.4. Solar height
joining the centres of the sun and of the earth and its projection on
the equatorial plane. This angle varies throughout the year The height is the solar angle from the horizontal plane of the
of þ23
260 at 23
260 . location and direction of the sun as depicted in Fig. 5. The Gauss
The equatorial plane intersects the celestial sphere in the relation (10) expresses the link between the height of the sun, the
celestial equator and the polar axis in the celestial poles. The declination, the hour angle and the latitude.

Fig. 5. Geographic latitude and solar height.

84 M.A. Abdelghani-Idrissi et al. / Renewable Energy 119 (2018) 79e94

sinðhÞ ¼ cos d cos u cos 4 þ sin d sin 4 (10)

This formula is very significant since it makes possible to
determine the instantaneous height (h) of the sun and thereafter to
evaluate the positioning of the surface of the solar panels. Note that
this expression takes into account the latitude, which designates
the panels geographical location on the earth.

4.5. Solar azimuth

As shown in Fig. 6, solar azimuth (a) represents the angle

measured in the direction of clockwise between the southern car-
dinal point (northern hemisphere) or north (southern hemisphere)
to the horizontal projection of the sun's ray.
The solar azimuth is negative in the morning (East direction),
null or equal at 180
at noon and positive in the afternoon (West
direction). The following relation defines the azimuth:

sin u
tgðaÞ ¼ (11)
ðsin 4 cos uÞ  ðcos 4 tg dÞ
The expression (11) depends on the geographical location of the
Fig. 7. Flowchart for the solar coordinates calculation.
solar panels.
The determination of the latitude by the intersection of the
longitude angle and the latitude angle, the declination (8), the hour
angle (9), the height (10) and the azimuth (11) can be represented with:
by the diagram chart illustrated in Fig. 7.
! !
cosB ¼ k $ n (13)
5. Solar radiation
!
n is the normal unit vector on the surface of the solar panels:
Solar radiation is composed of direct light and scattered light by !
the atmosphere and environment. The received light from the sun n ðsin g$sin i; cos g$sin i; cos iÞ (14)
depends on the orientation of the receiving surface. Authors of !
reference [23] studied the energy gain due to the indirect solar k is the unit vector giving the direction of the sun:
radiation and concluded that the weak profit in energy through !
diffuse illumination is obtained only when the sky is completely k ðcosðhÞ$sinðaÞ; cosðhÞ$cosðaÞ; sinðhÞÞ (15)
cloudy. Relation (12) becomes:

5.1. Direct light fsolarD ¼ fI ðsinðiÞcosðhÞcosða  gÞ þ cosðiÞsinðhÞÞ (16)

As depicted on Fig. 6 the positioning of the solar panel with

regard to the sun is defined by the inclination (i) from the hori-
zontal and the angle (g) in relation to the south direction. Direct
5.2. Diffuse light
light fSolar D is the normal part component to the panel of the solar
light fI.
Diffuse light consists in the radiation, which comes from the sky
The relation that binds the day hour angle and the sun height to
and the ground. This radiation is supposed to be isotropic. When
direct solar light is given by the following expression:
the solar panel is placed horizontally, the diffuse radiation corre-
fsolar D ¼ fI cos B (12) sponds entirely to that received by the atmosphere. When it is
inclined with an angle, (i) compared to the horizontal, a part of the
diffuse radiation results from the ground. In this case, the fraction of
the diffuse radiation resulting from the sky is:
 
1 þ cosðiÞ
fatm ðiÞ ¼ f Dh (17)
2

fDh is the total diffuse radiation resulting from the sky.

