The collector collects sunlight from the liquid and heats it, creating steam. Mechanical engineers at Arizona State University are trying to use graphite, an inexpensive material that improves the heat-absorbing properties of the heat transfer fluid in the solar thermal system, thereby enhancing the sun. Thermal system efficiency.

"We expect a 100-megawatt solar power station to add $3.5 million in revenue each year," said Robert Taylor, a graduate student in mechanical engineering at Arizona State University.

The Arizona State University team turned its attention to solar collectors, an important component of solar thermal systems, also known as concentrating solar power systems. Collectors collect sunlight into hot liquids to produce steam that drives a turbine to generate electricity.

“The biggest limitation of photovoltaic panels is that they can only absorb part of the sunlight that strikes the panel, and the rest of the sunlight is converted into heat, which actually impairs the performance of the panel.” said Mr. Taylor. . In contrast, solar collectors collect and use the portion of heat lost from photovoltaic panels.

To further increase the efficiency of solar collectors, Mr. Taylor and his colleagues mixed graphite nanoparticles into the heat transfer oil used in solar thermal power plants.

The reason why researchers use graphite is simple because it is black and it has good solar absorption. And he doesn't reflect light and it allows heat transfer oil to absorb more heat.

Under laboratory conditions, Mr. Taylor and his partners found that nanoparticles can increase heat absorption efficiency by 10%.

Another benefit of using graphite nanoparticles is that it is a universal material and its cost is relatively low. According to Mr. Taylor, the cost per gram of graphite nanoparticles is less than $1, and 100 grams of nanoparticles have a heat-absorbing surface area equivalent to the size of a football field.

"Solar [thermoelectric] systems used in coal-fired power plants may also use soot nanoparticles with similar endothermic potential," Mr. Taylor added.

"I think this idea is very attractive - use a contaminant to absorb clean, green solar energy." He said.

The details of this study were published in the magazine "Renewable and Sustainable Use of Energy."

Heat transfer fluids in solar thermal systems are as simple as a mixture of water, oil, and other liquids. However, having good heat absorption capacity is very important.

Archimede Solar Energy, a solar energy supply company in Italy, uses molten salt, a mixture of sodium nitrate and potassium, as the heat transfer fluid for its solar thermal system.

Archimede is said to be the only manufacturer using molten salt as a heat transfer fluid. The first concentrating solar power plant using this technology started operation in July 2010 in Syracuse, Sicily.

Archimede Solar Energy is a joint venture with Siemens Energy. The Archimede solar thermal power station is owned and operated by the Italian energy provider Enel, which has a generating capacity of 5 megawatts.

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