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Performance Optimization of an Adjustable Solar Water Heater System: A

MATLAB-Based Analysis of Tilt Angle and Season Variation

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 International Conference of the Faculty of Engineering (ICOFE) 2024
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RESEARCH ARTICLE OPEN ACCESS

Performance Optimization of an Adjustable Solar Water Heater

System: A MATLAB-Based Analysis of Tilt Angle and Season
Variation
David E. Echendu*, Arrow B. Dibolouembele **, Tonbrapade J. **, Ezenwa A.
Ogbonnaya **
*Department of Mechanical Engineering, Niger Delta University, Bayelsa State, Nigeria.
** Department of Mathematics, Niger Delta University, Bayelsa State, Nigeria
**Institute of Maritime Studies, Niger Delta University, Bayelsa State, Nigeria
Email: [email protected]
----------------------------------------************************----------------------------------
Abstract:
This study investigated the performance optimization of an adjustable solar water heater system (SWH) by
analyzing the impacts of tilt angle and seasonal variation using MATLAB simulations. The research,
conducted at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Niger Delta University in Bayelsa, Nigeria,
(Latitude: 4.664030, Longitude: 6.036987) focused on identifying the optimal tilt angle for maximizing the
efficiency of SWH under varying conditions. Experimentally, the system achieved a peak outlet temperature
of 79.30°C, at a maximum irradiance level of 940 W/m², and a peak efficiency of 76.08% at a 45° tilt angle.
Further analysis revealed that the highest recorded efficiency was 60.812%, attained at a 15° tilt angle, with
a mean absolute error of 13.92%. This efficiency was consistent across different levels of solar radiation,
indicating that lower tilt angles optimize the system's performance. The simulations validated the findings
that solar collectors achieve optimal performance when positioned at lower tilt angles, particularly when
facing south in the northern hemisphere. This helped to maximize energy absorption and ensure efficient
operation all year round. This research thus provides valuable insights for the design and installation of
SWH, emphasizing the significance of optimizing the tilt angle to enhance energy efficiency and
sustainability.

Keywords — solar thermal collectors, flat plate collectors, thermosyphon principle, MATLAB, tilt
angle, optimization

----------------------------------------************************----------------------------------
solar radiation into thermal energy for heating water,
I. INTRODUCTION space heating, and powering thermal processes.
Solar energy provides an alternative and Among the different types, flat plate collectors
environmentally friendly energy source, addressing (FPCs) are the most widely used due to their
the demand for daily energy needs traditionally met simplicity, reliability, and cost-effectiveness (Sozen
by fossil fuels. Over the past few decades, solar et, al., 2008). An FPC consists of an absorber plate,
energy's prominence has grown due to its abundance, a transparent cover, a heat-transfer fluid, and
accessibility, low long-term cost, and minimal insulation to minimize heat loss. The absorber plate
environmental impact. Solar thermal collectors are captures solar radiation and converts it into heat,
crucial in harnessing solar energy for both domestic which is then transferred to the fluid circulating
and industrial applications. These collectors convert through the attached tubes. In particular, flat plate
collectors are the most prevalent type of solar

