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Abstract The performance of the solar air collector is experimentally investigated at the climate of North Eastern India. Various governing parameters considered for the present investigation are collector tilt angles (30⁰, 45⁰, and 60°), single and double glazing, mass flow rate (0.0039–0.0118 kg/s) and two different absorber plates (plain and corrugated). Results reveal that double glazing absorber plate always gives better performance both energy and exergy point of view, because of reduction of top loses. Increase in mass flow rate of air enhances the energy efficiency. An overall increment of the efficiency with the increase of mass flow rate and number of glazing is as high as 10.35–17.42%. Use of corrugated plate enhances the energy efficiency by 14%, because of improved turbulence effect and increment of the heat transfer area. The maximum enhancement of exergy efficiency for double glazing collector is 6.867% for mass flow rate 0.0118 kg/s compared to single glazing collector. Corrugated absorber plate show 30Pa higher pressure drop than plain absorber plate. Thermo-hydraulic efficiency is found to deviate by almost 6.35% from the corresponding thermal efficiency. Mass flow rate of air in the range of 0.0078–0.0094 kg/s is found to yield qualitative heat transfer. Highlights • Comparison of flat and corrugated plate solar air collector is presented. • Double glazing reduces losses and increase the thermal efficiency by 6.87%. • Increase in mass flow rate by 3 times results in 6%increase of efficiency. • Corrugated plate provides 14% higher efficiency than flat plate collector. • Mass flow rate of air enhances energy efficiency and reduce exergetic efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]