Experimental investigation into multi-stage parabolic dish concentrators for smart village energy applications

Due to the increased level of solar concentration, high-temperature zones ranging from 700 to 800 °C can be generated at the focal point of a solar dish collector, enabling steam production. This study presents experimental investigations of newly developed, efficient, and compact solar equipment that requires less land area. The experimental setup includes two parabolic dish collectors with diameters of 1.83 m and 3.05 m, and three copper receivers—two hemispherical (cavity-type, internally heated) and one conical (externally heated). The performance of this system is compared with that of a simple single-stage system under similar concentration ratios. At lower Reynolds numbers, the solar collection efficiency improves by 12%. The steam generated in the receiver can be further pressurized and stored for later use in various rural applications.