As for the radiation resulting from the ground, the fraction
received by the solar panels is:
 
1  cosðiÞ *
fsol ðiÞ ¼ a fGh (18)
2

a* is the albedo (a* ~ 0.3) and fGh is the diffuse total radiation by the
Fig. 6. Solar panel orientation according to the sun position. ground.
The indirect solar radiation is the sum of two diffuse flux and
 M.A. Abdelghani-Idrissi et al. / Renewable Energy 119 (2018) 79e94 85

can be expressed as follows:  

1
    fI ¼ 1260 exp  (26)
1 þ cosðiÞ 1  cosðiÞ * 2:3 sinðh þ 3Þ
fD ðiÞ ¼ fDh þ a fGh (19)
2 2
fGh ¼ 995ðsinðhÞÞ1:25 (27)
Consequently, the required inclination i(t) for an optimal energy
yield must follow the variation of the height of sun h(t). With this
inclination, the plane of the solar panels faces the sun. In this case,
5.3. Total light the instantaneous inclination of the solar panels must be:

The total radiation received by the solar panels corresponds to iðtÞ ¼ 90+  hðtÞ (28)
the superposition of the direct radiation and the indirect radiation.
The sum of direct and diffuse light leads to the following relation:

fsolarG ¼ fsolarD þ fD (20) 6. Results and discussion

with: 6.1. Validation of the model for various fixed inclination

fDh ¼ fGh  fI sinðhÞ (21) Various simulations are obtained with the parameters corre-
sponding to the installation design and operating points. The
In the Ref. [20], the analysis of weather measurements made it results of simulation are then compared with the experimental
possible to give empirical expressions to the level of direct and results. Fig. 8 shows the daily variation of the solar radiation
diffuse light. The following relations give the direct light of the sky: intensity measured by the pyranometer placed beside the solar
For a very clear sky panels. The solar intensity is plotted as a function of legal time. This
  example shows a maximum intensity of 450 W/m2. This
1 Figure shows an example of a low radiation day with climatic dis-
fI ¼ 1210 exp  (22)
6 sinðh þ 1Þ turbances. The daily mean value of the radiation intensity fm is
around 184 W/m2.
The total light diffuses by the ground is also given by the
To compare the dynamic behaviour with real situations,
following expression:
measured real solar radiation intensity is taken into account in the
simulation software.
fGh ¼ 1130ðsinðhÞÞ1:15 (23) Fig. 9 shows the thermal power of the solar panel obtained from
For a fairly disturbed sky the following expression:


  _ c Cpc Tsp;out  Tsp;in
Pth ¼ m (29)
1
fI ¼ 1230 exp  (24)
3:8sinðh þ 1:6Þ The calorific fluid transfers its thermal energy to the storage
system through the integrated heat exchanger and induces the
increasing of the temperature of the storage system. Fig. 10 shows
fGh ¼ 1080ðsinðhÞÞ1:22 (25)
the daily evolution of the experimental and theoretical domestic
For a turbid sky solar water temperature in the storage system. The calorific fluid

Fig. 8. Daily variation of the solar radiation intensity.

86 M.A. Abdelghani-Idrissi et al. / Renewable Energy 119 (2018) 79e94

Fig. 9. Experimental and theoretical thermal power of the solar panel.

Fig. 10. Daily variation of the domestic solar heated water temperature.

Table 1
flow rate and the initial conditions are reported on Table 1. Initial conditions.
The theoretical results are in agreement with the measured
qc Tw (0) Tsp,in (0) Tsp,out (0)
data. Note that the experimental temperature of the storage system
seems to present a gap time before starting its evolution compared 3.0 (L/min) 19.1 (
C) 18.3 (
C) 17.8 (
C)
to the variations of the solar radiation intensity. This is due to the
low values of the solar radiation intensity at the beginning of the
day. At the end of the day the temperature of the storage system is The theoretical results corroborate the experimental results
stabilized because of the low intensity of the solar radiation. The with an error less than 10%. The inlet and outlet temperatures of the
ratio between the temperature variation of domestic water and the solar collector increase until reaching their maximum values and
mean value of the intensity of the solar radiation is 76
C/(kW/m2). decrease thereafter according to the decrease of solar radiation
Under the same conditions, graphs (A) and (B) of Fig. 11 represent intensity at the end of the day. The temperatures of the calorific
the change of the experimental and theoretical temperatures at fluid at the inlet and outlet of solar collector seem to be more
respectively the inlet and the outlet sides of the solar collector for sensitive to sudden fluctuations in solar radiation intensity. The
the same flow rate of the calorific fluid. The experimental results effect of accumulation in the storage system is noticed with the
are consistent with those obtained by the model presented increasing of temperatures as long as there is solar radiation
previously. intensity in spite of its decreasing at the end of the day.
 M.A. Abdelghani-Idrissi et al. / Renewable Energy 119 (2018) 79e94 87

Fig. 11. Daily variation of the calorific fluid temperature (A) inlet (B) outlet.

