Convective Heat Losses From Flat-Plate Solar Collectors in Turbulent Winds

This paper presents results for convective heat transfer coefficients on the surface of flat-plate solar collectors mounted on a single-family residential building and exposed to the wind. The results were obtained by testing a 1:32 scale model in highly turbulent nonuniform flows which simulated the natural wind. For full-scale conditions, the heat transfer coefficients are two to three times lower than those given by a commonly used correlation. The coefficients show some sensitivity to wind direction but are insensitive to the characteristics of the wind and to architectural details of the building.