<![CDATA[Combination of phase-change material (PCM) and water as a heat storage medium in solar water heating tanks (SWH) has received the attention of researchers because of the high energy density of PCM. The encapsulation method is one way to place PCM in SWH's tank. This study investigates the thermal performance of installing a non-collision type capsule containing PCM in an SWH tank. The research uses an active SWH with a tank capacity of 60 liters. Paraffin wax is put into 24 cylindrical capsules; then, the capsules are installed in the tank, which forms a non-collision arrangement. Twenty pieces of thermocouples are placed both on the waterside and the PCM. The heating process uses a solar simulator for 160 minutes. The temperature data are used to analyze the SWH's thermal performance. The scenario is repeated with the same steps but using the flow spreader at the tank's inlet. The thermal performance results of the two methods are compared. The non-collision arrangement has unsatisfactory thermal performance. Adding a flow spreader increases the cumulative heat storage and collection efficiency by 46.78% and 49.52%, respectively.]]>
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