In order to quantify the improvement of collected thermal nil position at sunset. It reaches its maximum value at solar noon, in
energy, next paragraphs are devoted to the presentation of the winter hmax ¼ 18
and in summer hmax ¼ 60
.
results obtained with the solar tracker in comparison with those Fig. 13 shows the variation of solar flux vs. time for different
obtained with a fixed positioning of the directed solar panels full angles of the solar panels inclination in the summer season. The
south with various fixed inclinations. profiles represented in this figure show that the maximum value of
flux is reached at 12 h. The highest values about 1100 W/m2 are
6.2. Solar flux for different fixed inclinations obtained for angles of inclination between 30
and 40
. The diffuse
radiation is dominating at the beginning of day and at the end of
The calculation of the various profiles of solar flux for several the day.
fixed angles of inclination is obtained from relations (16), (19) and Fig. 14 illustrates the profile of the solar flux in function of
(21). The height of the sun is obtained from the relation (10). By different angles of the solar panels inclination in the winter season.
considering the solar flux, the various temperatures are calculated The maximum of solar flux is attained for inclinations ranging
through the simulation tool developed in the present work. between 60
and 80
and is around 800 W/m2. Fig. 15 compares the
The sunning depends on the seasons according to the maximum cumulative solar energy during the day for the winter season
sun height. Indeed, Fig. 12 shows the variation sun height (December) and summer (July). The daily cumulative energy
throughout the day in winter and summer. The calculation of this decreases with the inclination in the summer when it increases in
height is obtained from relation (10). The sun height depends on winter. Note that the height is also dependent on the latitude as
the latitude and the declination. The sun height starts to increase illustrated on Fig. 16. The same analysis is valid for any earth
since sunrise to reach its maximum value and decreases towards a location.
88 M.A. Abdelghani-Idrissi et al. / Renewable Energy 119 (2018) 79e94

Fig. 12. Sun height as a function of time for a winter and a summer days.

Fig. 13. Solar flux for different solar panels inclination in summer season.

Fig. 14. Solar flux for different solar panels inclination in winter season.
 M.A. Abdelghani-Idrissi et al. / Renewable Energy 119 (2018) 79e94 89

Fig. 15. Daily stored solar energy at different inclination in winter and summer season.

Fig. 16. Sun height for different latitude.

Fig. 17 shows a comparison of experimental and theoretical solar Fig. 18 shows the variation of the angle of inclination i and the
fluxes evolutions as a function of time, for fixed solar panel at height h as a function of time. As specified before, the inclination is
different inclinations. Curves (A), (B) and (C) of this figure corre- limited between 5
and 65
for mechanical reasons. This limitation
spond respectively to an inclination of 35
, 45
and 65
. The curves is taken into account for the calculation of the inclination. It should
of this graph present a good accordance between the theoretical be noted that beyond 65
corresponds to positions during the
model and experimental measurements. sunrise and the sunset where the solar flux is weak and dominated
by diffuse flux.
Fig. 19 shows the cumulative solar energy for different fixed
6.3. Solar flux with solar tracker inclination compared to that obtained with a solar tracker. The gain
in solar energy by using solar tracker compared to different fixed
In this section, the solar tracker adjusts the inclination in order positions is reported on Fig. 20. By considering a full day of oper-
to keep the solar panels in front of the sun throughout the day. In ation, the solar tracker allows increasing the solar energy that
this case, the solar panels plan is maintained normal to the sun reaches the solar panel in comparison to a fixed positioning.
direction. The inclination must be then, at each instant during the Compared to the best inclination, the solar tracker allows
daytime, assessed according the following expression: improving solar energy capture of approximately 49.5%.
Fig. 21 shows the evolution of experimental solar flux with a
iðtÞ ¼ 90
 hðtÞ (30) slightly disturbed weather in the morning in comparison with the
90 M.A. Abdelghani-Idrissi et al. / Renewable Energy 119 (2018) 79e94

