Three‐dimensional natural convection in an inclined solar collector equipped with partitions has been investigated numerically. The presence of partitions improves the performances of the collector by increasing the heat transfer near the absorber. A parametric study was done for various partitions length and Rayleigh numbers, while Prandtl number and inclination angle were fixed at 0.71 and 45°, respectively. Results are reported in terms of isosurfaces of temperature, isotherms, particles trajectories, velocity vector projection, average Nusselt number along the absorber plate and entropies generation contours.

The effect of inclination angle on three dimensional (3D) natural convection in an inclined rectangular cavity similar to a solar collector equipped with partitions has been investigated numerically. Governing equations were established using the 3D velocity vector-vorticity formalism and discretized via the finite volume method (FVM). A parametric study has been performed for various inclination angles (from 0° to 90°), different partitions length (from 0.2 to 0.8), and a range of Rayleigh numbers varied from 10 3 to 10 5 while, Prandtl number was fixed at Pr = 0.71. Results are reported in terms of iso-surfaces of temperature, isotherms, particles trajectories, vector velocity projection, average Nusselt number and the entropies generation contours and graphs. Results showed the 3D character of the flow is more pronounced for higher Rayleigh numbers and lower partition lengths. For all inclinations and partition lengths, heat transfer and entropy generation are enhanced by increasing Rayleigh number