Maximum power operation of a solar-powered heat engine

Abstract By employing an internally and externally irreversible Carnot-like heat-engine model, the design parameters of a solar-powered heat engine are obtained for radiative and convective boundary conditions. The external irreversibility parameter must be less than 0.5 for optimum thermal efficiency and maximum power output. Increasing the cycle-irreversibility parameter and heat-transfer area of the cold reservoir improves the thermal efficiency and maximum powers output.