People use solar thermal energy for many purposes, including heating water, air, and the interior of buildings and generating electricity.
Solar collector is a device that collects and/or concentrates solar radiation from the Sun. These devices are primarily used for active solar heating and allow for the heating of water for personal use. These collectors are generally mounted on the roof and must be very sturdy as they are exposed to a variety of different weather conditions.
The use of these solar collectors provides an alternative for traditional domestic water heating using a water heater, potentially reducing energy costs over time.
There are many different types of solar collectors, but all of them are constructed with the same basic premise in mind. In general, there is some material that is used to collect and focus energy from the Sun and use it to heat water. The simplest of these devices uses a black material surrounding pipes that water flows through. The black material absorbs the solar radiation very well, and as the material heats up the water it surrounds. This is a very simple design, but collectors can get very complex. Absorber plates can be used if a high temperature increase isn't necessary, but generally devices that use reflective materials to focus sunlight result in a greater temperature increase.ded to generate electricity.
