Abstract

Abstract The development and design of parabolic trough solar thermal collectors (PTC) need to comprehensively consider the influence of optic, thermodynamic, layout, and other factors. The optics and thermodynamic analysis of PTC with different configurations was carried out, and the influence of layout on heat collection was studied. In the case of determined PTC aperture size, the distribution trend of solar irradiation flux density of different HCE diameters is the same, and the peak value of solar irradiation flux density is higher when the concentration ratio is larger. For the PTC with the same concentration ratio, with the incidence angle increase, the intercept rate and optical efficiency of the PTC decrease, the thermal energy loss rate increases, and the thermal efficiency decreases. Under the same incidence angle, with the increase of concentration ratio, the PTC’s intercept rate and optical efficiency decrease gradually, and the average efficiency of the PTC increases first and then decreases. In the process of PTC design and selection, considering the concentration ratio, latitude, and cost factors, the aperture size of 8.2 m and the HCE of the inner diameter of 90 mm can be used as the recommended configuration scheme for subsequent HCE development.