International Journal of Sustainable Energy (Oct 2021)
Thermal and electrical performance evaluation of hybrid air PV/T collector – numerical analysis and experimental study
Abstract
The photovoltaic-thermal (PV/T) hybrid collector is the most generative technology solar energy, which has been invented to utilise electrical energy and heat from the solar system. This paper presents a numerical analysis and experimental validation of the thermal and electrical behaviour of the air PV/T collector based on the geometric design and the Tunisia climate conditions. PV/T system has lower thermal efficiency and higher electrical efficiency (14%) at high wind speeds. To improve the thermal efficiency, a sensitivity analysis studied across a range of the air channel depth (0.01–0.08 m) with different air mass flow rate. It was concluded that the thermal energy for a PV/T air system depends on the optimal depth and variations in mass flow rate.
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