Setup of a test facility for the characterization of thermal collectors according to the Euronorm at the “Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina”

Prerequisites for the sustainable development of a market for solar thermal collector systems for the use in e.g. domestic hot water systems are the availability of systems and components that show a high degree reliability in the energy delivery. For the introduction and the continuous retention of these standards a facility for collector testing is under development at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina UFSC. As a central part of the facility in that test-centre, an installation for the characterization of thermal collectors according to the standards as applied in Europe (EN 12975) is under construction. This standardized collector test is presented and its different advantages in model improvement, equipment cost and collector trough put are presented. As accompanying measure, a collector - constructed in Brazil - is tested in Germany by the Institute ITW of the University of Stuttgart according to this standard to serve as reference. Its characteristics are compared to those of a collector constructed in Europe. To demonstrate the use of the parameters determined,. the differences in the estimated annual energy gain of both collectors for the climatic conditions in southern Brazil are calculated.