Advanced Thermal Energy

The Advanced Thermal Energy teaching solution offers students a comprehensive modular setup to explore various solar thermal energy transformation technologies at a laboratory scale. The system includes multiple solar collector types, such as a parabolic reflector and absorber tube, which can be operated with or without the included pump. It also features CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) technology and a Peltier element for direct conversion of thermal energy into electricity. Experiments cover core thermodynamic principles, including heat exchange, heat radiation absorption, and convective heat flow.

Learning Objectives:

• Absorptivity and reflectivity of different materials
• Focusing of light by a Fresnel lens
• Thermal convection and layering
• Thermal conduction
• Thermal insulation
• Solar thermal collector with pump circulation
• Solar thermal collector with thermosiphon circulation
• Variation of the flow speed
• Collector circuit with heat exchanger
• Collector circuit with paraffin heat reservoir
• Parabolic trough collector with pump cycle
• Defocusing
• Qualitative demonstration of the functional principle
• Investigating the thermoelectric generator
• Quantitative determination of the electrical power