Fig. 17. Theoretical and experimental solar flux for different fixed inclination (A) 35
, (B) 45
, (C) 65
.

theoretical results obtained by the relation (21). The results ob- Fig. 22. The experimental flux is approximated by a polynomial
tained are in agreement with the experimental results. trend taking into account the data without disturbance.
To show the performances of the solar system tracker, mea- The solar system tracker follows well the course of the sun even
surements for a disturbed day by passages of clouds is presented in for a disturbed day. The results show the good consistency of
 M.A. Abdelghani-Idrissi et al. / Renewable Energy 119 (2018) 79e94 91

Fig. 18. Sun height and solar panel inclination during the day.

Fig. 19. Stored energy with a solar tracker and for different fixed inclination.

Fig. 20. Thermal gain of solar tracker with regard to different fixed inclination.
92 M.A. Abdelghani-Idrissi et al. / Renewable Energy 119 (2018) 79e94

Fig. 21. Theoretical and experimental solar flux with a slightly disturbed weather in the morning.
φ

Fig. 22. Theoretical and experimental solar fluxes for a cloudy day.

Fig. 23. Theoretical and experimental temperature in the storage system obtained with the solar tracker.

experimental measurements to those resulting from the theoretical 6.4. Thermal behaviour with solar tracker
model of any type of weather occurring during the day.
The thermal behaviour of the solar system, using the solar
 M.A. Abdelghani-Idrissi et al. / Renewable Energy 119 (2018) 79e94 93

Fig. 24. Thermal stored energy evolution during the day for various fixed inclination and with solar tracker.

tracker, is presented in this section. These results are compared not exceed 1.75 kWh/m2 per day.
with a manual operation in which solar panels are placed at a fixed The thermal gain is defined by the following expression:
position.
The experimental solar flux presented in Fig. 21 is introduced jEth ðTrackerÞ  Eth ði
fixedÞj
Gth ¼ (31)
into the simulation program developed in the reference to assess Eth ði
fixedÞ
the temperature of the storage system. Fig. 23 shows the daily
Fig. 25 shows the variation of thermal gain obtained with the
evolution of the theoretical and experimental temperature in the
solar tracker compared to a fixed inclination of the solar panel for
storage system obtained when the solar tracker is under operation.
different seasons. As indicated on this figure, the weak fixed in-
The initial temperature is around 19.8
C. The results of this figure
clinations are favourable in summer while great values of inclina-
present a good adequacy.
tion are more favourable in winter. These results show that the
Fluxes from Fig. 13 are taken into account to assess the stored
optimal fixed position of the solar panels is highly dependent on
thermal energy which is depicted in Fig. 24 showing the evolution
the season. Using a solar tracker allows continuous adjustment of
versus time for various fixed angles of inclination and with solar
direction and is profitable in all situations studied, relative to the
tracker. It should be noted that the accumulated thermal energy in
fixed position solar panels.
the storage system with solar tracker reaches values more signifi-
cant than that obtained with various fixed angles of inclination. The
7. Conclusion
tracker system makes it possible to reach a better thermal perfor-
mance. The mean accumulated energy for the solar tracker reaches
In this paper, a solar tracker has been implemented to improve
then 2.65 kWh/m2 per day. On the other hand, the accumulated
the thermal performance of a solar water heating system. The
energy for a fixed panel directed in south with an angle of 30
does
analysis was carried out with the transient thermal behaviour of

Fig. 25. Thermal gain with solar tracker in relation to various fixed inclination for the different seasons.
94 M.A. Abdelghani-Idrissi et al. / Renewable Energy 119 (2018) 79e94

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