MECH9720 Solar Thermal Energy Design
The Complete Exam Bible · T2 2026MECH9720 Overview
- UNSW Sydney
- Term 2, 2026
Within School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of NSW, MECH9720 Solar Thermal Energy Design takes students from the solar resource itself — extraterrestrial vs terrestrial vs global radiation, declination and solar/collector azimuth angles, air mass, separation of global irradiance into beam, diffuse and ground-reflected components, and the instruments that measure them — through black-body and radiation heat transfer, collector covers, selective surfaces and thermal loss coefficients, to the measured performance of flat-plate, evacuated-tube and concentrating collectors, solar water heating systems, thermal storage, and whole-year system simulation and techno-economics.
A measure-it-then-model-it design course with no textbook: "these course notes are used instead of a compulsory textbook" and the in-house notes PDF "contain all the formulas, Tables, and Figures needed to solve quantitative problems for the course".
- MECH9720 grading SAM individual report = 27% of the MECH9720 course mark, split across 3 sequentially-marked tasks on low-, medium- and high-temperature solar thermal systems (Task 1 = 7 of 27 marks, 10 pages max, due 5pm 3 July in Moodle) | group laboratory report marked out of 100 (50 marks Experiment A + 40 marks Experiment B + 10 marks report clarity/structure/professionalism), target 25-30 pages, with a +/-10% peer-assessment scaling | weekly Moodle quizzes (Quiz 1 in Week 2, Quiz 2 in Week 3) | a final exam Only the SAM individual report has a verified course-level weight (27%); use the current official course outline for all other component weights.
- MECH9720 task mode Confirm MECH9720 exam duration, permitted materials and venue in the current course site and official timetable.
- MECH9720 mark trap Two places, both named by the coordinator in their own words. (1) Angle units: the FAQ devotes a whole entry to When do I use degrees and radians for angles? and answers the panic question The numbers I am calculating do not make any sense! Help! with Check that you are using degrees and radians in the correct places. Also check that your use of brackets is correct.
- MECH9720 rule check Treat the MECH9720 hurdle status as unconfirmed. Check the current official course outline for any component-level pass rule before relying on the overall mark.
How MECH9720 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| SAM Assessment | Weight subject to confirmation | Current course component |
| Lab Assessment | Weight subject to confirmation | Current 2026 laboratory component |
| Weekly Quizzes | Weight subject to confirmation | Current course component |
| Final Exam | Weight subject to confirmation | Current final assessment |
The current course page confirms these four components but the captured materials do not publish their numeric weights. Confirm the current percentages in the live Course Outline; no total is manufactured here.
What MECH9720 covers
Start with Course Components and Design Evidence; use Flat-Plate Collector Performance as the turning point; finish by bringing the course together in Lab, SAM and Final-Exam Synthesis.
Course Components and Design Evidence
design brief · model inputs · validation evidence · separate current assessment facts from stable engineering content and independently authored practice02Solar-Thermal Systems and Design Boundaries
non-concentrating systems · concentrating systems · load and climate boundary · select a system class by temperature, load profile, resource and integration constraints03Solar Radiation and Resource Geometry
beam and diffuse radiation · solar angles · irradiance and irradiation · convert the resource description into quantities and geometry suitable for a collector calculation04Radiation Heat Transfer and Black-Body Models
black-body emission · emissivity · net radiative exchange · write the fourth-power temperature relation in kelvin and preserve the exchange boundary05Solar Instruments and Measurement
pyranometer and pyrheliometer · calibration · uncertainty and data quality · match an instrument to the radiation component and report a measurement with its limitations06Radiation on Inclined Surfaces
beam projection · diffuse-sky model · ground-reflected radiation · assemble plane-of-array radiation from components without mixing angle or time conventions07Flat-Plate Collector Performance
absorbed solar energy · thermal loss coefficient · useful heat and efficiency · apply an energy balance and interpret how inlet temperature and ambient conditions affect efficiency08Covers, Selective Surfaces and Thermal Losses
transmittance · absorptance and emittance · convective and radiative loss · compare surface and cover choices through both solar gain and thermal-loss consequences09Solar Water Heating and System Performance
collector loop · load profile · auxiliary energy and solar fraction · match collection and delivery over time rather than sizing from a single peak condition10Thermal Storage
sensible heat · storage capacity · stratification and loss · size a storage calculation from mass, heat capacity and usable temperature swing before adding loss and operating constraints11Concentrating Solar Systems
concentration ratio · optical efficiency · tracking and receiver loss · connect concentration and tracking choices to achievable temperature and receiver losses12Lab, SAM and Final-Exam Synthesis
measurement-to-model comparison · design justification · uncertainty and review · turn observations and calculations into a design argument whose assumptions and discrepancies are visibleThe two big assessments are both artefacts a practising engineer would actually produce — a group laboratory report that turns real outdoor data from four collector designs into efficiency correlation equations "following a process similar to Australian (AS 2535) and International Standards (ISO 9806)", carrying "the information required from an Accredited Test Lab, a key step that ALL solar thermal collectors sold in Australia must go through to obtain small-scale technology certificates (STCs)";
and an individual 27% System Advisor Model study pitched at "the level of knowledge needed to conduct a feasibility study & report at a consultancy firm and/or the background study required to prepare a detailed tender for engineering procurement and construction (EPC) services".
Marking starts from zero — "the group starts with no Marks.
Marks are awarded when there is evidence of the effort that deserves the marks."
