Solar thermal: Calculation and validation
nPro helps to generate hourly resolved power profiles for solar thermal collectors. On this page you learn how these are calculated and validated.
How are solar thermal profiles calculated?
The calculation of solar thermal in nPro is based on the standard DIN EN 12975-2. Here, the global horizontal radiation and
diffuse horizontal radiation are first used to calculate the radiation on the inclined module surface as a function of
the elevation and azimuth. In a second step, the thermal
collector output power is determined. In addition to the incident angle modifier, the air temperature, mean collector temperature,
and the three standardized loss coefficients \(\eta_\mathrm{0}\), \(a_\mathrm{1}\),
and \(a_\mathrm{2}\) are taken into account. The loss coefficients were taken from data sheets of a typical flat plate collector and evacuated tube collector.
The
nPro tool calculates for arbitrary
orientations and inclinations the heat generation profile of solar thermal collectors in hourly resolution.
How have the solar thermal profiles been validated?
The profiles generated with nPro were compared with the generation profiles of the ScenoCalc tool from the
SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden
for a variety of different locations and orientations.
The ScenoCalc tool is an open Excel program that is recognized by all institutions for energy yield prediction when
certifying collectors according to the Solar Keymark procedure. The tool is limited to the consideration of a single collector.
However, it is ideally suited as a basis for almost any type of solar thermal collector.
An excerpt of the validation is shown in the tables below.
Table 1: Comparison of the thermal yield of a flat-plate collector calculated with nPro
and with the tool ScenoCalc for the location Frankfurt (Germany) for different orientations and a mean
collector temperature of 25 °C.
| Orientation |
nPro |
ScenoCalc |
Deviation |
| Horizontal |
611 kWh/m2 |
603 kWh/m2 |
1 % |
| 30° / South |
738 kWh/m2 |
714 kWh/m2 |
3 % |
| 90° / East |
307 kWh/m2 |
296 kWh/m2 |
3 % |
| 90° / West |
320 kWh/m2 |
309 kWh/m2 |
4 % |
| 30° / North |
378 kWh/m2 |
384 kWh/m2 |
2 % |
Table 2: Comparison of the thermal yield of a flat-plate collector calculated with nPro
and with the tool ScenoCalc for the location Frankfurt (Germany) for different mean collector temperatures
and an orientation 30° / South.
| Collector temperature |
nPro |
ScenoCalc |
Deviation |
| 25 °C |
738 kWh/m2 |
714 kWh/m2 |
3 % |
| 50 °C |
484 kWh/m2 |
461 kWh/m2 |
5 % |
| 75 °C |
289 kWh/m2 |
272 kWh/m2 |
6 % |
Table 3: Comparison of the thermal yield of a evacuated tube collector calculated with nPro
and with the tool ScenoCalc for the location Frankfurt (Germany) for different orientations and a mean
collector temperature of 75 °C.
| Orientation |
nPro |
ScenoCalc |
Deviation |
| Horizontal |
379 kWh/m2 |
378 kWh/m2 |
1 % |
| 30° / South |
463 kWh/m2 |
453 kWh/m2 |
2 % |
| 90° / East |
162 kWh/m2 |
155 kWh/m2 |
5 % |
| 90° / West |
172 kWh/m2 |
164 kWh/m2 |
5 % |
| 30° / North |
220 kWh/m2 |
221 kWh/m2 |
1 % |
Table 4: Comparison of the thermal yield of a flat-plate collector calculated with nPro
and with the tool ScenoCalc for different locations, a horizontal orientation and a mean
collector temperature of 50 °C.
| Location |
nPro |
ScenoCalc |
Deviation |
| Frankfurt (Germany) |
365 kWh/m2 |
358 kWh/m2 |
2 % |
| Stockholm (Sweden) |
285 kWh/m2 |
278 kWh/m2 |
3 % |
| Geneva (Switzerland) |
446 kWh/m2 |
438 kWh/m2 |
2 % |
| Athens (Greece) |
813 kWh/m2 |
798 kWh/m2 |
2 % |
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