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collector used in domestic solar liquid systems for validating simulation results with experimentation.
home heating and hot water processes. The use of Kumar and Mullick, (2012) proposed an empirical
solar energy collectors (concentrators) to transform relation for the transparent cover temperature for a
radiation into heat energy is the foundation of solar glazed FPC, noting minimal errors in evaluating the
water heating technology. Traditionally, solar water top heat loss coefficient. Said et al., (2015) enhanced
heaters (SWH) have been fixed systems with limited the performance of FPC using titanium dioxide water
adaptability to varying sunlight angles. This nanofluid, significantly increasing thermal
limitation has inspired the development of efficiency. Chen et al., (2015) compared polymeric
innovative designs, including adjustable SWHs. and traditional collectors, finding them more
These adjustable systems address geographical and efficient. Wang et al., (2015) numerically studied
meteorological variations, maximizing energy- optimal parameters for a new flat-plate collector
harnessing potential. The increased efficiency of design, identifying ideal tilt, flow rate, and air gap
adjustable SWHs significantly lower household distance.
energy bills, contributing to economic stability and
improved living standards. Optimization strategies for FPCs include improving
the optical and thermal properties of the absorber
plate, enhancing the design of the transparent cover
II. LITERATURE REVIEW to minimize heat losses, and optimizing the flow rate
FPCs are extensively used in domestic solar liquid of the heat-transport fluid. Research has shown that
heaters for residential heating and hot water systems using advanced materials, such as selective coatings
(Sozen et, al., 2008). To optimize these collectors, it on the absorber plate, can significantly increase the
is essential to minimize losses and maximize the thermal efficiency of FPCs by reducing radiative
output temperature. Extensive research has focused losses (Do-Ango et al., 2013). Additionally, the
on their design, thermal performance assessment, design and orientation of the collector are critical
and optimization. For example, one study factors influencing its performance. For instance,
Dagdougui et, al, (2011) analyzed the total loss orienting the collector south in the northern
coefficient of collectors with different cover types hemisphere can achieve superior heat performance
and numbers, finding that adding covers such as throughout the year (Wang et al., 2015). The main
Plexiglas and glass significantly reduces top heat components of these systems are the storage tank and
loss and improves performance. Agbo and the collector. Collector models as applied to
Okoroigwe, (2007) examined various factors, thermosyphon conditions are the focus of the present
including wind speed, number of glass covers, study (Carbonell. et, al., 2014). This collector model
ambient temperature, gap space between the glazing can be classified in terms of prediction and design
cover and absorber plate, inclination angle, and models. Prediction models are often based on
absorber plate emissivity, and their impact on the experimental data and are mainly used in system
total heat loss coefficient of FPCs. simulation and modelling programs such as
Several notable studies have also contributed to this TRNSYS, Modellica, and MATLAB, to cite some.
field. Mohsen et al., (2009) used energy theory to Modelica is an object-oriented language for
evaluate the performance of a solar water heater with modeling complex physical systems, TRNSYS
single and double glass covers, concluding that specializes in simulating thermal and energy systems,
double-glazed collectors retain heat better at night. and MATLAB provides a high-level environment
(Andoh et al., 2010) studied a SWH using coconut for numerical computing, data analysis, and
coir as insulation, finding it performed comparably algorithm development, making them collectively
to conventional systems. Taherian et al., (2011) valuable for designing, simulating, and analyzing
designed and tested a thermosyphon water heater engineering solutions.
with a FPC under Iranian weather conditions,

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Design models can predict the physical behavior of 𝑇𝑇𝑝𝑝 = Temperature of absorber plate
the collector to find virtual, optimized solutions with 𝑄𝑄𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 = Solar energy absorbed by the plate
no need to construct large and expensive series of 𝑄𝑄𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 = Heat losses (conduction, convection and
prototypes (Cadafalch, 2009). radiation)
𝑚𝑚𝑝𝑝 = mass specific heat of the absorber plate
By optimizing and modelling the performance of 𝑐𝑐𝑝𝑝 = Specific heat capacity of the absorber plate
solar collectors through simulation and innovative
strategies, the efficiency and viability of solar This energy balance equation serves as the
thermal systems can be significantly enhanced. This foundation for modelling the dynamic response of
could promote wider adoption and contribute to the system to varying external conditions.
sustainable energy solutions (Oshinowo, et al., 2015) 2) Computational Framework for Simulation
and Optimization Using MATLAB
III. MATERIALS AND METHODS
MATLAB is employed extensively for the
The methodology adopted in this study focuses on simulation and optimization of solar thermal
the dynamic evaluation of solar thermal collectors, collectors. This computational framework ensures a
utilizing MATLAB for simulation and optimization. systematic and rigorous approach to studying and
This approach allows for a detailed analysis of improving solar thermal collectors, integrating
various parameters, including liquid mass flow rate, theoretical modelling with practical optimization and
inclination angle, total solar radiation, pipe size, and validation.
the number of glass covers, all these play critical
roles in enhancing the collector's performance. a) Model Development
1) Methodological Approach to Dynamic Mathematical Modeling: This involves creating
Evaluation of Solar Thermal Collectors mathematical representations of the physical
processes occurring within the solar thermal
The dynamic evaluation of solar thermal collectors collector. For example, energy balance equations are
is a sophisticated approach that examines the formulated to describe heat transfer processes such
performance of these systems under varying as conduction, convection, and radiation within the
environmental conditions, such as fluctuating solar system.
radiation and changing ambient temperatures. This
method differs from steady-state analysis, which • Parameter Definition: Parameters such as the
assumes constant environmental conditions, by liquid mass flow rate, collector inclination
capturing the time-dependent nature of these angle, solar radiation intensity, and material
variables. Thus providing a more accurate and properties are defined within the MATLAB
comprehensive assessment of the collector's environment. These parameters are essential
performance over time. for accurately simulating the behavior of the
The dynamic evaluation process begins with the solar collector.
formulation of mathematical models that represent b) Numerical Simulation
the energy balance within the solar collector. Discretization: The continuous energy balance
Specifically, the energy balance for the absorber equations are discretised using numerical techniques
plate is central to understanding the system's thermal such as finite difference methods. This allows for the
behavior. The fundamental equation for this balance approximation of the equations over discrete time
can be expressed as: steps, enabling the simulation of dynamic behavior.
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑝𝑝 𝑄𝑄𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 −𝑄𝑄𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙
= (1)
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑚𝑚𝑝𝑝 𝐶𝐶𝑝𝑝

