Energy and Exergy Analysis of Solar Air Heaters: A Focused Review

The increasing rise in fossil fuel prices, the growing concern about its depletion, the repercussions of the global gas crisis, in addition to climate change as a result of global warming, all of these factors have led to the urgent need to access renewable energy bases to meet the growing demand for clean energy. To promote the process of sustainable development completely, solar energy is adopted as a pure, cheap, in addition to permanent energy that can be used with different systems. All these qualities of solar energy are of interest to many researchers. The analysis of energy is most important in examining the effectiveness of the process on the other side, exergetic examination is also a significant tool to study the accurate activities of a process relating to some energy damages and internal irreversibility. This article aims to highlight the importance of using different forms and designs of solar air heaters, as well as their applicability and effectiveness of each type, from a thermodynamic perspective. Various studies have also been listed that discussed the most prominent improvements that enhance the effectiveness of the system and their impact on energy and exergy efficiency.