Fossil fuels are a finite resource that is becoming increasingly expensive. Solar energy is a renewable resource that has the potential to provide a lifetime supply of energy. Parabolic trough solar collectors are a type of solar thermal collector that can be used to generate electricity. This paper discusses the potential advantages and challenges. Solar energySolar collectorRenewable energyParabolic type collectorThe energy crisis is a widely discussed topic in the field of energy. In simple terms, the energy crisis can be defined as the shortage of the supply of energy when demand faces a sudden increment. At our present time, energy requirements are primarily met by fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas, but their supply is limited, and there is also a risk of the negative impacts caused by carbon dioxide emissions on the global climate. This situation has changed little over a long period of time, resulting in a falling supply. Though advances in technology have helped us locate newer oil and gas fields, they are not sufficient to meet increasing demands. At the same time, unconventional sources like tar sands and shale gas are being experimented on to find a solution to the energy crisis,,.A comparative study between fossil fuels and solar energy reveals significant disparities across various dimensions. Fossil fuels, while historically central to energy production, come with substantial environmental drawbacks. Combustion of fossil fuels emits greenhouse gases and pollutants, contributing to air pollution and climate change. Additionally, extraction and transportation processes can lead to habitat destruction, water pollution, and oil spills. Their non-renewable nature raises concerns about resource depletion. On the other hand, solar energy offers a greener alternative. Solar technologies produce el. In simple terms, a solar collector is a device that captures incoming solar radiation. The collected solar energy can be converted into either heat energy for the working fluid, as in concentrated solar power technology, or electrical energy, as in photovoltaic technology. The thermal energy can be used to heat water or provide charge for a the. Various analytical models have been proposed by scholars to improve the thermal performance of PTCs. Ouagued developed a 1-D model considering the working oil as a performance factor, in which the HCE was split into several parts. Building on this, Padilla developed control equations for glass, fluid, and absorber. Both 1-D and 2-D models were constructed, but the main difference was that the receiver was split into N segments along the length of the PTC in the 2-D model, while in the 1-D model, it was the opposite. These models' assumptions, limitations, and ways to improve them were discussed, and the physical parameters involved were mentioned (see Table 1).Table 1. Specification of typical trough collector segment.Kalogirou tried conducting heat transfer through both the glass cover and the absorber pipe simultaneously. Odeh's model could determine the collector's performance based on the type of working fluids used because his model was based on the absorber wall temperature. Kassem concluded that heat transfer in PTCs could be modified with suitable eccentricity. This conclusion was drawn by performing natural convection heat transfer between the absorber and the glass envelope. Gong conducted optimization of the one-dimensional (1-D) model and integrated it with a three-dimensional (3-D).