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• Simulation Execution: The discretised fluid and is the specific heat capacity of the fluid.
equations are implemented in MATLAB, respectively.
where the system's performance is simulated e) F-count and First Order Optimality
under varying environmental conditions (e.g., In the context of MATLAB optimization, F-count
changing solar irradiance, ambient refers to the number of function evaluations
temperature). The simulation produces time- performed during the optimization process. It is an
dependent results such as temperature important metric indicating the computational effort
distribution and energy output. required to reach an optimal solution. A lower F-
count generally indicates a more efficient
c) Optimization optimization process. In MATLAB, f-count refers to
Objective Function Formulation: An objective the number of times the objective function has been
function is defined to quantify the performance of evaluated during an optimization process. When
the solar thermal collector. For instance, the using optimization functions like fmincon (), fminunc
objective might be to maximize thermal efficiency, (), fminbnd (), etc., MATLAB keeps track of how
which is a function of useful energy output and many times it calls the objective function as it
incident solar energy. searches for the optimal solution. This count is
reported as fcount in the output. Fmincon () is used
• Optimization Algorithms: MATLAB's built- to optimize the tilt angle of the solar panel to
in optimization tools, such as the fmincon maximize energy absorption as shown in Table 1.
function, are used to optimize the objective The objective function being minimized (which is
function. These algorithms iteratively adjust the negative of the energy absorbed) is evaluated
key parameters (e.g., inclination angle, mass multiple times as the optimizer iterates towards the
optimal solution.
flow rate) to find the optimal configuration
that maximizes performance. • F-count indicates how many times the
• Constraints Handling: The optimization objective function was called during the
process accounts for constraints related to the entire optimization process. This count can
physical and operational limits of the system, provide insight into the efficiency of the
such as maximum allowable temperature or optimization algorithm—fewer function
flow rate. evaluations generally mean a faster and more
efficient optimization process.
d) Parameters Studied
Several critical parameters are examined to
understand their impact on the performance of solar
thermal collectors:
• Liquid Mass Flow Rate: according to Keffi et
al., (2014) the heat transfer fluid flow rate is
optimized to maximize heat transfer
efficiency. The flow rate influences the
collector's thermal performance as expressed
by the equation:

𝑄𝑄𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢 = 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑝𝑝(𝑇𝑇𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 −𝑇𝑇𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜) (2)

Where 𝑇𝑇𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 and 𝑇𝑇𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 are the inlet and outlet fluid
temperatures, 𝑚𝑚 is the mass flow rate of the working

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Table 1 Experimented data for optimization
Both tolerances are critical in achieving efficient
convergence, as they help avoid excessive iterations
while balancing precision and computational
efficiency. The optimization process is considered
successful when the TolFun and maximum
constraint violation are within the defined limits,
such as options. TolCon.
Iterations: 10
Function evaluation: 22 f-count
First-order optimality: 0.0001
Constraints violation: 0 Step
Size: 1.0000e-04
The F-count, or function count, is a critical metric
in optimization processes that reflects the number
of times the objective function has been evaluated
during the search for an optimal solution.

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The analysis simulations conducted in this study
reveal several critical insights into the
performance optimization of flat plate solar
collectors. By varying key parameters such as
liquid mass flow rate, inclination angle, and pipe
After running the fmincon() optimisation, As a size, we developed mathematical formulations
function in the MATLAB Optimization Toolbox,
that maximize thermal efficiency under different
'fmincon' is used to optimize constrained nonlinear
multivariable functions. Typically, you will see an environmental conditions. Table 2 illustrates the
output similar to this: "Optimization terminated" efficiency of a SWH at various tilt angles and
first-order optimality is less than options. TolFun is different levels of solar radiation intensity.
a lower bound on the change in the value of the Notably, the efficiencies remain consistent
objective function during a step. across the varying radiation levels. This
If, |𝑓𝑓(𝑋𝑋𝑖𝑖 ) − 𝑓𝑓(𝑋𝑋𝑖𝑖+1 )| < 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇, the iterations end. indicates that the efficiency of the system is
primarily influenced by the tilt angle rather than
Function tolerance (TolFun) refers to the acceptable the intensity of solar radiation.
difference in the values of the objective function (the
function being minimized or maximized) across
consecutive iterations.

