Heliyon (Jun 2024)
Numerical examination of expanding the effectiveness of thermal photovoltaic framework by changing the level of heat transfer conveyance
Abstract
ABSTRACT: In photovoltaic systems, only a tiny portion of solar radiation reaches the module's surface and is converted to electrical energy. The remaining solar radiation is wasted, which raises cell temperature and reduces electrical efficiency. This research focused on examining the effects of different factors on nanofluids. In the simulations performed in this thesis, the inlet temperature of the water fluid changes from 5 °C to 30 °C. The radiation intensity equals 600 W per square meter, and the input speed is 0.07452 m per second. The innovation of this article is the use of two nanofluids of aluminum oxide and copper together with a mixture of water to investigate the effect of effective parameters on the electrical, thermal, and overall efficiency of photovoltaic systems, such as the amount of incoming radiation to the surface of the panel, the temperature of the fluid inlet in mountainous areas, the temperature of the absorber. , so that the thermal efficiency of copper and aluminum oxide is investigated and compared. As a result, copper nanofluid can increase the ratio more than aluminum oxide and pure water. There is a direct relationship between the output fluid temperature and the input temperature. With an increase in the input fluid temperature, the output temperature also increases proportionally. Increasing the inlet temperature affects the temperature of the absorber surface, which, in turn, reduces the electrical efficiency of the photovoltaic system. These changes are reduced by adding nanofluids to the photovoltaic system.Although the increase of nanoparticles causes a decrease in the temperature of the absorber plate, and this temperature decrease for copper nanofluid is 10 % higher than that of aluminum oxide and pure water until the volume fraction is reached.
