An Improved Hottel-Whiller-Bliss (HWB) Equation for nth Photo-Voltaic Thermal (PVT)-Thermo-Electric Cooler (TEC) Air Collectors Connected in Series: An Exergy Analysis

Abstract

This study considers N-photovoltaic thermal-thermo electric cooler (PVT-TEC) air collectors connected in series for thermal and electrical performance. An improved Hottel-Whiller-Bliss (HWB) equation and mass flow rate factor were derived for the nth PVT-TEC air collectors. The derivation is based on energy balance equation for each component of N-photovoltaic thermal-thermo electric cooler (PVT-TEC) air collectors connected in series. Further, thermal energy and electrical energy from PV module and TEC were analyzed based on a given design and climatic parameters along with the overall exergy of the proposed system on the hourly and daily bases. Numerical computations were conducted using MATLAB under Indian climatic conditions. The proposed thermal model is valid for all climatic and weather conditions. Based on the numerical computations carried out, the following conclusions were made:The electrical power of PV module decreased with increase in the number of the n^th PVT-TEC air collectors as the electrical power of TEC increased.The overall instantaneous exergy efficiency decreased with increase in the number of the n^th PVT-TEC air collectors.Packing factor of TEC was found to be a very sensitive parameter for optimizing the number of PVT-TEC air collectors to ensure maximum overall exergy, and it was found to be β_tec=0.5. for N=7

Keywords

• photovoltaic thermal (pvt)
• thermo-electric cooler (tec)
• solar energy