Constraint tolerance (TolCon), on the other hand,

defines the permissible level of constraint violation
in optimization problems, where constraints impose
boundaries or conditions that the solution must meet,
such as variable bounds or equality/inequality
constraints.

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Table 2 Efficiency of a SWH at various tilt
angles across different solar radiation intensities

Fig 4: Straight-line plot optimization data

The variance in prediction accuracy indicates

potential areas where the model could be
Figure 1 is a scatter plot designed to compare the improved by considering additional factors or
experimental efficiency data with the efficiency recalibrating its parameters to align more closely
predicted by a mathematical model. Data points with experimental results.
that fall directly on this line suggest that the
model predicts the efficiency accurately and in
line with Kong et al., (2012).
Figures 2 represent visual assessments of the
model's accuracy in predicting efficiency based
on the experimental data. The experimental
efficiencies range from approximately 20% to
60%, while the predicted efficiencies span a
broader range from around 10% to 70%.
According to Benti et al., (2022), this difference
suggests that the model occasionally predicts
Fig 2a and 2b Energy absorbed for different solar
either much lower or much higher efficiencies radiation
compared to what was observed experimentally.
Figure 3 illustrates the relationship between the tilt
angle of a solar collector and the energy absorbed at
different levels of solar radiation, aiming to identify
the optimal tilt angle for maximizing energy
absorption. The x-axis displays the tilt angle in
degrees, ranging from 0 to 180 degrees, while the y-

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axis represents the energy absorbed by the solar gradually declines, as shown by the color
collector in watts per meter squared (W/m²). transition from yellow to green, and then to blue,
Multiple lines are plotted, each corresponding to a indicating a drop in performance. At tilt angles
specific solar radiation level, such as 636.33 W/m²,
exceeding 100 degrees, efficiency drops
365.5 W/m², and others. For each solar radiation
level, the energy absorbed is calculated and plotted significantly, even reaching negative values,
across a range of tilt angles. Red circles on the plot which suggests poor performance or energy
highlight the optimized tilt angles and the losses.
corresponding maximum energy absorbed,
indicating the points where the system achieves the
highest efficiency for each solar radiation level. This
graph is crucial for understanding the impact of tilt
angle on energy absorption and for determining the
optimal tilt angle that maximizes energy absorption
under varying solar radiation conditions.

Fig 4: 3-D surface plot representation

Table 3 shows a comparison of experimental
solar radiation and predicted efficiency
Generally, higher solar radiation levels are
associated with higher efficiency, but only up to
a certain tilt angle. The plot suggests that the
Fig 3: Energy absorbed versus tilt angle a) 7.9° b) optimal performance of the solar water heater
15° and 30° c) 60° requires a careful balance between tilt angle and
solar radiation. The solar collector should be
The surface plot shown in Fig 4 illustrates the positioned at a lower tilt angle to achieve
relationship between the efficiency of a solar maximum efficiency, particularly in regions with
water heater, tilt angle, and solar radiation high solar radiation levels. This insight is
intensity using a gradient of colors, where yellow essential for the effective design and positioning
represents higher efficiency levels and blue of solar water heaters to maximize energy
represents lower efficiency levels. The highest efficiency and performance.
efficiency is observed at lower tilt angles Table 3 Energy absorbed and tilt angle
(approximately 0 to 30 degrees) and higher solar
radiation levels (close to 800 W/m²), indicated
by the yellow region on the plot. As the tilt angle
increases beyond 30 degrees, the efficiency

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d) Additionally, practical applications
should consider adjustable mounting
systems that allow for periodic tilt
adjustments.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare no conflict of interest.

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
David E. Echendu conducted the research and
drafted the initial version of the paper. Arrow B.
Dibolouembele performed the MATLAB analysis
CONCLUSION and interpreted the data. Tonbrapade J. edited and
The study highlights the importance of optimizing formatted the manuscript, while Ogbonnaya A. E.
the tilt angle of a solar water heater system to proofread and reviewed the final draft. All authors
maximize its efficiency and energy absorption. Both approved the final version of the paper.
experimental data and MATLAB-based analysis
revealed that a lower tilt angle, specifically around ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
15°, achieves the highest efficiency of 60.812%, We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our research
regardless of varying solar radiation levels. This team for their unwavering dedication and to our
finding aligns with the understanding that solar institution for their support and conducive
collectors are most effective when positioned at a environment to carry out this work.
lower angle, particularly facing south in the northern
hemisphere, to consistently harness and utilize solar
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