CFD Modeling of Performance of Flat Solar Water Heater for Domestic Applications

Flat plate solar collectors represent a prominent technology in the field of solar thermal energy, specifically designed for residential and commercial water heating applications. This paper provides an overview of flat plate solar collectors and its thermal performance using numerical technique. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has emerged as a powerful tool for modeling and optimizing flat plate solar collectors, which are crucial for harnessing solar energy in various applications such as residential water heating. This paper analyzes the application of CFD in simulating the fluid dynamics and heat transfer processes within flat solar collectors. It discusses the modeling approaches, including the discretization of governing equations, turbulence modeling techniques, and validation methodologies used to ensure accuracy and reliability of simulations. the key performance parameters such as velocity contours, temperature distributions, and efficiency of flat plate collectors under prescribed operating conditions and geometries are predicted.