Essential priority is given to the design and development of integrated solar thermal devices and their utilization in photothermal applications. It is also necessary to investigate their synergistic effects, technical feasibility, and thermal suitability under field conditions. In this context, extensive research was conducted on the newly designed and developed Parabolic Trough Collector and Parabolic Greenhouse integrated device (PTC–PGH). The results indicate that the nano-coated components exhibit suitable physical characteristics for effective application in the PTC–PGH integrated system. The PTC achieved a fluid temperature enhancement of 62.6 °C, a useful heat gain of 532.65 W, and an optical efficiency of 73.4%. The PGH demonstrated a fluid temperature enhancement of 59.5 °C, a useful heat gain of 2136.5 W, and a thermal efficiency of 77.7%. In addition, the integrated PTC–PGH system achieved an overall fluid temperature enhancement of 69.8 °C, attributed to a synergistic effect between the concentrator and greenhouse. The technical and thermal feasibility of the nano-coated components, the PTC, PGH, and the integrated system were individually evaluated and found to be acceptable under field conditions. Based on these results, the proposed PTC–PGH integrated solar thermal device demonstrates good technical feasibility, thermal suitability, and synergistic performance, indicating its potential for effective fluid heating and related sustainable energy applications.
Ranjith et al. (Thu,) studied this question.