Guide plates on wind uplift of a solar collector model

One of the key issues affecting the promotion of solar water heaters in Taiwan is the severe impact of typhoon each year. An experimental study was conducted to investigate the wind uplift characteristic of a solar collector model with and without a guide plate. The guide plate with different lengths and orientations with respect to wind direction was adopted. It is found that the wind uplift of a solar collector is associated with the tilt angle of the flat panel as expected. A cavity formed between the guide plate and the flat panel has a significant effect on the distributions of streamwsie and lateral pressure. Reduction in uplift is essentially coupled with the projected area of a guide plate on the lower surface of the tilt flat panel.