Solar concentrating collectors are special types of thermal collectors that convert the solar radiation energy to the internal energy of the heat transfer fluid (such as water, oil, or air) in the collectors. You might find these chapters and articles relevant to this topic. G. Kiss, in Metropolitan Sustainability, 2012
It is a modified version of a flat plate collector, where a reflecting or refracting surface (known as a concentrator) is introduced between the solar radiation and the absorber. These collectors can significantly increase the radiation intensity from a low value to a much higher value, sometimes up to 10,000 times.
Solar energy collectors are crucial for converting solar radiation into usable forms like heat or electricity. There are two main types of collectors: non-concentration and concentrating collectors. In non-concentration collectors, the collector area and absorber area are the same.
There are two main types of collectors: non-concentration and concentrating collectors. In non-concentration collectors, the collector area and absorber area are the same. These collectors intercept solar radiation and absorb it without concentrating it.
Related Article: Primarily there are four types of concentrating solar collectors, which are: Fresnel lens collector. A parabolic trough comprises a linear parabolic reflector that concentrates sunlight on a receiver that is positioned along the focal line of the reflector.
Adolfo Palombo, in Solar Hydrogen Production, 2019 The concentrating collectors can absorb the sun radiation and convert it to thermal energy by interposing an optical device between the radiation source and the energy-absorbing surface. A sketch of concentrating solar thermal collector concept is depicted in Fig. 6.10.