ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of the advances related to the application of the nanotechnology in various kinds of the solar collectors. It reviews the theoretical, numerical, and experimental up-to-date works related with the nanotechnology applications in the flat plate, direct absorption, parabolic trough, wavy, heat pipe and other kinds of the solar collectors. The chapter considers an important link between nanotechnology and all available kinds of the solar collectors. Nanofluids have significantly improved the fluid thermophysical properties, such as thermal conductivity, viscosity, and convective heat transfer coefficients, compared with conventional fluids. Three different groups of nanofluids, with water as a base fluid, were considered which are graphite, carbon nanotube and silver. The ideal solar collector absorbs the concentrated solar radiation and converts it to a heat and then transfer this heat to the collector fluid. Flat-plate solar collectors are used broadly to increase the working fluid temperature in the range of 30 to 100C above the ambient temperature.
