Systems Design and Experimental Study of a Solar Parabolic Trough for Solar Refrigeration

A solar parabolic trough is manufactured, and the data required in the analysis provided in the current work is recorded with the said apparatus. The trough is manufactured considering its use for solar refrigeration using triple fluid vapor absorption refrigeration system (TFVARS). In this method, the solar energy is converted to thermal energy in the form of a stream of hot-air generated at the receiver of a parabolic trough. This thermal energy is used to heat the generator of the TFVARS. In this way, the refrigeration effect is achieved. Additionally, a discussion on the tracking modes of the trough for best efficiency and ease in tracking, is provided. In this work, the solar parabolic trough is designed as per the requirements of the TFVARS refrigerator, and then conduct a series of tests for recording the trough’s performance parameters.