Solar Thermal Energy Systems and Performance

Solar thermal energy harnesses solar radiation to generate heat for domestic, commercial and industrial applications, ranging from low-temperature water heating to high-temperature steam generation for power plants. Collector technologies include flat-plate, evacuated-tube and concentrating systems, each offering trade-offs in cost, operating temperature and efficiency. System performance is governed by optical design, heat-transfer fluid properties, thermal storage integration and control strategies tied to ambient conditions. Recent advances in selective coatings, heat-pipe integration and hybrid photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) configurations have enhanced thermal capture and reduced losses. Meanwhile, the emergence of data-driven modelling and machine-learning optimisation has accelerated design cycles and improved annual yield predictions. Globally, solar thermal contributes to decarbonising heat supply, easing peak electricity demand and supporting sustainable industrial processes, with growing adoption in residential hot water, district heating and concentrated solar power (CSP) installations.

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Solar Thermal Energy Systems and Performance publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in solar thermal energy systems and performance across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Nanofluid: A base fluid containing dispersed nanoparticles (such as metal oxides or carbon nanotubes) designed to improve thermal conductivity and convective heat transfer within solar collectors.

Evacuated-tube collector (ETC): A solar thermal collector of parallel glass tubes with internal evacuation to reduce conduction and convection losses, enabling higher operational temperatures than flat-plate designs.

Energy efficiency: The ratio of useful thermal output delivered by a solar thermal system to the incident solar radiation on the collector aperture.

Exergy efficiency: A measure of the useful work potential of heat output compared with the maximum theoretical work extractable from the incident solar energy.

References

1. Thermal performance enhancement of evacuated tube solar collector using MWCNT, Al2O3, and hybrid MWCNT/ Al2O3nanofluids. International Journal of Thermofluids (2023).
2. Empirical data-driven multi-layer perceptron and radial basis function techniques in predicting the performance of nanofluid-based modified tubular solar collectors. Journal of Cleaner Production (2021).