Assessment in MECH9720 is distributed as follows: SAM individual report = 27% of the MECH9720 course mark, split across 3 sequentially-marked tasks on low-, medium- and high-temperature solar thermal systems (Task 1 = 7 of 27 marks, 10 pages max, due 5pm 3 July in Moodle) | group laboratory report marked out of 100 (50 marks Experiment A + 40 marks Experiment B + 10 marks report clarity/structure/professionalism), target 25-30 pages, with a +/-10% peer-assessment scaling | weekly Moodle quizzes (Quiz 1 in Week 2, Quiz 2 in Week 3) | a final exam Only the SAM individual report has a verified course-level weight (27%); use the current official course outline for all other component weights.
The operational assessment conditions matter here.
Confirm MECH9720 exam duration, permitted materials and venue in the current course site and official timetable.
What makes MECH9720 demanding is concrete: Two places, both named by the coordinator in their own words. (1) Angle units: the FAQ devotes a whole entry to When do I use degrees and radians for angles? and answers the panic question The numbers I am calculating do not make any sense! Help!
with Check that you are using degrees and radians in the correct places. Also check that your use of brackets is correct.
Treat the MECH9720 hurdle status as unconfirmed.
Check the current official course outline for any component-level pass rule before relying on the overall mark.
Start with Course Components and Design Evidence; use Flat-Plate Collector Performance as the turning point; finish by bringing the course together in Lab, SAM and Final-Exam Synthesis.
Worked example: Solar Thermal Energy Design integrated response
- 1Extract the outcome, actor or operation that the Solar Thermal Energy Design integrated response task actually requires.
- 1State the precondition under which concentration ratio is relevant rather than merely familiar.
- 1Use beam projection to reject the nearest alternative, then run a failure-path check with sensible heat.
- 1Choose the response and state when it must be withdrawn or narrowed: The theoretical stored heat overstates usable delivery when losses or minimum outlet temperatures matter.
Key terms
- F_R tau-alpha and F_R U_L
- F_R(τα) is a collector's effective optical-gain coefficient and F_RU_L its effective heat-loss coefficient in η = F_R(τα) − F_RU_L(T_in−T_a)/G; F' uses the local collector-efficiency factor before whole-collector heat removal is accounted for.
- collector efficiency correlation in AUS/ISO (Tmean - Ta) format vs USA (Tin - Ta) format
- A collector-efficiency correlation expresses useful heat divided by incident solar energy as an optical intercept minus temperature-dependent losses; AUS/ISO convention uses mean fluid temperature, while the US form uses inlet temperature.
- incidence angle modifier (IAM), transversal and longitudinal
- The incidence angle modifier is optical efficiency at a given incidence angle divided by normal-incidence efficiency; transversal and longitudinal modifiers describe dependence across and along the collector axis.
- stagnation temperature
- Stagnation temperature is the collector temperature reached with no useful heat removal, when absorbed solar gain balances thermal losses to the surroundings.
- declination angle, solar azimuth vs collector azimuth, sunrise hour angle
- Declination is the Sun's seasonal angular position north or south of the equator, solar and collector azimuth specify their horizontal directions, and sunrise hour angle gives the angular time from solar noon to sunrise.
- beam, diffuse and ground-reflected components of global radiation
- Beam radiation arrives directly from the solar disc, diffuse radiation is scattered by the atmosphere, and ground-reflected radiation reaches a tilted surface after reflection; their plane-of-array contributions sum to global irradiance.
- air mass; extraterrestrial vs terrestrial vs global radiation
- Air mass is the relative atmospheric path length traversed by sunlight; extraterrestrial radiation is measured outside the atmosphere, terrestrial radiation after atmospheric attenuation, and global radiation combines direct and diffuse components on a surface.
- selective surface, absorptance/emittance and Kirchhoff's law
- A selective surface has high solar absorptance and low thermal emittance; Kirchhoff's law states that spectral absorptance equals spectral emittance at thermal equilibrium for the same wavelength and direction.
MECH9720 FAQ
Is MECH9720 hard?
Two places, both named by the coordinator in their own words. (1) Angle units: the FAQ devotes a whole entry to When do I use degrees and radians for angles? and answers the panic question The numbers I am calculating do not make any sense! Help! with Check that you are using degrees and radians in the correct places. Also check that your use of brackets is correct.
How is MECH9720 assessed?
SAM individual report = 27% of the MECH9720 course mark, split across 3 sequentially-marked tasks on low-, medium- and high-temperature solar thermal systems (Task 1 = 7 of 27 marks, 10 pages max, due 5pm 3 July in Moodle) | group laboratory report marked out of 100 (50 marks Experiment A + 40 marks Experiment B + 10 marks report clarity/structure/professionalism), target 25-30 pages, with a +/-10% peer-assessment scaling | weekly Moodle quizzes (Quiz 1 in Week 2, Quiz 2 in Week 3) | a final exam Only the SAM individual report has a verified course-level weight (27%); use the current official course outline for all other component weights.
What is the MECH9720 exam or final-task format?
Confirm MECH9720 exam duration, permitted materials and venue in the current course site and official timetable.
Does MECH9720 have a hurdle or component-level pass rule?
Treat the MECH9720 hurdle status as unconfirmed. Check the current official course outline for any component-level pass rule before relying on the overall mark.
What prerequisites or restrictions apply to MECH9720?
Check the current official handbook before enrolling in MECH9720; prerequisites are not inferred from its course number.
Is MECH9720 offered in Term 2, 2026?
This resource is aligned to Term 2, 2026. Confirm your class and assessment timetable in the current institutional system.
Is this MECH9720 resource an official university guide?
No. It is an independent MECH9720 study resource; current institutional instructions remain authoritative for assessment operation.
How to study for the exam
Retrieve the course map, practise the recurring method—define the solar resource and design boundary, select a heat-transfer model, keep units and sign conventions visible, calculate performance and test sensitivity to uncertain inputs—on changed scenarios, and verify every operational assessment detail in the live institutional system.
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