A comprehensive review on energy and exergy analysis of solar air heaters

For economic growth of nation, the energy plays an important role. The excessive use of fossil fuels results the increase in global warming and depleting the resources. Due to this reason, the renewable energy sources are creating more attraction for researchers. In renewable energy sector, solar energy is the most abundant and clean source of energy. In solar thermal systems, solar air heater (SAH) is the main system which is used for heating of air. As it is simple in construction and cheaper in cost, it is of main interest for the researchers. The concept of first law and second law of thermodynamics is used for the study of the energy and exergy analysis respectively. The energy analysis is of great importance for the study of process effectiveness while the exergetic analysis is another significant concept to examine the actual behavior of process involving various energy losses and internal irreversibility. For efficient utilization of solar energy, the exergy analysis is very important tool for optimal design of solar air heaters. The aim of the present work is to review the works related to energy and exergy analysis of various types of solar air heaters and to find out the research gap for future work.